ArcGIS
is a well known commercial GIS application. In addition to online and desktop applications, ArcGIS has a number of device apps you can use in the field and other contexts where mobile devices are more appropriate. Below is a quick summary of some that may be relevant to Lewis & Clark students, with ArcGIS summaries; both Android and iOS apps are generally available. For a full listing of ArcGIS applications (including mobile device, online, and desktop apps), see here.
- Collector: “Collect and update data in the field, log your current location, and put the data you capture to work so you can make more informed and timely decisions. Use maps anywhere to ground truth your data, make observations, and respond to events.” Collector offers a map-centric approach to gathering and updating field data; maps require either a cellular or wifi connection, or preloaded offline ArcGIS maps.
- Explorer: “Allow everyone in your organization to discover, analyze, use, and share maps on their Mac or iOS device (Android coming soon). View information about your assets, search for places and features, or sketch on the map to highlight important aspects of your data.” Explorer requires a field cellular or wifi connection, and can primarily be used to view ArcGIS maps in the field.
- Story Maps: “Story Maps let you combine authoritative maps with narrative text, images, and multimedia content. They make it easy to harness the power of maps and geography to tell your story.” While not a mobile device app, Story Maps display effectively on a (cellular or wifi-connected) device browser. As a related field option, Story Map Crowdsource allows people to contribute to a story map via their devices (or computers).
- Survey123: “Survey123 for ArcGIS is a simple and intuitive form-centric data gathering solution that makes creating, sharing, and analyzing surveys possible in just three easy steps….” Survey123 offers a form-centric (vs. map-centric) approach to field spatial data collection.