Basic tree surveying software and mapping

[Andrew Gale]

I use Pear Technology's PT Mapper and Pocket GIS and I find them good to use and the back up help is great.

 

They're based in Havant so not a million miles from you.

 

If you're interested in speaking with them they have a stand at the AA South East Branch AGM & Winter Lecture on the 25 January 2017; ping me a message if you'd like more details.

[Paul Barton]

Hi John,

 

Are you mostly doing tree condition surveys that need a tree location map, or BS5837 surveys that need accurate crown spreads, RPAs etc?

 

We have recently been using an app on ipads and iphones for mapping trees in condition surveys - WEB GIS, WEB MAPPING, GIS CONSULTANCY SERVICES, ADVICE & GIS TRAINING. You can create whatever forms you want, share maps online with clients and export all the data in to GIS formats, spreadsheets, Google Earth files....

 

You can collect stuff in there and then make your own maps using free GIS software such as QGIS.

 

I've had a demo from the Pear Tech guys and it looked good - if I hadn't already invested in other stuff I would probably get that.

 

For BS5837 surveys, I tend to just mark-up a paper topo plan on site, and collect all the survey data in a spreadsheet on my ipad.

Edited December 21, 2016 by Paul Barton

[Jon Heuch]

Any suggestions would be great

 

The key issues:

 

i) GPS or non-GPS i.e. do you need to plot the locations of trees....or not? And at what accuracy - are you producing plans from which others will scale, design and hopefully build?

ii) How much money are you prepared to spend up front?

iii) What technology do you have already or are you starting from scratch i.e. smart phone, tablet etc

iv) one-off surveys or are you interested in re visiting/resurveys (i.e. you are updating from an existing database?

v) How tech-smart are you or do you want to be?

vi) Weight of the device?

vii) Do you need two hands in the field?

 

What quality of report do you want to produce? And what outputs? Safety/condition surveys with work schedules? BS5837?

 

My impression is that use of technology in the field can lead to some very boring and possibly misleading reports .....lots of boxes ticked, lots of data collected....but some of the key issues missed. Trees being trees there is a lot of variation and querks that don't fit in; a blank free form field can help but if it's only available at the end of the process for each tree there's a lot that is missed....so paper and pen is quite hard to beat....but if it's quantity and low (apparent) cost you are after technology is essential. Also I find that the technology may hinder/restrict/disincentive the surveyor to do what they really need to do - get their hands dirty and inspect the trees.

 

So low cost and low investment? A cheap tablet (windows/android) and cheap software? I came across arbEvolve at one meeting. I have yet to follow it up but cheap and simple was the message. Might be able to plug in a simple GPS....but at what accuracy?

 

At the other end? AutoCAD 360 and an I Pad? AutoCAD LT annual sub is only a couple of hundred pounds a year, a new I Pad Pro 128 £638 (I've just bought two so that was the price yesterday)....but learning AutoCAD will take a while. May or may not be able to enhance the GPS of the I pad? You will of course need to build something in AutoCAD to collect the data and output it for your report.

 

There are several solutions in between - PEAR, eye-Tree and others - when I have looked at the prices they seem quite expensive but the reports I have seen (from others) seem adequate.

 

There are a few (small) discounts for AA members i believe (follow the links on their menu structure if this link doesn't get you there):

Arboricultural Association - Membership Benefits - Management Solutions

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

Yes I get the fact that pen and paper are the easiest solution but that's what I'm trying to get away from. There must be a fairly simple digital solution that is user friendly

 

To be honest there isn't a simple digital solution as all the software requires some intensive study to learn how to implement it and get the results you want. I have used several systems and none have been particularly simple. AutoCAD in itself has massive capability as a program but you are likely only to use less than 5% of its features. Getting the results you want can takes some time to achieve. Also there is not one piece of software that provides a complete solution. Usually you will require one piece of software for data collection (mapping software) and a further piece of software for presentation (CAD software). I have tried several different solutions over the years and I would not class any of them as 'simple'. Paper and pencil have also saved the day on countless occasions when hardware/software have decided not to play ball whilst out on site.

[Steve003]

Hi,

I need to create maps for someone by using CAD and placing line art with text for tag, species and height and a variable closed curve (bit like an elipse but as NSEW dims vary its a blob !)  over a supplied .dwg map,  by using an excel spreadsheet that has columns for

Eastings and Northings, for tree trunk centre

trunk diameter

Tag,

Tree species,

height

Canopy shape N S E W dimensions from tree centre,

Tree Category (each tree becomes one of 4 colours red green blue black)

 

I run Rhino3D V5 (V7 perhaps) so it needs to work in Rhino.

 

Another map uses the RPA Rad column for circles, again with data mentioned above skip the canopy data.

 

What software is there for this ?

 

Perhaps it has inbuilt CAD abilities and makes a 'populated with tree data dwg base map' all within its own prog, saving on needing CAD skills.

 

Steve003

[Steven P]

3 hours ago, Steve003 said:

I need to create maps for someone by using CAD and placing line art with text for tag, species and height and a variable closed curve (bit like an elipse but as NSEW dims vary its a blob !)  over a supplied .dwg map,  by using an excel spreadsheet that has columns for

Eastings and Northings, for tree trunk centre

trunk diameter

Tag,

Tree species,

height

Canopy shape N S E W dimensions from tree centre,

Tree Category (each tree becomes one of 4 colours red green blue black)

 

I run Rhino3D V5 (V7 perhaps) so it needs to work in Rhino.

 

Another map uses the RPA Rad column for circles, again with data mentioned above skip the canopy data.

 

What software is there for this ?

 

Perhaps it has inbuilt CAD abilities and makes a 'populated with tree data dwg base map' all within its own prog, saving on needing CAD skills.

 

My tool of choice is AutoCad and certainly that is possible with that - if you break that down to the basics you need to read from an excel file 11 columns of data, then take that info to position a circle or ellipse? and some text based on coordinates in excel. BricsCAD should be able to do the same which is cheaper, for 2d only BricsCAD lite might work?.

 

I am not sure about Rhino, it doesn't come up often in CAD forums that I read, you might now though, can you do any automation with it, like excel Macros, AutoCAD uses LISPs - if you can there are loads of examples out there to do mostly what you want. Even easier if you can save the excel file as a CSV file type.

 

If you go to CADtutor.net, someone might know enough there to help out before you spend any cash on software.