Putting your valuable information to work

Michael Olkin

GIS Administrator, Town of Amherst

olkinm@amherstma.gov

gis.amherstma.gov

Utilizing Tree Inventories

Help you to come up with the best ways to:

Geographically Inventory your Street Trees

(if you haven’t already)

Use & revise your street tree inventory

information (the anti-stagnation

plan)

Take advantage of available

technologies to make the best use

of your information

My Goals Today

Give you some Map Mojo.

Primary Goal

Data Collection StrategiesQuick Primer on Data FormatsData Management & Analysis

Simple approaches to data conversionDesktop GIS on short time &/or $$Easy Web-based FREE alternatives

Amherst’s Tree Inventory & Outreach ApproachWeb-Based Query & Mapping InterfaceRevisions / Edits via mobile devices (primarily

the iPad)Use of ArcGIS.com organizational subscription

($$)

Topics Covered

If you’re planning a tree inventory, you must build in a way to map your trees!

Tree ID #556Red Maple in front

of 16 Main Street

near the driveway on the mailbox

side.

#556Red Maple

16

Base premise: Each tree in an inventory should be assigned a unique ID. We’ll call this the “Tree ID”

Collection Techniques:Ideal:

Mobile Tree Inventory app with integrated GPS. Inventory & locate all in one

system. Data can come out all in one

file.

Great: GPS to capture

location (Latitude/Longitude)

& Tree ID. You’ll need to join this location data to your tree inventory

data later.

Workable: Print some maps.

Sketch a dot & Tree ID for each tree

inventoried. Transcribe into a

digital format later to get locations into your

inventory data.

Data Collection Strategies

Select a device & application that can output the data that you need.

Common Devices:Windows Mobile 6 or 6.5: iTree & others run

on thisiPhone/iPad: Try out these apps

Field Assets: flexible inventorying / GPS app

MotionX GPS: general purpose GPS appAndroid (Droid) PhonesGPS Data Collectors (Garmin, Magellan,

Trimble, etc)

Data Collection Strategies

Quick Primer on Data Formats

Shapefile:•Compatible with most GIS & CAD programs. •Includes a .dbf table that provides tabular data analysis capabilities.•Stores Points, Lines or Polygons: each one corresponds to a row in the table.•One “shapefile” consists of several files.

GPX: Garmin GPS export format. widely

used for getting data in & out of GPS devices. No standardized table

structure.

KML & KMZ: Google Earth format. Convenient for sharing & mapping on Google Earth

& Google Maps. No standardized table structure.

proprietary formats:ESRI Geodatabase, etc.

Common Geographic Data Formats

Quick Primer on Data Formats

MS Excel (.xls)Open in MS Excel & most

other spreadsheet programs

Dbase (.dbf)Table format used by the

Shapefile. Open in MS Excel & most other spreadsheet

programs (always make a backup before opening)

MS Access Database (.mdb)Open in MS Access. Great format for analysis. Can be converted to every other

format listed here.

Text File comma-separated values (.csv)

or tab-delimitted .txt or .datOpen in a text editor or import into any spreadsheet program.

Common Tabular Formats

TreeID NearestAddress Latitude Longitude CommonName DBH Condition etc...

555 11 Salem St 42.32553 -71.55462 Pin Oak 18” Poor ...

556 16 Main St 42.32868 -71.55475 Red Maple 24” Good ...

557 18 Main St 42.32867 -71.55474 Littleleaf Linden 13” Good ...

Most will open in MS Excel or comparable spreadsheet apps

Most will convert to other formats with relative ease

Latitude & Longitude (or x/y) fields make it geographic

Inventory table example with essential elements:

Tabular Formats

Desktop GISArcGIS for DesktopQuantum GIS (aka qGIS)

Data ConversionDNR GPS

Convert GPX or KML to tables or shapefilesMS Excel

Edit tables & convert to many formatsFree Web-Based Tools

Google MapsNeed a coordinate? Right-click & “What’s Here”

Google Fusion TablesManage, Update, Analyze & Visualize your

data!

• Manage, Edit, Update, Analyze & Visualize your Geographic & tabular data.

• Join tables together (ie., tree points with maintenance records)

• Query your data

• Thematicallydisplay your data

• Make maps

ArcGIS for Desktop

http://www.qgis.org/

• Free Open Source alternative to ArcGIS

• Comparable capabilities

• PC, Mac & Linux versions available

• Can edit shapefiles & tables

• Compatible with many GIS data formats

Quantum GIS (aka qGIS)

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/DNRGPS/DNRGPS.html

Free GPX data conversion utility

Use this if you're collecting tree points with a GPS & you want to convert GPX to tables, text or shapefiles

DNR GPS

MS ExcelYour Swiss Army Knife for slicing & dicing tabular data

Best approach if you don't want to install softwareOr

You're working in a team of volunteers who need to collaborateOr

You work on several different computersOr

You want to make your data accessible to lots of people

Free Web-based apps

Need to get Latitude & Longitude for a location?Right-click & “What’s here?” or“Drop LatLng Marker” to get them

Try out “My Maps”as a quick wayto map features

Google Maps

Need to get Latitude & Longitude for a location?Right-click & “What’s here?” or“Drop LatLng Marker” to get them

Try out “My Maps”as a quick wayto map features

Google Maps

http://www.google.com/fusiontables

Web-based database

integrated with Google Maps

Import your tree inventory table & update it from anywhere

Query your data

Map & graph

Share maps and data with anyone via the web

Google Fusion Tables

http://www.google.com/fusiontables

Web-based database

integrated with Google Maps

Import your tree inventory table & update it from anywhere

Query your data

Map & graph

Share maps and data with anyone via the web

Google Fusion Tables

Esri’s hostedmap servicesite.

Subscription-based ($2,500/year base cost)

Hosted Data & Maps

Provides Mobile data editing opportunities

ArcGIS.com

Map Planned New PlantingsUpdate Inventory InfoAttach PhotosUses GPS

Free ArcGIS app for iPad / iPhone / Droid

From web mapsthat we have onArcGIS.com

Map Planned New PlantingsUpdate Inventory InfoAttach PhotosUses GPS

From web mapsthat we have onArcGIS.com

Free ArcGIS app for iPad / iPhone / Droid

Putting your valuable information to work

Michael Olkin

GIS Administrator, Town of Amherst

olkinm@amherstma.gov

gis.amherstma.gov

Utilizing Tree Inventories