Designing Mobile Tools For Flora Mapping

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Designing Mobile Tools For Flora Mapping

Master Thesis Mobile Applications

Arne Enger Hansen

May 28, 2007 Halden, Norway

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Abstract

Keywords: Mobile Applications, Flora Mapping, Field Work, Participatory Design

Mapping of plant species is performed both by professional and amateur botanists, and is important in monitoring biodiversity. The collected data is used in research and administration. The mapping is done by filling in forms and species checklists, which must later be manually entered into databases. Mapping is performed by both professional and amateur botanists. This thesis explores how digital mobile tools can aid flora mappers in their field work, enabling direct digital registration. I describe how actual flora mappers have been involved in designing the software through interviews, design workshops, prototyping and field observation.

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Firstly I would like to thank all the botanists who participated in interviews, design workshops and those I joined in the field. Thanks to Even W. Hanssen, Anders Endrestøl, Einar Timdal and Oddvar Pedersen for participating in interviews and design workshops. Thanks to Gunnar Engan and everyone at the V˚aler gathering, and to Mats G. Nettelbladt, Trond Skoglund and everyone at the Steigen gathering for allowing me to join you in the field.

Also I would like to thank Solgunn Strand who provided the project and was a great help in getting in touch with all the botanists who have participated in the design process. Thanks to H˚akon Tolsby for providing good resources on design. Finally thanks to my mentor Gunnar Misund for valuable guidance and feedback throughout the project.

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Introduction

The purpose of this project is to investigate how mobile digital tools can be used by flora mappers.

More precisely mobile tools are mobile phones and mobile GPS devices. This involves designing software suited for the needs of those who partake in flora mapping.

The world of flora mapping was introduced to me by Solgunn Strand, who is a flora mapper and also employed at Østfold University College. She already knew many of the people who participated in the design process, hence she was helpful in arranging meetings. She also participated in many of the design activities, both out of personal interest and because she possibly was to work with flora mapping and digital tools in a design project herself.

1.1 Problem statement

Present tools used by flora mappers are effective in the field, but data must be manually entered into databases later, which means a lot of overhead work and possible loss of precision. This project will investigate how digital tools can be designed to be usable in the field.

It will also investigate whether digital tools can enhance the field experience by offering new features. This includes real-time monitoring of your own and other users position on a map. Another feature is communication between users and between users and a coordinator.

This will be done by interviewing people involved in species mapping, and joining flora mappers in the field. A prototype is developed and tested at two flora mapping events.

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1.2 Outline of this document

This chapter introduces the project, and the problem being investigated. Chapter 2 begins by introducing flora mapping. Next several relevant technologies are described. First I introduce mobile devices. Then I introduce positioning, including manual positioning which is still used by some flora mappers. The last technology described are digital maps, with focus on map data available via the Internet. The chapter ends with a survey of other related projects.

The following chapter, 3, begins by introducing the potential users. The second part of chapter 3 describes different usage scenarios. First a scenario describing current working methods, and then two different scenarios describing how two different users might use mobile tools in flora mapping.

Chapter 4 describes the main body of work performed in this project, the design process. I begin by introducing the different design activities used, before going into more detail on each activity.

The chapter is finished by making some conclusions about the design and evaluating the findings.

Chapter 5 describes the implementation of a prototype used in the design process. This chapter will detail what was implemented. I will also comment on some of the solutions and challenges I faced implementing the prototype.

In the final chapter I make conclusions, and relate my findings to the initial goals of the project.

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Chapter 2

Background

This chapter will present some background information needed to understand the premise of the project, as well as some technical background necessary for understanding the technology this project relies on. I begin by explaining flora mapping, then go on explaining mobile technology and finish by presenting some similar projects.

2.1 About flora mapping

Flora mapping is the process of collecting spatial and other data about plants. This data is important for administrative purposes as well as for research purposes. For example special care may be taken to preserve endangered species when building roads and buildings or using land for agricultural purposes. All such human activity impact the natural environment, possibly destroying habitats for different species. Therefore data on where, and in what environment a species can be found is important to be able to foresee and control the impact of human intervention. Equally important is tracking changes in the flora. If a species is no longer found in a location it has been observed before tells us that something has had an impact on the location. This is equally important for other types of species, such as mushrooms and insects.

The world is large, so mapping of species is a huge task. As a consequence a lot of mapping work is done by amateur enthusiasts. There are common rules on how to report findings, and what data should accompany the finding, but besides that the work is usually not very coordinated.

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2.1.1 Mapping of red list species

Some species are known as red list species. These are species that are endangered. They are categorized by how likely they are to be extinct. The different classifications are:

EX Extinct

EW Extinct in the Wild CR Critically Endangered EN Endangered

VU Vulnerable

LR/cd Lower Risk/conservation dependent NT or LR/nt Near Threatened

LC or LR/lc Least Concern DD Data Deficient

Because they are endangered, data on red list species are particularly important. In addition to the finding itself, the location, habitat, impacts and the state of the finding are reported. The location is given in UTM MGRS coordinates read from a GPS unit, or inferred from a map. Usually the location is also referred by it’s name. The habitat is the environment in which the individual is found: the other fauna, exposition to sunlight, whether it’s influenced by water or snow etc. Impacts are external factors that influence the habitat, these are often human factors such as construction, grazing and lumbering. The state of the finding can for example be the number of individuals (or area covered if there are many) and whether there are young individuals (indicating reproduction) or only old individuals.

Mapping of red list species by amateurs are not coordinated. However because these species are rare there is some prestige associated with finding them, and many enthusiasts target red list species.

2.1.2 Mapping of other species

Red list species aren’t the only species being mapped It’s also important to obtain knowledge about more common species. This is sometimes done through more organized events where several enthusiasts gather for a week or a weekend to map a certain area. The participants will then be divided

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2.2. Traditional methods of flora mapping 5

Figure 2.1: A team of hobbyist botanists in the field at Steigen.

in smaller teams, such as the one in figure 2.1.2, and given an area to map each day. Such events will usually be arranged by a local botanical society.

For such findings less data is reported. Most times only the fact that the species does exist in a certain area is noted. Some species however, e.g. that have not been documented before in the area, are collected and sent to a herbaria. To preserve the sample the plant is pressed, and some data are collected, such as exact position, place name and a brief description of the habitat.

2.2 Traditional methods of flora mapping

Mapping of flora is traditionally done using a paper based species checklist. A species checklist is a list of species, where the mapper makes a tick or underline each species found. Sometimes other data, such as type of location or status of the finding are noted also. The list of species varies, but is usually made up of species expected to be found in a the area being mapped. The number of species on a list is in the range of 300-1000.

The mapper then fill in checklists for a specific area. The area may be a natural geographical

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feature, such as a lake, river or hill, or an administrative unit such as a county or municipality. A common practice though is to let one 1x1 km or 5x5 km UTM square define the area covered by the checklist. E.g. WR 4,3 represent one 10x10 km square, while WR 45,35 represent one 1x1 km square. For 5x5 km squares NW, NE, SW or SE are added meaning respectively North-West, North-East, South-West and South-East. Therefore WR 4,3 NE is the north-east 5x5 km square in WR 4,3.

When working with red list species, the main field reporting tool is still paper based. However because findings are more rare, and more data needs to be reported, checklists are not used. Ready- made forms detailing what data needs to be reported can be downloaded and printed. Data is also entered into an online database through a web based interface. Usually this will be transcribed from the paper forms filled out in the field, either by the mapper or by the database maintainers.

2.3 Mobile devices

By mobile devices, I think of portable multi-purpose digital devices that are small enough to be used in daily situations. Most importantly mobile devices are PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and mobile phones. In the recent years the gap between a PDA and a mobile phone has more or less diminished. Phones are capable of the same tasks as a PDA, and some are really just a PDA with phone capabilities added.

Other devices such as portable media players, portable gaming systems and handheld GPS devices have some of the same features as PDAs and mobile phones, but are geared towards a much more specific application.

Modern Nokia mobile phones have processors performing at between 220-330MHz [10], making them comparable to desktop computers from a decade ago. This enables mobile phones to perform a lot of different tasks in addition to making calls. Features such as calendar, organizer, contact list, web browser, notes and dictaphone are common on modern phones. High-end phones are also able to play video, perform video calls and view Microsoft Office and PDF documents to mention a few things.

In addition to a wide array of software capabilities, modern phones also contain hardware not traditionally associated with phones. Most modern phones has a built-in camera capable of taking pictures of decent quality as well as small video clips. Audio recording and stereo audio playback is also common. Some phones with built-in GPS receivers are beginning to emerge as well.

The third factor that makes phones powerful tools is the network connectivity. On modern

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2.3. Mobile devices 7

phones a network connection is available at all times at speeds comparable to budget broadband connections. This opens up a lot of possibilities, such as downloading dynamic content, uploading data and using web services. One common application is mobile blogging, where a blog article is written on the phone, and immediately published on the web, often with a picture taken with the built-in camera.

2.3.1 Mobile network evolution

The development of better mobile networks is an essential part of making more applications possible on mobile phones. The most common type of mobile phone network today is GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). Mobile networks are classified in generations, each new generation signifying some major improvement.

1G: The first-generation wireless telephone networks was introduced in the 1980s. In Norway the NMT standard was used. The main difference between 1G and 2G networks is that 1G networks are analog, while 2G are digital.

2G:The second generation wireless telephone networks includes the GSM standard. This introduced using digital signals, improving sound quality and lowering power consumption in the device. Also other digital services such as SMS (Short Message Service) was introduced.

SMS enables short text messages to be delivered to another phone. Data communication was possible using the circuit switched phone line. This meant that the data traffic would block voice calls, and subscribers was billed for the time connected. This mode of data transfer was slow, and mostly used for E-Mail and WAP browsing.

2.5G:While not officially defined as a wireless telephone network generation, the stepping stone technologies between 2G and 3G are often called 2.5G. This includes GPRS and EDGE.

GPRS:GPRS is the General Packet Radio Service. It is a packet switched data transfer service available in GSM phones. With GPRS higher speeds became available. Transfer rate for GPRS is 30-80 kbit/s, which is comparable to ISDN. Also users are billed by the amount of data, allowing the phone to be connected at all time.

This also introduced MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), which enabled sending media objects such as text, audio and images between devices in the same fashion as SMS.

EDGE:EDGE stands for Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution and is a further development of GPRS. It was introduced in anticipation of real 3G which require more upgrades to the

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Figure 2.2: The Nokia 6630, one of the first 3G phones.

network. The main advantage of EDGE is increased transfer rate. EDGE is often referred to as 2.75G.

3G:3G is the third generation wireless telephone networks. 3G networks are not upgrades of 2G networks like GPRS and EDGE. Therefore entirely new networks must be built. At present 3G networks is still being built, and coverage can be problematic. The goal of 3G is to provide the ability to transfer both voice data and other data simultaneously, and to increase data rates. Figure 2.3.1 shows the Nokia 6630 3G phone. This was one of the first phones with 3G support. With the increased data transfer speed video telephony was introduced. Another popular application is music download services.

UMTS:UMTS is the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, which is the 3G network implemented in Norway. UMTS is the combination of three technologies. The first is W-CDMA, which is short for Wideband Code Division Multiple Access. W-CDMA is the air interface of UMTS. Second UMTS supports the GSM Mobile Application Part, which includes services such as SMS. Lastly UMTS use the speech codecs from GSM.

UMTS improves transfer rates compared to GPRS or EDGE. Theoretical transfer rate is 1920 kbit/s, but such speeds is not likely in present networks. Still the transfer rate is comparable

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to a budget broadband home connection, enabling a wide variety of new services.

Because UMTS is not yet widely available, and UMTS and GSM are not interoperable most 3G phones support both. Therefore the phone can use the appropriate protocol based on what kind of network is available. Of course you will not get UMTS data rates when connected to a GSM network. Older GSM-only phones will not be able to work in a UMTS network.

3.5G:Like 2.5G, 3.5G represents upgrades to the original 3G networks. HSDPA which is short for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access is an UMTS upgrade that allow downlink data transfer speeds of up to 14.4 Mbit/s per cell. Also the uplink speed is upgraded to 3 Mbit/s per cell.

HSDPA is currently being deployed or planned in many European countries. No Norwegian network operators have announced any plans for deploying HSDPA though.

3.75G:The next planned UMTS upgrade is HSUPA which is High-Speed Uplink Packet Access.

This will further raise the uplink transfer speed to 5.76 Mbit/s per cell. This is still a work-in- progress, and the first deployments are planned for 2007.

It is worth noting that theoretical transfer rates most often differ from what users actually experience. I ran a test using Norwegian web site ITavisen’s broadband speedometer[7]. The test is a Java applet that measure the actual transfer speed by uploading and downloading 100 000 bytes of data and measure the time this takes.

By using Nokia’s PC Suite software, one can use a phone connected to the computer for Internet access. This will use whatever data connection are available on the phone, whether it is GPRS or UMTS. The test was ran using a Nokia 6680 with a subscription from the operator Combitel.

Combitel doesn’t yet provide 3G, so with this setup I was able to test the speed of EDGE. I then ran the same test using a Nokia N70 with a 3G enabled subscription from Telenor.

Figure 2.3.1 shows the result of the speedometer test using EDGE. It shows a download speed of 58 kbit/s, and an upload speed of 56 kbit/s. Which is similar to an ISDN land line. Figure 2.3.1 shows the result of the speedometer test using 3G. Here download speed is 64 kbit/s and upload speed is 59 kbit/s.

As we can see from the tests there isn’t necessarily a big difference between EDGE and 3G. 3G speeds may vary though, and is dependant on signal strength and how much traffic there is on the cell. For comparison, an image taken with a 2 megapixel mobile phone camera will usually have a size between 200 and 500 kB. Transferring one such image at 64 kbit/s would take between 25 and 64 seconds.

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Figure 2.3: The results of the speedometer test with EDGE.

Figure 2.4: The results of the speedometer test with 3G(UMTS).

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2.3.2 Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a protocol for wireless connections at close ranges. Often referred to as personal area networks (PAN). Bluetooth has three power classes, with different ranges. Class 1 has a range of approximately. 100 m, class 2 has a range of 10 m and class 3 has a range of 1 m. It is used in modern mobile phones for communication with computers, other handsets, wireless headsets, PDAs, GPS receivers etc.

2.3.3 Mobile phone operating systems

A mobile phone with advanced capabilities such as PDA functionality is often referred to as a smartphone. To enable such diverse functionality operating systems for phones has been developed.

The operating system handle processes, user interface and provide developers with a set of tools to access phone functionality and develop custom applications. Most general usage phones use proprietary operating system developed by or specifically for the phone manufacturer. More advanced phones however often use more general purpose operating systems. These will usually allow native third party applications to be installed by the user. The two most common are Symbian OS and Microsoft Windows Mobile.

Symbian OS:Symbian OS is an Operating System produced by Symbian Ltd. Symbian Ltd. is owned by several major phone manufacturers, such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Siemens and Samsung. Symbian OS is a descendant of the EPOC operating system, which was mainly developed for PDAs. Symbian however target smartphones. It has many features similar to desktop operating systems, such as multitasking and network protocol support. Because it is made for devices with limited hardware resources, special care is taken to preserve memory and disk usage. Symbian OS runs on ARM processors, which is the most common embedded processor.

Symbian OS itself does not provide a user interface. There are different platforms available, which run on top of the OS. Each platforms consist of an API for developers, a user interface and a set of common applications. The most common is Series 60, developed by Nokia, and UIQ. Applications must be developed specifically for each platform. UIQ applications will not run on Series 60, and vice versa.

Series 60:Series 60 is the user interface used in most of Nokia’s Symbian based phones. Series 60 is designed for phones with a small screen, and an ordinary phone keyboard for input. Screen

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Figure 2.5: The Nokia 9300 use the Series 80 platform.

resolution is 176x208, 240x320 or 352x416.

There are different versions of Series 60; 1st edition, 2nd edition and 3rd edition. Also there are three different feature packs for the 2nd edition. This means that software developed for a specific edition or feature pack may not work on another version. Also 3rd edition software is not binary compatible with 1st and 2nd edition software. Forum Nokia[11] provides detailed information on which version different devices use.

Series 80: Series 80 is another Symbian platform developed by Nokia. It is designed for the communicator series of devices. These phones have a full QWERTY keyboard and a pointing device (integrated mouse). Figure 2.5 shows the Nokia 9300 model, which use the Series 80 platform.

UIQ:UIQ is another Symbian based platform. It is developed by UIQ Technology, which is fully owned by Symbian Ltd. UIQ is a pen based user interface, and mainly used in PDA like phones. The latest version however also support one-handed operation. Sony Ericsson use UIQ in their smartphone series, such as the business oriented P990 and the Walkman-branded W950. The current version is UIQ 3. Earlier versions have also been used in Motorola and BenQ (now BenQ Siemens) phones.

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Windows Mobile: Windows Mobile is Microsoft’s OS for PDAs and smartphones. It’s also Sym- bian’s main competitor in the market for high-end smartphones. The Pocket PC edition is designed for touch screen devices. Windows Mobile is designed to be familiar to users of the desktop Windows OS. E.g. one can open context sensitive menus (like when right-clicking in Windows) by tapping and holding for a certain time. There is also a smartphone edition for phones without touchscreen. The latest version is Windows Mobile 5.0. This version use the .NET Compact Framework, which is a mobile device tailored version of the .NET Frame- work. This makes application development easy for developers familiar with ordinary .NET development.

Most Windows Mobile devices are produced by Microsoft’s hardware platform development partner HTC (High Tech Computer Corporation). This Taiwan based company produce high- end Windows Mobile devices which are marketed under a variety of different brands, such as QTek and i-mate.

Palm OS: Palm OS is a PDA operating system developed by PalmSource, Inc. PalmSource is what used to be the software department of Palm, Inc., one of the leading PDA manufacturers.

Palm OS runs on Palm devices, but also devices from other manufacturers, such as Samsung, Garmin and Sony. PalmSource also develop applications for Palm OS.

PalmSource was recently bought by Access Co., Ltd. PalmSource currently work to extend Palm OS to run on top of a Linux architecture. This effort is named ACCESS Linux Platform.

Recent versions of Palm OS include the possibility of using phone functions, and is used in smartphones from Palm (Treo series), GSpda and Samsung.

Linux:Two different predictions presented in [2] and [5] both claim that Linux will surpass Sym- bian on mobile devices by 2010. For handset manufacturers Linux offer the great advantage of being completely open source. This means that the manufacturer will have complete control on the end product as opposed to Symbian and Windows Mobile, which is proprietary software. With Linux - the kernel, device drivers, middleware and applications are open source. The main reason for this favorable projection for Linux, is that Chinese handset manufacturers, such as Datang, have embraced Linux. Also their support of Linux has strong government support. Other manufacturers that has released Linux phones are Panasonic, Samsung and Motorola.

One major development platform for Linux on mobile phones is Qtopia from Trolltech.

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Qtopia is based on their QT toolkit, and is used in PDAs, portable media players as well as phones. This solution is used in Motorola, Cellon and ZTE phones. Also QT has developed the Greenphone. This is a fully working GSM/GPRS device made for developers.

The Greenphone is only available with a license of the Greenphone SDK, which is an open source platform for software on Linux based devices. This means that every application on the phone, such as SMS, Camera etc., is open source, and possible to customize. The phone itself is manufactured by Chinese manufacturer Yuhua Teltech. Qtopia’s main competitor is the ACCESS Linux Platform when this is released.

2.3.4 Other platforms for developers

Each of the mobile operating systems presented above supply their own SDK for developers. This means that software is not portable between platforms. Also phones with such operating systems are usually high-end devices, and therefore not fitting if targeting the general public. Therefore there also exist some other programming platforms that are not tied directly to the OS.

PersonalJava:PersonalJava was the first version of the Java programming language available for mobile devices. It implemented the ordinary Java 1.1 API. This was originally designed for desktop computers, hence it used much hardware resources. PersonalJava is supported by the Sony Ericsson P-series (P800-P990), but is announced, by Sun, to begin it’s End of Life process shortly. PersonalJava has been superseded by Java ME.

Java ME:Java Micro Edition is the most common development platform, and Java applications are supported by virtually all modern phones. It is commonly used for games, as it provides an API specifically targeted at game developers. It uses the Java programming language, and a set of APIs specifically designed for mobile devices.

Java ME isn’t exclusively targeted at phones. Java ME devices implement a Java ME profile. The most common is the Mobile Information Device Profile(MIDP) which is aimed at mobile phones. Devices are also classified into configurations. The Connected Limited De- vice Configuration (CLDC) is targeted at limited resource devices with network connectivity.

This includes all MIDP devices. Another CLDC profile is Information Module Profile(IMP) which is used in such devices as vending machines, with a very simple or no graphical user interface.

MIDP applications are called MIDlets. The core MIDP API include a networking API, an UI API specifically designed for mobile phones and an API for persistent storage. With MIDP

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version 2.0 a game API, a media API and an API for secure connections was added. Some other 2.0 APIs are optional, this includes a file access API, Bluetooth API and a messaging API. Because of the different versions and optional packages, as well as different hardware capabilities, MIDlets may not be portable between different devices. [3] is a list of which APIs are supported by some devices. Newer Series 60 devices have implemented all optional APIs.

Python for Series 60: Python for Series 60 is an implementation of the Python programming language, developed by Nokia. It was re-licensed as open source in 2006. Python is a much higher level programming language than C++, which is the Series 60 native language, and hence allows for rapid development and prototyping. Python for Series 60 includes networking support, telephony support, Camera and Screenshot API, Contacts and Calendar API, Audio API and Bluetooth support. Python scripts may be started from the on-phone Python interpreter, or it can be packaged as a standalone application. The latest version as of October 2006 is version 1.3.8. This version only works on 3rd edition Series 60 phones though, the latest version to work on 1st and 2nd edition phones is version 1.3.1.

Opera Platform: Opera Platform is a development platform for mobile devices created by Opera Software. Opera Platform applications are created using standard web technology such as HTML, CSS, XML and JavaScript. This allows for easy migration for web developers. Also existing web applications are easily ported to Opera Platform. An important feature is the easy access to web services. This allows developers to use web services already existing.

Also developers can create their own web services e.g. offloading heavy processing tasks to a server.

Opera Platform applications run in the Opera Platform Application Player. This is a special version of the Opera Mobile Browser, that will run full screen without any navigation or other browser GUI. The application GUI is defined with HTML and CSS, and the dynamic behavior is programmed in JavaScript. The GUI is updated by manipulating the HTML DOM tree.

In addition to the standard HTML DOM interface, Opera Platform supply an additional Opera Platform DOM Interface. This provides access to some phone functionality, such as setting up voice calls, sending SMS, battery level and starting other phone applications (such as Calendar or Camera). Also it enables the creation of menus and dialogs.

Opera Platform is currently only available for Series 60. Opera Software have announced that it will be made available for Windows Mobile as well. Because it uses the Application

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Player, applications will be highly portable to any platform the Application Player runs on.

In addition there are application players available for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux, which provide a convenient development and testing environment.

Flash Lite: Flash Lite is a version of Flash designed for mobile devices. Flash is developed by Adobe. The latest version, Flash Lite 2.0, is based on Flash 7, while the previous version, Flash Lite 1.1, is based on Flash 4. Like the original Flash, Flash Lite consist of an IDE used by developers, and the Flash Player used on the device for running applications. Flash Lite support vector and raster graphics, and the scripting language ActionScript. Flash is supported by Series 60 and UIQ phones, and version 1.1 is supported by even more phones.

However because of Adobes licensing scheme the player is not available for free, but a each handset needs to buy a license. Developers will also need to purchase the Flash IDE.

Flash Lite can not use the Camera or Bluetooth. It is capable of creating and sending SMS, accessing the network and show different image and video formats.

2.4 Positioning

Position may be very relevant in mobile device applications, simply because they are mobile. Such applications, as location sensitive yellow pages, are usually called Location Based Services (LBS).

There are different methods of making applications location aware. The simplest method is by letting the user manually specify location. More precise and efficient however is using a GPS unit for automatic positioning.

2.4.1 Manual positioning

Manual positioning means making the user specify the location. This is a highly portable method, and require no additional equipment. Manual positioning may be done in several different ways.

The user may select from a list or enter a location name. A problem with this is if the user simply doesn’t know the name of his current position. Also place names is most probably not very specific, but rather define a large area. This method is most suitable for look-up services, such as asking

“Where can I find a bakery in Central Oslo”.

Another method that may be more suitable if a more precise position is required, is displaying a map on the device and letting the user select a position on the map. The accuracy of this methods

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2.4. Positioning 17

Figure 2.6: The MGRS grid. Each 100x100 km square is divided in 10x10 squares numbered 0-9

is highly dependant on the quality of the map. If the map is detailed enough the user should be able to quite accurately pinpoint the desired position.

A third option is letting users enter geographic or UTM coordinates. If e.g. the user have a GPS device that can not communicate directly with the application, he will still be able to use it with the application. Coordinates may also be inferred from a map as described in 2.4.2.

2.4.2 Military Grid Reference System

Users may also infer a position from a map using UTM MGRS. MGRS is the Military Grid Ref- erence System, and is used in mapping of red list species. A MGRS coordinate does not specify a position, but rather an area. MGRS coordinates begin with the UTM zone. E.g. 32V for southern Norway. This is followed by to letters, representing a 100x100 km square. E.g. the letters for

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Figure 2.7: Some different GPS devices.

Halden is PL. The first letter is the west-east coordinate and the second is south-north. Now this square may be divided into 10x10 new squares, with a size of 10x10 km. These are assigned a number from 0-9 as shown in figure 2.4.2. One of these squares are then referenced by appending the corresponding number. E.g. the square with the star in figure 2.4.2, is referenced as 32V PL 3 5.

Squares can be divided the same way recursively to get a smaller square. The square numbers are just appended behind 3 and 5. E.g. 32V PL 3402 5722 is a 10x10 m square within the 32V PL 3 5 square.

This is used by some flora mappers to infer position from a map. The accuracy of this method is highly dependant on the quality of the map. This will involve dividing a square using a ruler and pencil. This is the method employed by flora mappers before GPS devices became affordable.

2.4.3 GPS

GPS is the Global Positioning System. GPS receivers are used in a wide variety of applications to pinpoint the receivers position fairly accurately. Figure 2.4.3 show some different devices. Clock- wise from top left they are: a handheld GPS suited for hiking, a GPS for boats with marine maps, a Bluetooth GPS used with mobile phones, PDAs or computers, a handheld GPS with maps and a car GPS. A car GPS will usually provide street maps, and navigation help. Receivers with Bluetooth

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2.4. Positioning 19

Figure 2.8: Triangulation in 2 dimensions

will usually not have any display. These units just send the position to another Bluetooth device, enabling computers, PDAs and phones to obtain accurate positions from the GPS system. This solution depends on software on the computer or device.

The GPS system consist of several satellites which constantly broadcast information the GPS receiver uses to determine it’s position. The satellites send different messages. First is the Naviga- tional Message, which consist of the almanac and ephemeris. The almanac is coarse time information and some status information on the satellite. The ephemeris is orbital information that enables the receiver to calculate the satellites position at any given time. The other kind of message is accurate clock information. These come in two forms. Coarse Acquisition Code and Precise Code, with different levels of accuracy. The former is used by civilian receivers, while the latter is encrypted and thus not usable on all devices.

The time information is used by the GPS receiver to calculate the distance from the satellite.

This is straight forward as the signal speed is known. When the receiver knows it’s distance from three or more satellites a method called triangulation can be applied to pinpoint it’s position.

Knowing the distance from one satellite places the receiver on a sphere surrounding the satellite.

Knowing the distance from two satellites places the receiver in a circle where the two satellite’s distance spheres intersect. Knowing yet another satellite distance gives two points, of which only

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one is on the surface of the earth. If even more satellites are known a single and more precise position can be triangulated. Figure 2.4.3 shows triangulation in two dimensions, but the concept is exactly the same in three dimensions. The circles are drawn with a radius equal the distance between the satellite and the receiver. In a) there is only one satellite, and the receiver may be at any point on the circle. In b) there are two satellites known, and the receiver may only be at one of the two intersections. In c) three satellites are known, and there is only one position where all circles intersect.

GPS is the most accurate global positioning method. It has an accuracy of about 3-20 meters.

A common problem though is that the signals from satellites may be blocked. GPS receivers are usually useless indoors. In a city environment where the device is surrounded by tall buildings, or in a forest under a canopy of trees, it may also have problems connecting to enough satellites.

The same may apply for bad weather conditions. Heavy snowfall or clouds can interrupt the signal.

Another disadvantage is that the GPS receiver will usually spend some time before getting a fixed position after turning it on. This may take several minutes.

2.4.4 Assisted GPS

Assisted GPS (AGPS) is a term used when the GPS receiver is assisted in computing the position.

The receiver will usually just receive the signal and pass it on to a server for processing. This is called an Assistance Server. This speeds up the process of getting a position considerably, as the server will have a lot more processing power. One main goal of AGPS is to provide location based emergency services. As more phones come with integrated GPS units this could be useful in offloading the processing from the phone.

2.4.5 Network based positioning

Another method of positioning that will work on all handsets, is using information from the network itself. All handset have access to cell id, which identifies what cell it is connected to. With this information it is possible to look up the position and coverage area of the transmitter. This area may be big though, so this method may only be suitable for applications that need to know the general area in which the handset is located.

Other more precise methods of network based positioning exist, but they require additional equipment in the network. One method is determining the Angle of Arrival (AOA). This is the angle at which the signal from the handset reach the cellular antenna. Another method is using the

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2.5. Digital maps 21

Time of Arrival (TOA) to estimate the distance between the cellular antenna and the handset. An estimated position can be calculated by combining these two methods.

If the handset is able to access TOA data itself, and is connected to three or more cells, it’s position may be triangulated. This does require specially equipped handsets though.

Network based positioning methods are not available in cellular networks in Norway today.

2.5 Digital maps

Digital maps are closely tied to location aware applications. There are several services that provide map data, which are appropriate in different settings. In this section I will describe some of the available services.

2.5.1 Web browser map services

There are several browser based map services. Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps are both such services, which provide an API for developers to make their own custom map applications. They are both intended for use within a browser, and are based on AJAX technology.

Yahoo! MapsYahoo! Maps provide road, satellite and hybrid (road and satellite) maps, covering the whole world. It provides several different APIs, such as an AJAX API and a Flash API, for embedding interactive maps in web pages. These APIs support zooming and panning both programmatically and manually by the user. Also you can place POI markers. There is a rate limit of 50000 queries per day per IP.

In addition to the browser APIs, Yahoo! Maps provide the Map Image API. This API enable downloading of individual map tiles, and can be used programmatically from any platform that support REST queries.

In addition to the maps Yahoo! also provide a Geocoding API, for looking up addresses, a Traffic API providing traffic alerts and a Local Search API providing localized service lookup and recommendations from other Yahoo! Local users. The Traffic, Geocoding and Local Search APIs have a rate limit of 5000 queries per day per IP.

Google Maps Google Maps is a web based map service. It provides an API similar to the Yahoo! Maps AJAX API. And is intended for use within a web page. It provides map navigation (panning and zooming), and you can add overlays such as polygons, POIs and info “balloons”. In addition to road maps the service provides satellite and hybrid maps, covering the whole world. It is

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possible to use Google Maps in applications outside a browser as well, but this is outside the terms of use for the Google Maps data.

2.5.2 Microsoft MapPoint Web Service

MapPoint is Microsoft’s offering in the field of digital maps. The MapPoint Web Service is, unlike the previous two services, intended for application developers. It is an XML Web Service with a SOAP API. SOAP is an XML based protocol for communication between applications over HTTP.

XML Web Services are tightly integrated with the .NET Framework, and Web Services are used in the same manner as other objects in Visual Studio. This makes it very usable for Visual Studio developers. It is also possible to use SOAP Web Services in other environments. The API consist of 4 parts:

Common Service:The Common Service consist of classes, methods and properties that are used by all the other services, or that are basic utility functions such as calculating the distance between two points (specified by latitude/longitude).

Find Service: The Find Service is used to locate addresses, points of interest and geographic entities, parse addresses or return location information for a specified latitude and longitude.

Render Service: The Render Service is responsible for rendering and delivering maps to the client. It supports drawing routes and polygons. It’s also possible to specify pushpins (POIs) at specified locations. Pushpins are markers that can show a point of interest or the client’s position. The Render Service also provides pan and zoom functions as well as functions to set the map size and map view.

Route Service: The Route Service is used to generate routes, driving directions and route repre- sentations (for drawing on a map) based on locations or waypoints.

To use MapPoint you are required to pay a fee, and each session of use requires a username and password to be provided. It is however possible to get a free developer evaluation account.

2.5.3 Web Map Services

Web Map Service (WMS) is an interface used for accessing geographic data using web protocols.

The data is returned as an image file such as PNG or JPEG. Using the protocol one can define the map view and which layers to display. Different features, such as topography, roads, buildings, borders, place names etc. are separated into different layers. An example query:

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2.5. Digital maps 23

http://wms.geonorge.no/skwms1/wms.topo/TI_1BEIDFH?VERSION=1.1.1&

service=wms&REQUEST=GetMap&SRS=EPSG:32633&

FORMAT=image/png&BGCOLOR=0xffffff&TRANSPARENT=TRUE&

STYLES=currentsrs,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,&

EXCEPTIONS=application/vnd.ogc.se_inimage&LAYERS=N5000Landtone,N5000Markslag, N2000Markslag,N1000Markslag,N500Markslag,N250Markslag,N50Markslag,

N500Hoydekurver,N250Hoydekurver,N50Hoydekurver,FKB_HOYDE_LINJE,N5000Vannflate, N2000Vannflate,N1000Vannflate,N500Vannflate,N250Vannflate,N50Vannflate, N5000Vannkontur,N1000Vannkontur,N2000Vannkontur,N500Vannkontur,N250Vannkontur, N50Vannkontur,N1000Elver,N2000Elver,N500Elver,N250Elver,N50Elver,N5000Veger, N2000Veger,N1000Veger,N500Veger,N250Veger,N50Veger,FKB_VEGNETT_LINJE,N250Jernbane, N50Jernbane,N50Bygninger,FKB_BYGG_FLATE,N5000Kommunegrenser,N2000Kommunegrenser, N1000Kommunegrenser,N500Kommunegrenser,N250Kommunegrenser,N50Kommunegrenser, N50Bebyggelse,N5000Bebyggelse,N2000Bebyggelse,N500Bebyggelse,N250Bebyggelse, FKB_ADRESSE_PUNKT,FKB_GATENAVN,N250Stedsnavn_punkt,N250Stedsnavn_punkt_1,

N250Stedsnavn_linje,N250Stedsnavn_linje-1,N500Stedsnavn_punkt,N50Stedsnavn_punkt, N50Stedsnavn_linje,FKB_Stedsnavn_punkt,FKB_Stedsnavn_linje,N5000Fylkesnavn&

BBOX=190465.988396394,6578026.89290882,329684.837942243,6669646.15484804&

WIDTH=1050&HEIGHT=691

Some important arguments are:

REQUEST=GetMap - This specifies that a map should be returned. Another type of request is GetCapabilities, which will return an XML document specifying which picture formats, SRS (Spatial Reference System), layers etc. are supported by the service.

FORMAT=image/png - Specifies the image format.

SRS=EPSG:32633 - Specifies the Spatial Reference System.

LAYERS=... - Specifies a comma separated list of layers to display. Supported layers differ from service to service, and are documented in the GetCapabilities request.

BBOX=... - Specifies the bounding box of the map view. The arguments are in the order (minx, miny, maxx, maxy), and coordinates are within the coordinate system specified by the SRS argument.

WIDTH=1050&HEIGHT=691 - Specifies the size of the returned image file.

The WMS protocol is defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), which is a standards organisation working with geospatial content and services. Another OGC protocol is Web Feature Service (WFS), which give access to map data rather than pre-rendered map images. WMS is the protocol, and there are several WMS servers publicly available. There is no limit to the kind of maps

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a WMS server may serve. A wide variety of Norwegian maps are available, including topographical and geological.

2.6 Related work

In this section I will present some projects dealing with similar objectives, and discuss what this project brings to the field.

2.6.1 ButterflyNet

ButterflyNet[20] is a project at Standford HCI Group at Stanford University. The project researched how field biologists could employ digital tools in their work. They found that the paper notebook and pen is an intrinsic part of their working methods to such a degree that it should not be replaced.

They point out that the notebook is more suitable for fieldwork than a portable computer or tablet computer. One important reason is that paper can be dropped or soaked by rain without loosing it’s data. A paper notebook is also not dependant on battery life, and there is no delay from “turning it on” until it is usable. Also it is very suitable for the kind of heterogeneous data recorded by field biologists. The data primarily consist of text, illustrations and tabular data, but also photographs, audio, video, sensor data and GPS data. Photographs can easily be inserted into the notebook.

The main problem with the paper notebook is the vast amount of time spent transcribing the data to a database or Excel spreadsheet. The ButterflyNet project aims not to enforce new working methods, but rather to add features to the paper notebook. This is done by using a digital pen, that is able to capture pen strokes. A camera in the pen track a dot pattern on the paper, which lets the pen know where on the page and on which page the user is writing. In addition to the digital capture, the pen is also an ordinary ink pen. The ButterflyNet software can organize the notes, associate it with other media (such as images) based on the time stamp and aid in the transcribing of data. Also specimens can be tagged and associated with notes using a 2D barcode.

2.6.2 Sabima PDA application

Sabima (Samarbeidsr˚adet for biologisk mangfold) is the Norwegian cooperation council for biolog- ical diversity. It is an organization representing several other organizations such as the Norwegian botanical society and the Norwegian zoological society. Sabima is involved in mapping of flora, mushrooms and insects, particularly red list species. Some of their mappers use a PDA application

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2.6. Related work 25

in their fieldwork. This is a proprietary application developed for Sabima. The application is based on a PDA version of ArcGIS[6] by ESRI.

The application allows users to browse a map, as well as view and place placemarks. With the placemark users can enter data regarding a red list species finding. Much of this is standard choices, which the user can select from a list. The application can use a Bluetooth GPS receiver to obtain position, or the user can mark a position manually on the map.

2.6.3 GBIF

GBIF is the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. It is an international organization focusing on the availability of data on biodiversity. GBIF has created a set of tools for collaboratively maintain- ing a database of biodiversity data. Amongst the tools are web services for accessing biodiversity data. GBIF’s main programme areas are:

• Data Access and Database Interoperability

• Digitisation of Natural History Collections

• Electronic Catalogue of Names of Known Organisms

• Outreach and Capacity Building 2.6.4 CyberTracker

CyberTracker[4] is a software developed by CyberTracker Conservation, a non-profit organization promoting the development of a worldwide environmental monitoring network. The software runs on different PDA platforms, and is used for digital field data collection. It is highly customizable, and can be suited for collecting different data without programming skills. The interface may be based on graphical icons for increased efficiency, and also for the software to be used by children or non-literate users. A goal of the CyberTracker Conservation organization is involving both scientists and local communities in data mapping. Georeferenced data is gathered using a GPS, and photos can be attached to data points. A field guide may also be added, helping in species identification.

An example application of the CyberTracker software is in monitoring of wild animals. Tradi- tional African trackers have assisted scientists, with their expertise on animals and their behavior.

They can identify animals and complex behavior from spoor, and hence give information on rarely seen, such as nocturnal, animals. The CyberTracker software has been used by such trackers to gather data independently[9]. This resulted in a high volume of very detailed data that a scientist

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would never be able to gather himself. Because the interface is made up of icons, the software was successfully used by trackers that could not read or write and had never used a computer before.

In another application it was used to perform social surveys in informal settlements in South Africa. Informal settlements are communities with no official governing body. They are often ille- gal, and are characterised by continual social change, high levels of conflict, solidarity and schism.

Solidarity when dealing with outside agents, such as land owners and government. Conflicts in- ternally between individuals and factions for power and resources. In preparation of developing such a settlement, social surveys were performed by community members using CyberTracker [1].

Relevant data was collected continually, which was important in such a fast changing community.

Also because the survey was performed by community members it was trusted by the community.

In this case however icons was found to be difficult to understand, and the survey questions was rather represented by short phrases. The users in this project were described as semi-literate.

2.6.5 The contribution of this project

This project will investigate mobile phones used for flora mapping. Thus taking on a more specific utility compared to ButterflyNet. While ButterflyNet is designed for heterogeneous data, species and mapping data is more homogeneous, and therefore more suitable for purely digital collection.

The CyberTracker project shares a lot of the goals as this project. It was also devised for use in biodiversity monitoring, and to enable non-scientists to contribute data using mobile digital tools.

It is likely that the CyberTracker software could be adapted for flora mapping. Still using graphical icons would be difficult for flora mapping. The most accurate way to describe a species is by it’s name, which is unambiguous. Finding a graphical icon representing one of several hundred species would be impractical. Also flora mapping software needs to accommodate flora mappers working methods in order to be efficient.

Another aim with this project is using hardware already available to most people. Therefore we target mobile phones rather than PDAs, like the CyberTracker and ArcGIS-based project described above do. Another advantage of using phones is the network connectivity, which allow data to be uploaded immediately. This reduce the risk of loosing data because of hardware or software failure.

I have also not been able to find other projects dealing especially with species checklists.

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Chapter 3

Users and scenario

In this chapter I will present the potential users. Then I will present current working methods and digital working methods using scenarios.

3.1 Users

Through my work on this project I’ve had contact with many possible users for this software. It has become apparent that they come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Hence their attitudes towards technology, and this software project as well as what functionality they would find useful in the software is very varied.

One group of potential users are those who work with species mapping as a profession. This is mainly botanists and researchers employed in academics or public administration. Another group are amateurs which partake in flora mapping as a hobby. A third group who may not be considered a user of the system, but rather a stakeholder, are people who use the data gathered by mappers.

This include politicians and administration, which may need to take flora mapping data into consid- eration.

When establishing requirements for a software system it is important to consider the users. In the following sections I will discuss the different categories of users, and point out differences and similarities.

3.1.1 Professional botanists

The feature that these people have in common is that they work with flora mapping as a profession.

They are usually botanists, and often involved in research or administration. Contrary to most 27

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hobbyists, they are the ones who will actually use the data gathered during flora mapping. One key priority of this user group is quality and accuracy of the data. They will also be specific regarding which areas they select to map.

These users may have more specific goals in their fieldwork, than generally mapping species.

E.g. they may search for the spread of a specific species in an area. Or they may look for species not documented in a certain area. Therefore they may employ different working methods, and will often have their own individual working methods.

3.1.2 Amateur hobbyists

This group consist of people with an interest in botany, but who are not professional botanist. They will usually have at least fairly good knowledge about species, and are able to identify many species.

They will also have a good grasp on botanical lingo and concepts.

They will usually have different motivation for doing fieldwork from the former group. One motivation is that they enjoy nature and hiking. Another important motivation for hobbyists is the community and social side. These factors are generally more important to this group than the data gathered itself. Many hobbyists collect plants for their private reference herbaria, and will also send specimens to public herbaria for identification or if they are of particular interest.

Though they are not users of the collected data in the same way as the former group, several amateurs have expressed an interest in having access to the data. For those who contribute data to herbaria and central databases, being able to see that their data is actually made available and put to use, is an encouragement. Also access to the data let’s them see what other enthusiasts are doing. There is also some prestige associated with finding certain rare species. Having access to mapping data may also give amateurs ideas on new areas to map, or where a certain species they are particularly interested in may be found.

3.1.3 Data users

This third group are people not directly involved in the mapping process, but who are still affected by software such as this. These are people who use the data collected, such as politicians and administration. They are not users of the software described in this thesis, but can still be considered a stakeholder.

Species mapping data is sometimes used in administration when regulating an area for a certain use. Planned roads may need to be moved if the planned placement interfere with the habitat of a

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3.2. Scenarios 29

rare or endangered species.

This group will, like the first, prioritize the quality and accuracy of the data. This group will usually not possess any expertise in botanical science, and depend on the first group to interpret the data and present it in a form they may understand.

3.1.4 What does users have in common?

One thing all flora mappers have in common, whether amateur or professional, is that their main interest is the flora, not the technology. Even if some are fascinated by technology, they certainly doesn’t want to concentrate on technology when out doing field work. Also much more time is available indoors than out in the field. As a result, the time spent doing fieldwork is considered more valuable than time in the office or lab. Therefore the tools used in the field must be efficient.

Using digital tools to register data in the field will certainly reduce the amount of post-processing of data, such as manually entering data into a database. If however this means users will spend more time in the field registering it may not validate employing the new tools.

The different user groups are not clinically separate either. Some professionals may join amateurs in the field. At both the organized flora mapping gatherings I attended there was a blend of both groups. Amateurs often rely on professional botanists expertise in identifying species as well.

The botanical museum at Oslo University accept specimen samples from amateurs for identification.

3.2 Scenarios

Scenarios are a good way of describing actual usage situations. I’ve written three scenarios, describing flora mappers working both with and without mobile digital tools.

3.2.1 Current working methods The flora guardian

Kjell has contacted Sabima, stating an interest in their Floravokter (flora guardian) project. This is a project where amateur botanists monitor a site where a red list species is found. The work consist of visiting a known site once, or a couple of times, each year, and report the state of the site. This is very important work, which enables red list species to be monitored. Also changes in the population or habitat can be discovered early. Kjell is not a botanist by profession, but have for some time been interested in botany. He works as a school teacher, and teach natural sciences. He is also a member

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of a local botanical society. Kjell therefore have quite good knowledge of botany, and can identify many species.

The flora guardian project was recently made aware of a previously unknown site where fen violet (viola persicifolia) could be found in Kjell’s municipality. This species is classified as vulnerable in the Norwegian red list. The site was found by another amateur who was not aware that he had found a red list species. This was discovered when he sent a sample to the herbaria at the botanical museum in Oslo for identification.

The amateur had not provided an accurate position, so Kjell first had to locate the site. He knew that it was found on the bank of a certain river, so he started following the river looking for the plant.

While walking he would sometimes stop to indicate on his map where he had walked, to make sure he wouldn’t search the same area twice.

After about one and a half hour Kjell encountered a flower that looked like the pictures he had seen of the fen violet. He took out his flora and looked for sings to help him identify the plant.

After consulting his flora he was certain that this was in fact the correct species. Kjell proceeded to take his notebook and GPS receiver out of his backpack. In the notebook he noted the species name, the name of the location and the UTM coordinates from his GPS receiver. He also marked the place as best he could on his map for his own reference as he would have to re-visit this location in the future. In his notebook he described the ecology of the site. He also used his digital camera to take several pictures, both of the flower itself and of the site to further document the habitat. He also counted the number of individual plants and noted this. He then walked a little further to see if more of the species could be found nearby, but he couldn’t find any more. On this walk however he saw some wheat fields nearby, and noted migration of pesticides or fertilizer in the ground water as a possible threat to the site.

Upon returning home Kjell started his home computer and found the web based report form for reporting red list findings. Here he started by entering the name of the species, the name of the location and his own name. For habitat and possible threats he could choose from a list of alternatives. For habitat he selected “waters edge, running water” and for threats he selected “Use of pesticides” and “Use of fertilizer”. The next thing he could enter is the UTM position, which he had noted at the site. Here he had the choice between marking an area as a polygon, or one or more points. Since the finding was just a single site, he entered a single point and noted the number of individuals he had found there. He also had the opportunity to register specimen samples he was going to send to the herbaria, but Kjell had not taken any samples, it was after all already a rare species. He did however upload two images from his digital camera. One of the flower itself, and

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3.2. Scenarios 31

another showing an overview of the location.

3.2.2 Mobile phone aided working methods Rough mapping from a car

Rune is a botanist by profession, and is employed in the county administration. In recent years a new species have been introduced in the region, the heracleum lacinatum, or “Tromsø palm” as it is known in Norway. This is a giant hogweed that did not occur naturally in Norway. Because it is very sturdy and spread easily it is considered a threat to biodiversity. Therefore Rune is interested to see how far it has spread.

The “Tromsø palm” can usually be found along roads or railroad tracks. Also it is a big plant and can easily be identified at some distance. Rune decide to map the extent of the plant from his car. He brings along his mobile phone and Bluetooth GPS receiver. He starts up his flora mapping software on the phone. He specifies to the software that he is going to map the “Tromsø palm”, and after the GPS acquire a fix he starts driving. The software communicate with the GPS to get the exact position, and log the route Rune drive. Each time Rune spots a “Tromsø palm” he press a button on the mobile phone. The software then reads it’s current position and register a finding of the plant. The software automatically upload the registered data to a server, and the data is stored in a database.

Back in his office Rune can retrieve the data from the database and generate a map showing each registration he did earlier. Even though this is only a rough mapping, it gives Rune a good picture of where the plant has spread. He can also retrieve data from a similar mapping he did a year earlier.

Seeing both data sets on the same map clearly shows that it has spread only in the last year.

The only way of reducing the spread of the “Tromsø palm” is to repeatedly cut it down. Using the data collected Rune can estimate the cost of reducing the population of “Tromsø palm”, and it can be used to validate spending money on cutting them.

Flora mapping gathering

Veronica is a hobbyist botanist, and is participating in a flora mapping gathering organized by her local botanical society. About 25 people are participating at the gathering, and for three days they will try to map as much of the area as possible. On the first day they are organized in 8 groups of 3-4 people each. The area to map has been divided into 35 5x5 km squares.

After studying the map Veronica’s group choose a square to map the first day. They go to a computer, and register their choice on a web based form. This reserve the square in question, and

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the other groups may not choose it. After studying the map further they agree on two routes within the square that will enable them to cover a wide variety of different habitats, meaning they will probably find many different species. Again on the computer, they mark the different habitats as points of interest.

The next morning they are ready for the first field day. The group decide that Veronica is to be responsible for registering species, as she is the one with the best knowledge on species. Veronica takes out her mobile phone, and starts the flora mapping application. She also turns on her Bluetooth GPS receiver She enters the id for her group, and the application connects to a server to download the data they entered into the system earlier. After a short while the handset shows a map of the area, with the square they are to map indicated by a red outlined square on the map. Also she can see the points of interest, and her own position marked on the map.

They drive to the first location they marked, where they plan to follow a dirt road about a kilometer up to a little lake. They will probably be able to find many species along the road, and some more by the lake. Upon arriving they leave the car and start walking. They all look for plants at the side of the road. On the mobile phone application, Veronica switches from the map mode to the species checklist mode. The handset take a little while to download the checklist for the area.

When this is ready Veronica see a list of species names, in Latin, sorted alphabetically, a search field, a little bar where the Norwegian name of the highlighted species is shown for reference, and a little green icon indicating that they are within the boundaries of their square.

They immediately begin to register the species they find nearby. One is the carex rostrata, or flaskestarr as it is called in Norwegian. The checklist contains about 600 species, of which there is only room for 10 at a time on the small screen on her mobile phone. Therefore, to find the species more quickly, she use the search field. She enters “carex” and selects “search” from the menu. The list is updated, now only showing the species that start with the search phrase “carex”. Still there are many species in the carex genus of plants. More than 100, of which maybe 60-70 is on the checklist for this area. So she decides to further narrow the search, and adds the letter r to the search field so the search phrase now is “carex r”. Again she selects “search” from the menu, and this time only 2 entries show up. They are “Carex riparia” and “Carex rostrata”. Veronica highlights the second entry and press the “enter” key on the phone keyboard. A tick appears next to the species name, which is now registered as found.

A while later, when approaching the lake, one of the other group members find the species brønnkarse. No one in the group can remember the Latin name of this species. Veronica therefore selects “Use local names” from the menu. Now the list contains the Norwegian names instead,

Designing Mobile Tools For Flora Mapping