Examination and comparison of Mobile GIS technology for real time geo-data acquisition in the field

Scientific studies associated with land require large amount of data. The data is often collected during field studies with the use of pencil and paper based method. The method is labour-intensive and susceptible to recording and georeferencing errors during transcription. Recent advances in mobile computing, positioning and software now make it possible to bring field and office activities into a collaborative environment, thereby minimizing human errors and time delays. This paper assesses the use of Mobile Geographic Information Systems (MGIS) as an appropriate tool for geo-data acquisition applications. Firstly the computing, positioning, software and communication technology behind the system is presented. A Mobile Geographic Information System developed for field data acquisition based on the combination of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) is described. Finally, the system is tested in two field studies to examine its effectiveness compared to traditional methods in terms of accuracy, cost and project completion time. The field studies demonstrate the noticeable gains in efficiency and cost saving achieved with the use of the MGIS technology, Results of the field studies verify that MGIS is very useful for georeferenced data acquisition applications.