Mobile GIS for coastal ecology and Wetland investigation

SuperGeo Technologies develops a mobile GIS application for investigating the ecological environment in Hsiang-Shan Wetland. Through the collected data, analysts can effectively predict the impacts on the environment from economical development and meanwhile monitor the carrying capacity of development.

Sized 1,600 hectares, Hsiang-Shan Wetland is the biggest seashore wetland in northern Taiwan containing plentiful ecological system and abundant organic materials as well as species. Currently, there are nearly 300 kinds of resident birds and migratory birds, and more than 40 kinds of crabs, quantitating two hundred and fifty million crabs inhibiting in the Wetland

To avoid damage to the ecology from economic development is an important issue though. To solve this, the related unit utilizes GIS technologies for analyzing and integrating related resources to significantly minimize the impact on ecological environment and human economy.

The mass of data and the complex investigation items are big challenges that need to be overcome in the case. Thus, a mobile GIS application is applied in the investigation system. Using SuperPad, the full-function mobile GIS software, field surveyors are enabled to collect data, draw map, use GPS navigation etc. in the field. The first-hand data can therefore be collected efficiently and accurately for advanced analysis.

On the other hand, to make the applications of SuperPad meet the demands of field-workers more, SuperPad Studio, the development framework, is applied to customize SuperPad. Users can then customize user interface and forms further according to their needs for more specific functions and convenience.

To sum up, the project employs SuperPad as the main operation system to survey and collect complicated ecological data for detailed studies on land-use and coastal ecology. This can help the related staff control the biological resources and minimize the impacts on ecological environment and human economy. The thorough analysis can be the research base of ecological spatialization of environment management.