ARTICLE IN PRESS

Computers & Geosciences 32 (2006) 673–680

www.elsevier.com/locate/cageo

MAP IT: The GIS software for field mapping with tablet pc
Mauro De Donatis, Lorenzo Bruciatelli
LINEE—Laboratory of Information-Technology for Earth and Environmental Sciences, Universita’ degli Studi di Urbino ‘‘Carlo Bo’’,
Campus Scientifico – Loc. Crocicchia, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Received 25 January 2005; received in revised form 12 September 2005; accepted 12 September 2005

Abstract

Map IT is a proper Geographic Information System (GIS) software designed for digital mapping and data capture with
tablet pc that ought to be tested and evaluated by field geologists and people who project and use field systems and geologic
databases.
It can be easily used at different levels of digital knowledge. The digital pen writing on the sunlight readable screen of a
rugged tablet pc is similar to the traditional way by which geologists draw lines and other features on a base map and write
hand notes on a field book. If the entry level of this software is very simple, going ahead, step by step, Map IT keep its user-
friendly interface.
Global Positioning System (GPS) connected device allows to capture points (i.e. bedding measurements), lines (i.e. faults
and stratigraphic boundaries) and polygons (i.e. landslides, large outcrops) and to georeference any file created by the
surveyor via date and time through an intuitive method.
Then a slip of yellow paper (Easy Note) can be used to take short notes and link any files (hand notes, recorded sound
and/or voice notes, hand sketches, digital photos) by drag-and-drop. After the picture, downloaded from digital camera
into the computer, has been linked in Easy Note, a photo display allows to visualize and sketch the photos for outcrop or
landscape interpretations and notes.
Moreover any kind of software useful for data capturing (i.e. spreadsheets, stereoplots, etc.) can be used to generate files
which can be linked to Map IT database.
If the mapping project is pre-organized by standardized symbology and conventional ontology for interoperability, the
project manager can easily customize forms to be filled by the surveyors to input data directly into the database. However,
the field geologist can keep flexibility in unexpected field situations using Easy Note and other digital note and sketch
recorder in addition.
In case of working with groups of surveyors, the data can be sent via communications technologies (GPRS or UMTS) to
a central server with high reduction of time for building a GIS or more simply a real-time cartography, which would be
important, for example, when natural or anthropogenic disasters occur.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Field digital mapping; GIS; GPS; Tablet pc

1. Introduction

Corresponding author. Tel.:/fax: +39 722 304295. One of the greatest needs of Geographic In-
E-mail address: dedonatis@uniurb.it (M. De Donatis). formation System (GIS) users is to be able to use

0098-3004/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2005.09.003
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
674 M. De Donatis, L. Bruciatelli / Computers & Geosciences 32 (2006) 673–680
specialized instruments for surveying and analysis
of information directly in the field. This applies also
to Earth scientists and technicians. In recent years,
geologists, both from academia and national
geologic surveys, have tried to find a way to use
information-technologies directly in the field for
mapping (e.g. Briner et al., 1999; Soller, 2000, and
reference therein; Brimhall and Vanegas, 2001;
Akciz et al., 2002; Howard, 2002; Brodaric, 2004;
McCaffrey et al., 2005).
Until recently, palm computers have performed
some field mapping functions, but with substantial
limitations caused by reduced screen size and
limited memory capacity and calculation, thereby
making it impossible to display large-dimension
base cartography. Some mapping was conducted
with laptop computer. Unfortunately the outdoor
conditions (sunlight, dust and/or rain) strongly
limited their use (Walker and Black, 2000; Niemi
et al., 2002). The introduction of tablet pc is
revolutionizing this field, by uniting in a single
device the utility of a palm computer with the power
of a modern laptop computer.
The collaboration between academia (LINEE or
Laboratory of Information-Technology for Earth
and Environmental Sciences of Urbino University)
and industry (TERRA NOVA, a software house
specialized in GIS) has allowed the fulfilment of
Map IT, an innovative software for the tablet pc,
intended for those who wish to utilize GIS for
gathering geological information in the field.
2. Geological mapping with information technologies
The idea to create an instrument that takes
advantage of the possibilities offered by the tablet
pc—while developed for adapting all possible uses
in the field and with all the functionalities of a
professional GIS—was born from several years of
experience in geological surveying using traditional
methods for creating geological maps at different
scales, both in the scientific and in the technological
aspects of regional and national mapping (i.e.
Geologic Map at the scale of 1:10,000 of the Emilia
Romagna Region, and the Italian Geological
Cartography Project—CARG—at 1:50,000 scale).
The traditional tablet on which lined paper is
folded and the invaluable field book of the geologic
surveyor may now be replaced in most cases by the
tablet pc.
The original idea was to create a tool to be
efficiently and simply used in the field by geologists
who often have a limited knowledge of GIS and
who wish to minimize the learning time of new
technologies. Moreover, the information gathered
and immediately entered drastically reduces errors
and loss of information. From the personal field
book to map synthesis, to a report or an accom-
panying illustrative note, from a freehand field map
to a map digitized by a technology expert (probably
not a geologist!), the loss of information is truly
elevated, as those who work in this field know
(Jones et al., 2004).
Commonly, the data, sketches, and interpreta-
tions which lead to a final synthesis remain in the
surveyor’s field book or in the surveyor’s mind
(until it slips out of memory). In many cases, the
geologists, at the end of a surveying project, present
their work (which often consists of a paper map, a
legend, and, if all goes well, illustrative notes and
cross-sections) to the director or coordinator of the
project, who has certainly not been in each point of
the mapped area as a surveyor and therefore does
not have the ability to evaluate the final product.
Example: does a measurement have a regional value
or is it merely linked to an incidental location? If
one knows the geographic path walked by the
surveyor, and his/her thought processes, it is a little
easier to answer this question.
3. The software
Map IT is developed in MS Visual Basic as a
professional GIS, with all of the tools for creating
and maintaining a Geographic Information System,
and an interface designed for outdoor use with a
tablet pc.
Map IT’s principal functions are:
 Build a project, construct layers, choose a
symbology, organize the database structure,
prepare data input forms.
 Import from, and export to, standard vector data
formats (ESRI Shapefile, ArcInfo UNGENE-
RATE, AutoCad DWG/DXF, MapInfo MIF,
NTF cadastral) and raster formats (TIFF, BMP,
JPG, GIF, PNG, MrSID, ECW, etc.).
 Draw points, arcs, polygons, annotations. While
drawing, various help functions are available
(Snap Node/Near, Lock Angle, Close arc about
the initial node, Insert/modify the coordinates via
the keyboard, etc.).
 Manage alphanumeric information in the
database linked to graphic objects, with the
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possibility of editing, adding or eliminating any
attribute, of selecting objects, executing queries,
calculations and statistics, visualizing graphic
elements on the basis of the associated attribute.
 Georeference vector and raster data, based on
both control points and the warping of non-
georeferenced data onto georeferenced ones.
 Convert coordinates among the most widely used
projection systems of the world.
 Carry out main topological operations such as
superimposing themes (union, intersection and
identity), union of adjacent features based on
associated attributes (dissolve arcs and poly-
gons), clipping, buffer creation about points,
lines and polygons, building topology, interactive
correction of topological errors, etc.
 Manage raster data. It is possible to accomplish
raster clipping and mosaics and to make trans-
parent any defined colour.
 Print your projects by scale or entire page,
personalizing the print layout to your liking.
 Display the current ground position in real time.
Map IT connects to any Global Positioning
System (GPS) network.
 Directly acquire points and arcs from the GPS or
perform tracking operations.
 Create personalized forms to guide input of data
while surveying.
 Gather information with extreme flexibility and
freedom thanks to Easy Note (see Section 5).
 Use the digital pen to select commands, write
notes, make sketches, highlight areas directly on
the map or images.
Fig. 1. Rugged tablet pc connected to a GPS antenna via USB port. The dialog window shows GPS connection settings.
675
In addition to displaying the base cartography,
Map IT can load orthorectified aerial photographs,
satellite images at different resolutions, seismic
sections, well locations, and all data that may be
surveyed and interpreted in different layers.
Map IT therefore offers all of the essential tools
of a Geographic Information System, yet is
integrated in a fast and practical interface designed
for users who utilize Digital-Ink (technology that
digitally represents handwriting in its natural form)
to add or modify graphic elements in a cartography.
The proprietary functions above mentioned make
Map IT a complete, unique and valuable tool for
those who wish to directly apply the technology of
Geographical Information Systems on-site.
4. Connecting to GPS
Map IT connects to any GPS simply by specifying
the port number of the GPS receiver of the tablet pc
(Fig. 1). The GPS settings window of the Map IT
interface conveys information relative to the path of
the data collector (speed and direction) and to the
status of the satellites.
While conducting field work, the data collector
can display the current ground position on the
tablet pc’s map display, in real time. This function-
ality is fundamental when a surveyor is working in
an area without any direct points of reference,
which pinpoint the exact position on the map. When
direct points of reference are available, immediate
comparison and validation of displayed map and
field observations may be made.
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Map IT allows the user to set the interval (in
seconds) for receiving the positioning information
from the GPS receiver. In this way, Map IT
calculates the average fix received from the GPS in
a time interval specified by the user, considerably
improving the data precision. Once a GPS connec-
tion is established, Map IT lets the user centre the
current display about the receiver coordinates, or,
while surveying in motion, maintain the data
collector position at the centre of the view while
moving the cartography as with a satellite navigator
(following the position of the GPS).
Selecting the Capture Point command, a point is
drawn on the map in the exact position of the data
collector. In this way, a point feature is instantly
created and information may be added to it.
This function is extremely useful when surveying
the position of precise points such as wells,
springs, quarries, etc. Moreover, it is possible to
automatically cover such points with an associated
symbol.
Map IT also allows the user to capture a path
from a series of coordinates from the GPS. In this
case, Map IT offers the possibility to choose
whether to capture the path data as points or arcs
and whether to set a spatial tolerance (in meters)
and a time period (in seconds) for capturing the
data. This function allows the creation of a path
map of a park, simply by walking along its
pathways. In geology it could be used for directly
mapping stratigraphic boundaries, marker beds,
fault traces (Maerten et al., 2001), etc., when
outcrop conditions are favourable.
All the graphic objects captured by the GPS
become active elements of the project. Having an
associated spreadsheet of GPS data, they can be
processed afterwards. Map IT can carry out some
post-processing, such as concatenating points cap-
tured by GPS in the same layer. By doing so, those
points become vertices of a polyline that links
chronologically ordered points. The user can choose
if he/she wants to eliminate the points after the line
is drawn.
Another useful tool offered by Map IT is the
possibility to georeferencing documents created
during a surveying execution. Imagine having
mapped an outcrop, you might record structural
measurement in a spreadsheet, take pictures with a
digital camera, write a few annotations in a text file,
or record some voice notes. Map IT automatically
links the documents to the exact position on the
cartography in which they were created, using the
date/time information of the creation of the file
along with the data recorded by the GPS receiver.
Thus, all activity recorded in the field (photographs,
written notes, measurement spreadsheet, drawings,
etc.) may be automatically linked to a geographic
position.
The GPS attached to the system gives the
advantage of being able to note the places where
the surveyor has passed and qualify (along with the
positioning of outcrops) the degree of approxima-
tion/accuracy of interpretation in the geological
map.
Therefore, this method allows to georeference
even the thoughts of the geologist. In fact, the
hypotheses, the interpretations and all that a
surveyor experiences are the result of what he/she
sees and thinks in a given moment. Later develop-
ments, modifications and variations of the inter-
pretations may also be followed geographically.
5. Easy note—multimedia collector of georeferenced
information
Map IT can associate various geographical
objects with textual information or with the link
to any document readable in Windows (.doc, .xls,
.mdb, images, html files, etc.) via Easy Note, a tool
for taking impromptu notes (Fig. 2). When the Easy
Note window appears on the screen, it is possible to
write on the note free-hand using the digital pen or
by typing text using the keyboard.
It can be attached by just clicking on the features
already existing in the base cartography or Easy
Note is automatically displayed when a new graphic
object is inserted, or it can be linked to an existing
feature on the map by clicking on it. Or, simply
dragging a document inside the yellow Easy Note
window creates a link to the file from any
application present on the PC (Fig. 3).
Hovering the pen pointer over a graphic object
which already has associated information, the user
may display the previously stored text or open the
documents linked to the object.
This slip of paper becomes a multimedia collector
of all the information that the surveyor intends to
associate to a given graphic object.
Right-clicking on a file’s icon, a pop-up menu
appears which offers the user the possibility to open
the file, view the file’s properties or remove the file
from Easy Note.
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Fig. 2. Screen shot of Map IT with Easy Note and Image Display window.

image display (Fig. 4). This simple tool was

Fig. 3. Easy Note: in upper part you can write using a digital pen
or on-screen-keyboard; in lower part you can insert links to any
kind of file.
designed to instantaneously display all image files
and manage them quickly and practically. The
toolbar offers the user several functions.
Therefore, it is possible to write comments or
make sketches on the image choosing the colour and
thickness of the pen. The image is not modified since
the notes are inserted as a glossy transparency that
may be displayed or hidden from view. In each case,
it is possible to save a copy of the image with the
notes and the renderings made by the data collector.
7. Form editor—creation of custom forms

Via the Map IT Form Editor tool (Fig. 5), custom

6. Image display
A great aid during field data capture is given by
digital photography. Shooting a picture and down-
loading it into a computer is quite easy also in the
field. The in situ digital interpretation of the image
may be less artistic then old fashion sketches from a
geologist’s field book, but can keep much more
information and also can be reinterpreted.
Therefore, if the file inserted in Easy Notes is an
image file such as a picture, the pop-up menu also
contains choices to open the file in the Map IT
forms may be prepared for the guided and
facilitated insertion of data in the field. Each time
a new feature is inserted in a project theme, the
appropriate form created for the feature of the
theme appears so that the data collector immedi-
ately sees the information that must be gathered.
When creating a form, it is possible to insert
labels, text fields, frames, check boxes, option
buttons, combo boxes, list boxes, etc.
The common properties found on every form are
text (the text displayed in the control), font (the
character format of the text which appears in the
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Fig. 4. Image Display: you can sketch and write notes using digital pen.
control), backcolor (the background colour of the
control), and left, top, width, height (the size and
position of the control).
The user can add the attributes to be associated
with an object. In this way, the data collector defines
the feature attributes, updating the database table
records of all attributes associated with the feature.
This results in a simpler and faster system: it is
similar to using a template in MS Access to fill a
database table.
The IsNeeded property specifies whether input is
required for a given field. When the property is set
to ‘‘true’’, the data collector cannot close the form
until the field is filled. The user also may set a
default selection for any controls.
The combo box and list box controls may be pre-
filled via the Items property, by which it is possible
to set the list choices both as text or as an associated
value.
8. Double level for users
Prior to beginning a mapping excursion, it is
necessary to properly prepare the project to be
surveyed. Map IT provides the possibility to build a
project on two levels.
The first level is that of the manager that sets all of
the characteristics of the project which the data
collector will use in the field. This stage consists of
the preparation of a series of cartographic themes
integrating information from the most commonly
used formats used in GIS environments for building
the base cartography. Moreover, the manager
defines the symbols of the graphic objects that the
data collector must utilize.
The second level concerns the surveyor who
physically carries out the mapping. The surveyor
may be the manager or a different person. The
surveyor will work within the simplified bounds of
the interface prepared by the manager for the quick
insertion of information. Each time a cartographic
element is added to a theme, the appropriate form
appears for the insertion of the data that must be
gathered for the associated theme.
The possibility of a double-tiered use can further
impose greater uniformity among different sur-
veyors. The same legends, symbols, observation
tables and data gathering may be imposed for all
surveyors. In this way, also the difference between
corporate and individual information gathered in
the field can be reduced (Brodaric, 2004) when
working, for example, in an industrial, national or
regional mapping project.
9. Applicable fields
Even if this system was initially designed for
geologic mapping, when we were developing the
software we realized that it should be open to as
many applications as possible, as any GIS has to be.
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Fig. 5. Window of Form Editor in upper part of the figure. In this example a form to collect bedding measurements is customized. Any
field of form is connected to database and it can be easily created and edited. In lower part of this figure exemplificative layer (theme) of
‘‘BEDDING’’ is shown. When a point in this layer is inserted (by hand or GPS), ‘‘bedding measurement form’’ is opened to be filled. Once
the data are entered, chosen symbol, labelled with dip value, appears in surveyed point with rotation depending on dip direction.

Map IT can be used in any sector in which GIS is
used and, in particular, the fields which require the
capture of field data (e.g. geology, environment,
archeology, forestry, agriculture, path systems, land
register, infrastructure, civil protection, etc.). There-
fore, it can help also in any decision-making in the
field (Carver et al., 1995). We would like to create a
web community where people can share information
and exchange forms and symbols they have created
for any project or application they developed.
Unlike to some non-GIS software for field
mapping (Brimhall and Vanegas, 2001), we decided
to not develop any special button (i.e. bedding
orientation symbols) or command for visualizing
geological elements, but they can be loaded or
created for any layer.
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Two geological examples:
 if we are digitizing a polygon in the layer
‘‘landslides’’, an appropriate texture pattern can
be loaded and it will fill the area;
 if we wish to position a dip direction symbol, it is
possible to prepare a form showing any time a
point is inserted in the layer ‘‘dip measurements’’.
After filling the form with the dip measurement
and younging direction, an adequate symbol will
be shown on the map with the dip value.
10. Conclusions
Map IT supplants the net separation between the
surveying with coloured pencils of the ‘‘rugged field
geologist’’ and the click of the mouse of the ‘‘GIS
desk specialist’’, creating the role of the digital field
mapper who can also reduce the costs of the process
termed ‘‘secondary digitizing’’ (McCaffrey et al.,
2005). Also the geologic database does not have to
be filled out subsequently, but directly in the field.
This methodology offers the advantage of keep-
ing data in the project (which once was stored in the
personal field book) and obtaining uniformity of
symbology, colour, texture, etc., among different
field surveyors therefore facilitating the greater
exchange of information.
Although pre-defined forms can be used, the level
of free thought of the geologist is ensured. For
example, after having filled a form, the user may
also open a blank page in a text or illustration
program and write or draw as much as desired, and
with a simple drag-and-drop, may link the docu-
ment to a yellow note, georeferencing it immediately
with his/her thought.
Acknowledgements
Map IT project was supported at its start by
‘‘Provincia di Pesaro-Urbino’’ with a grant for
research project to Lorenzo Bruciatelli. The soft-
ware development work was mainly carried out at
Terra Nova laboratory (Urbania, Italy) under the
supervision of Davide De Marchi and the helps of
Andrea Bellancini, Giovanni Cantucci and Simone
Maffei. Rigorous field testing and procedures have
also been worked out by people of LINEE group.
The quality of this paper was greatly improved by
the constructive review of Dave Soller and by the
criticism of Guy Buller. Thanks to Giovanna Bruni
for editing the English of the last version of the text.
Mauro’s deepest thanks to Sara Susini for her
enthusiastic support.
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