The first tool in CAMS GIS has been in use since November 2021. The CAMS Weed App is on desktop as an ArcGIS Web App and also a beta version on ArcGIS Field Maps is available for smart phones.
The app enables users to record a weed site, details around the location and property and to record actions on the weed in real time on your phone or back at your home/office on your desktop. It is easy to position the GPS pin in exactly the right location.
One can quickly and easily record and update the core data about weed locations and their status.
New features allow you to optionally record:
• multiple visits to the weed location on different dates
• the height, area, number of stems present at the date visited
• the number of moth plant pods etc collected
• the number of volunteers who worked on the site and the hours they worked
• the treatment method and herbicide used (to allow tracking of the effectiveness of treatments)
Other features include:
• each volunteer can have their own named user login
• a property layer is available to advanced users undertaking projects
• all ESRI ArcGIS features are available to advanced users
The following screenshot shows a section of eastern Auckland showing work completed as yellow or green and sites yet to be visited as purple or red. While the app makes it easy to work at the level of individual detail, a large scale map makes it easier to visualise progress and to identify areas needing attention. For example the following map shows high levels of volunteer effort in some areas (largely yellow and green) and a lot of work needed in others.
To make it easier for volunteers to have a manageable workload, one can set up a map with the volunteer sector layer overlaying the weed locations layer. This allows one to allocate a manageable piece of work to volunteers in their local street(s). One can also display a layer with data collected in the survey tool.
The app is in use by the STAMP moth plant team and by other restoration group users who are reporting on the top 20 plus most invasive environmental weeds. There are currently over 22,000 weed locations recorded in the CAMS Weed Map with over 80 users registered.
CAMS weed app is one of many in our development road map. EcoNet can arrange access for your to the weed app for a small fee. Some umbrella groups are funding access so if you are part of one please ask them. Please contact us on office@econet.nz for more information.
