Using SurveyArea3

This page describes how to use SurveyArea3

Using SurveyArea3 to measure Area

Measuring area with SurveyArea and a GPS is really easy. Basically you just start the program and connect the GPS. When you start the application you will see a screen that allows you to choose Basic Mode or Advanced Mode.

Difference between Basic Mode and Advanced Mode

Basic mode is a bit easier to use for non-experienced users because there are no confusing settings and stuff. All the user has to do is to press the Start button and start measuring. Once he's done, he presses the Area button to view his measurement or to save it.

Advanced mode just allows the user to change some of the settings. But in reality, most users do the setup once in Advanced Mode and thereafter only uses the Basic Mode to do their measurements. Any settings changes done in Advanced Mode, also applies to Basic Mode.

How to Measure

Go to the start position where you want to measure, press start and start walking around the perimeter of the area to be measured. You should see a map being drawn as you walk. The map is automatically scaled to fit the screen and the scalebar at the top helps to keep some perspective. You will also note that the current position is connected automatically to the starting position to complete the polygon. This may cause the shape to look a bit strange in the beginning of the measurement but as you approach the end it will assume the correct shape. A small green arrow shows your current position and direction and everything is drawn relative to true north.

You can pause and restart the measurement as many times as you like during a measurement. Please note that the map is automatically updated while the number of measured points are less than 100. But when the number of points exceeds 100, you have to click on the map each time you want an update of the drawing. This is done to give optimal performance to the program.

At any time during the measurement you can click on the Area tab to see the area measured so far. This is displayed as shown below:

As you can see, the Area is shown in the unit that you selected. This distance here refers to the distance that you walked around the circumference of the field in order do the measurement. (The trial version of the program always shows the area as 0.0)
Points are the number of nodes in the polygon that makes up the entire measurement.
Latitude and Longitude are the coordinates of the last point measured. (Should be the same as the starting point).
IsCleanPolygon refers to the fact if you double cross any lines while measuring the area. Ideally you should have a clean polygon in order to make a good area measurement. But in practice this is very difficult as GPS drift can sometimes cause small crossing of lines. This should not affect the measurements results too badly, but I recommend that you set a minimum speed of in order to compensate for GPS drift.
Device Name is just the name of your PPC device. This is useful in the email to distinguish which PPC made the measurement if more than one is used.
Email to and E-mail Acct is just the email address and account name used.
Attachments shows which files will be attached to the email. (Trial version will not actually generate or include the attachments)
Click on Send-Email to send the mail. Note that the mail is not normally sent right away. The mail is only put in the outbox of the mail account you selected and will be sent once synchronization takes place. The actual files that will be attached are also only generated when the "Send Email" button is pressed.

To measure a new area:

To start measuring a new area, click on Menu -> New Area. After this you will have to press the start button once again before the map will start reflecting the new measurement.

FAQ

1. Which PPC can I use with SurveyArea3?

A. SurveyArea3 was designed to work on a PPC that runs Windows Mobile V5.0. If your PPC runs PPC 2003 or PPC 2002, then you are advised to rather use SurveyArea2. You can download SurveyArea2 here.

2. Which type of GPS can I use with SurveyArea3?

Any kind of GPS that outputs NMEA 0183 strings. This includes normal serial GPS's, CF GPS's, Bluetooth GPS's and built-in GPS's.

3. How do I set up my Bluetooth GPS to work with SurveyArea3?

The instructions can be found here.

4. How accurate is SurveyArea3?

The larger the area that you measure, the better the results in percentage terms. Small areas (less than 1000 sqr meters) are normally not very accurate due to GPS inaccuracies and drift. But when areas are about 5 hectares or more the results are in fact quite good. We do not recommend using surveyArea3 as a complete replacement of normal land surveying to be used in legal disputes etc, but for normal farming use this is perfect.

5. I just want to use SurveyArea3 to mark the locations of specific places. What do you recommend?

I know a real estate agent that uses SurveyArea to mark to location of real estate properties. She has the minimum speed set to zero so SurveyArea would pick up GPS drift even when stationary. Then she would go to the site, start SurveyArea3 and just let it record a few points while stationary. Then she emails the Google Earth KML file for herself and uses this later on back at the office to see exactly where the site is located in Google Earth and she can even forward the KML file to potential clients anywhere in the world. To use it in this way is very quick and easy.

6. When I try to run SurveyArea3 on my PPC, I get a message that says "This application (SurveyArea3.exe) requires a newer version of Microsoft® .NET Comapct Framework than the version installed on this device." What now?

SurveyArea3 was designed for Windows Mobile V5.0 operating system. You probably do not have a device that has PPC2003 or older. But there is a workaround if your operating system is at least PPC2003. Please follow these steps to install SurveyArea3 on a device that runs PPC2003.

7. I do not see all the ports in the GPS settings screen

SurveyArea3 looks which ports really exists on your PPC and only display those. This makes it a bit easier to find the right port where the GPS is located. However, if you find the expected port is not in the list, then it probably means your PPC is not seeing this port. In case you are using a BT GPS, make sure BT is turned on and refer to the section called "Connecting a bluetooth GPS to Pocket PC WM 2005"

8. How do I view Google Earth KML file?

See the section "how to view kml files" to learn how.

9. Can I view ESRI shapefile file Google Maps?

Yes. See the section "How to display Shapefiles in Googlemaps"

10. Do you have any other tips on how to use SurveyArea to get best possible results?

Yes, see my tips below:

11. How can I transfer my measurement results from my PPC to my home computer?

SurveyArea3 can either email the results directly to any email address or it can save it on the PPC where you can retrieve it later by ActiveSync file transfer. To send it as an email attachment, all you need to do is supply a destination email address in the settings part in Advanced Mode (See section on Email Settings). If you prefer not to send it as an email, but would rather save it on the PPC device itself, then just do not supply an email address. If no email address was set up, the appropriate button will change from "Email" to "Save".

TIPS:

1. Always set a minimum speed to avoid GPS drift inaccuracies.

2. Always set a minimum DOP of about10 to ensure best possible measurement results.

3. Most PPC are set to switch off automatically when working on battery power. This can be very annoying while measuring area in the field. Avoid this by turning of this feature before starting to measure. To do this you select Start -> Settings -> System -> Power -> Advanced. This gives the following screen:

Make sure that the tickbox named "On battery power: Turn off device if not used for" is NOT ticked. And remember to turn it back on after you finished measuring.

4. If using a Bluetooth GPS, always make sure the GPS set-up is correct as described in connecting a BT GPS to your PPC. I found to my annoyance that I often have repeat this procedure as WM5 seems to forget its association with the BT GPS.

5. If you switched the PPC off and back on, then sometimes it is necessary to go to the GPS Settings screen and disconnect and connect again in order to restore the GPS connection.

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