What Are Your Biggest Challenges with Field Data Collection?

Question

Hey everyone,

Field data collection is a critical part of many industries, whether you're mapping infrastructure, managing natural resources, monitoring environmental changes, or conducting asset inspections. However, it’s rarely a smooth process.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face when collecting field data? Some key areas to consider:

Accuracy & Precision – Are GPS inaccuracies or poor satellite reception affecting your data quality?
Connectivity Issues – Do you struggle with offline workflows, syncing data, or integrating real-time updates?
Equipment & Hardware Limitations – Are battery life, device durability, or compatibility with GIS tools a problem?
Data Management & Integration – Do you find it difficult to organize, analyze, or sync field data with your GIS system?
Training & User Adoption – Is getting field teams comfortable with digital tools a challenge?

I’d love to hear your experiences, whether it’s specific technology pain points, workflow inefficiencies, or even solutions you’ve found that work well. Let’s share insights and help each other improve field data collection workflows!

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Debert · Answer

Rural areas with little to no service reception. I have 215,000+ as-built notes/annotations turned into .tpkx's which makes creating .mmpk's (offline areas) a time consuming nightmare.

PegGronemeyer1 · Answer

Agree with @Obada_GeoGeek

Getting users to agree to even _try_ collecting data using apps is like pulling teeth.   Very frustrating. Even after showing examples of how the change could save time and money, even with training materials, offers of help, people want to write down data longhand in the field, then transfer to excel usually, then they want someone else to deal with getting it into GIS.  They do not seem to care about long-term investment in data - part of a larger problem.

@NorthernGeo  - agree, the back end data are messy and need python wizards (of which I am sadly not).

Working offline can be challenging, but is able to be overcome, usually.  We do not require high resolution, so accuracy is not an issue for our group.   (Incidentally, @MrRamonG I found that intermittant connection, or keeping a survey open for long periods of time with no activity tend to trigger issues - either requests to log in, or "missing service" messages. Turning off web access specifically on device while in the field seems the safest).

Constantly changing survey123 app _without_ coherent easy to search 'help'.  (Anyone remember how great the help was for ArcMap 9x?)

Last thing I would say is getting the _time_ allowed that is required to not just design a survye, but also to clean up the data after collection is frustrating.  And if the rest of the data workflow is inconsistent and people don't want to take 10 minutes to add metadata, sigh... again frustrating.  Obviously you hit on one of my top hair pulling issues.

Obada_GeoGeek · Answer

In my first years as a GIS Specialist in UN IOM Sudan I encountered a lot of challenges to track IDPs movements and displaced distances, also by using the Kobo collector tool which was the only familiar app used by field operators it was so challenging and tiresome but when survey 123 was introduced and I got my hands on it, it really facilitates the process in my "head" but it got denied by my supervisor and led me to quit working there. What I'm trying to point out here is :

The problem is not the techs or the procedure you want to adopt, but the human who refuses to evolve it