Hello
We are working with a group of around 100 volunteers on a citizen science field collection project. In our study area we have upwards of 5,000 sites that are going to be surveyed by the citizen scientists in the field. We are hoping that these sites can and will be tracked over time so we can identify sites that have changed for the better and sites that have changed for the worse over the years.
We are running into two main issues and/or limitations with using Survey123 that I am not sure can be solved. With so many volunteers that will be engaged in the project, we do not have the budget to use Collector, which would probably offer more functionality.
Below are our two biggest issues.
Please let me know if this is clear and if you need any clarification on these issues.
Hi. I think you could approach this by using the Inbox in the Survey123 field app. Using the Inbox, all volunteers can work against the same layer of sites and make edits on those sites. The Inbox allows you to look at all sites in a list and also a map, select those existing sites and make changes on them. If you want, you can also allow volunteers to create new sites, which will show up in everyone else's Inbox when requested.
You can learn more about the Inbox at: Prepare for editing existing survey data—ArcGIS Survey123 | Documentation or through this video: ArcGIS Survey123: Editing Existing Data with Survey123 - YouTube
It seems to me like the naming issue would not exist with the Inbox, because if a site already exists, users would see it in the app. The Inbox, I think, should also help with the 're-visit' workflow. By using a repeat in your survey, you could help people collect information about each visit to the site.
Hi Ismael
Thanks for this info, this sounds like it could be a great solution.
Would the users be able to interact with the map when they are in the field without cell service? For example, if I was out in the field standing at a site, would I be able to look at my location on the map and be able to tell if the site had previously been sampled based on my GPS location that may/may not show up on the map?
Does this make sense?
Thanks again
Garrett