Start |Author Index | View Uploaded Presentations | Meeting Information

FRAGILE EARTH: Geological Processes from Global to Local Scales and Associated Hazards (4-7 September 2011)

Paper No. 6
Presentation Time: 12:40

WEB MAPS, SMARTPHONES, EBOOKS AND QR CODES: NEW WAYS TO SITES OF GEOLOGICAL INTEREST


LEHRBERGER, Gerhard1, MENSCHIK, Florian2 and BEER, Silvia2, (1)Technische Universität München, Lehrstuhl für Ingenieurgeologie, Arcisstraße 21, München, 80333, Germany, (2)Technische Universität München, Lehrstuhl für Ingenieurgeologie, Arcisstrasse 21, München, 80333, Germany, lehrberger@tum.de

High performance and low cost internet access, as well as high quality GPS technology and the everyday life usage of GPS devices, smartphones, tablet computers and e-books allow to provide geological information easier and faster than by printed media.

The acceptance of electronic “excursion guide books” is strongly depending on format, weight and handling of the devices. The second important factor is the compatibility of data exchange formats. One of the so far most popular exchange format is that of the gpx-files (global positioning system exchange format). But also other platforms such as Google Maps or Points of Interest (POI) for navigation devices can be used. Quick response (QR) codes are applied to post information on sites. A way of offline presentation of geological information on site is by e-book readers, which can display texts and multimedia data from pdf- or epub-files. The latter can be produced by special e-book editors, which convert html or pdf files. Positive experience exists for the free SIGIL software.

Websites like “geocaching.com” offer so called “geocaches” and “earthcaches”. These “caches” combine geographic coordinates with information about the location. Earthcaches are a special type of “cache”, which leads to geological sights.

Simple web based applications can be used online or as a download package to publish self-developed tours and points of interest including multimedia data such as graphics and audio files. Online navigation is possible in combination with own maps self-created in Google Maps.

Our own development are the so called “stonecaches” in the field of cultural geology. They combine dimension stone topics with sight-seeing tours. “Stonecaches” can be obtained from our website. The downloaded data are compatible with many standard GPS receiver or with Google Earth.

The new technical possibilities can be applied for the planning and conduction of geological field courses and excursions, too.

Link to Earthcaches: http://www.earthcache.org

Link to TUM-stonecaches: http://www.geo.tum.de/stonecache

Link to SIGIL: http://code.google.com/p/sigil/

Session No. 39

T6A. Earth Sciences for Society, Education in Earth Sciences and Geoheritage II
Wednesday, 7 September 2011: 11:00-17:00
A 014 (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
© Copyright 2011 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.
Back to: T6A. Earth Sciences for Society, Education in Earth Sciences and Geoheritage II
<< Previous Abstract | Next Abstract >>