NYSGA FIELD TRIP DATA ON IOS DEVICES -- WITH OR WITHOUT WEB ACCESS

Road logs from New York State Geological Association (NYSGA) Guidebooks are being converted into kml files. As of November, 2012, there are 3,886 Stops and Views on 219 field trips from 28 Guidebooks. These are available on the web as kml or kmz files, organized by year and trip:

• http://ottohmuller.com/nysga2ge/Files.html,

or on a Google Fusion table where selection by location, and various sorting filters, permit the user to put together custom designed kml files:

• https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?snapid=S790104O7cU.

Such files can be easily imported into Google Earth on IOS devices, as long as the user has access to the web.

To serve field scientists who work outside of cell phone range, the Placemarks from this dataset have been moved into a FileMaker database. This can be accessed on an IOS device using the free app, FileMaker Go. Complex searches are possible within this app, just as within the desktop app, FileMaker Pro. Found sets from these searches can be output in kml format. These can be read by PDF Maps, a free app from Avenza Systems. If the user has previously loaded the relevant geo pdf maps (USGS topographic maps, Geologic Maps, Surficial Geology maps, etc.), the data will be imported and displayed on those maps, much like it is on Google Earth.

Because FileMaker Go supports OR as well as AND conditions in its searches, some users may prefer it to Google Fusion tables which have only AND conditions. The data can be searched, sorted and output in a variety of ways, in addition to kml files.

Scripts from this project can be used in other databases produced by FileMaker Pro. Geo pdf files can be produced using software from ESRI, Avenza Systems, etc. Together these permit users to construct field data acquisition systems custom tailored to their location and research needs.