STUDENT USE OF STRABOSPOT, A GEOLOGIC DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

StraboSpot is a geologic data management system developed to collect, store, and share geologic data. StraboSpot has a free mobile app that works regardless of Internet connectivity and is available for iOS and Android devices that pairs with an online graph database for input and storage. Users can export data in Shapefile, KMZ, XLS, and PDF format and interact with ArcMap or QGIS using plugins. Data collection in StraboSpot occurs through the creation of Spots. A Spot is a set of observations which apply over a specified spatial extent that are organized spatially in “Nests” or conceptually by assigning “Tags.”

StraboSpot was developed to accommodate Structural Geology and Tectonics data but is expanding to include the Sedimentology, Petrology, and Microstructural communities. We develop a lexicon for each subdiscipline and use it to create forms for the mobile app to guide collecting data. The app also has a built-in compass for orientation measurements and iOS users can import and export data between StraboSpot and Rick Allmendinger’s StereonetMobile app.

Undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Kansas (KU) have used the StraboSpot system for field trips, field camp, and research. StraboSpot has been used over the last 3 years for mapping structurally complex areas. In the spring of 2018, graduate and undergraduate students used StraboSpot to collaborate and collect data on a sedimentology and tectonics field trip to Argentina. Additionally, the sedimentology function of StraboSpot was beta tested by building and annotating stratigraphic columns on an undergraduate trip to Missouri and Arkansas. Uses of the app in research are numerous and include undergraduate and graduate research projects: cataloging of samples for geo/thermochronology during field collection, collection and analysis of fracture orientations of karst features to determine their influence on groundwater flow through aquifers, an undergraduate field study mapping kinematic indicators, and to develop robust datasets used to test the programming of GIS plugins for StraboSpot.

In a world where everything has “an app for that,” the use of StraboSpot in geologic field research has shown that digital methods of data collection allow for greater collaboration and accuracy throughout a project.