In 2017 for the first time the trees measurements at the ForBioSensing project were carried out with the use of IT system developed by Bartłomiej Kraszewski with a substantive support of Łukasz Kuberski. The system (Fig. 1) consists of four parts:

• FBS_Taksacja Application that allows entering measurements on mobile devices,
• FBS_Integrator Application that is responsible for integration of measurements from mobile devices,
• local database (Local DB) installed on mobile devices. The database stores the measurements from the field,
• central database (Central DB) installed on a desktop computer. The database stores the measurements from all mobile databases.

                                                                                           Fig. 1. General schema of developed IT system

FBS_Taksacja application is installed on mobile devices that are used in the field. The PostgreSQL database is integrated with the application. The database stores the measurements collected in 2015 and new ones from 2017. Archival data from 2015 are used to perform new measurements to speed the work. In many cases new measurements consist of updating the previous data (changing some attribute value, e.g. DBH or height). FBS_Taksacja application consists of four bookmarks:

• for the description of test plots,
• for measurements of standing trees,
• for measurements of lying dead trees,
• for border measurements.

Below on figures 2-5 screens of particular bookmarks are presented.

                                                                                    Fig. 2. Bookmark for the description of test plots

     Fig. 3. Bookmark for measurements of standing trees

                                                                                Fig. 4. Bookmark for measurements of lying dead trees

     Fig. 5. Bookmark for border measurements

The main features of the FBS_Taksacja application are:

• complete  integration with the database,
• backup of measurements saved during field work (in case of no power or interruption of work) and after finish regardless of the database,
• graphical presentation of measurements allowed to better orientation on plots,
• contol of measurements correctness,
• minimalizing the use of the keyboard only to comments fields by adding selectable menu.

FBS_Integrator is an application which integrate measurements from mobile devices. The application is installed on a desktop computer with a central database. Integration of measurements is based on a local network. Mobile devices are connected to the network with the use of WiFi network. After connection with mobile devices, the application automatically checks the compatibility of the local database content with the central database. Application user has an opportunity to integrate data from mobile devices separately or all at once. In case of a situation when some records are repeated, the user is informed about it and can stop writing or overwrite incorrect data. The main task of FBS_Integrator is to maintain the same measurements collections in the central and mobile databases.

Applications developed under the ForBioSensing project significantly accelerated the field works. We still use the developed system for other field works, e.g. gaps measurements. Its individual modules are being corrected on experiences from the field use. We also still add new functionalities to upgrade the tool. A new version will be used to improve our future project field works.  

Content author: Bartłomiej Kraszewski, PhD