GIS for Real-Time Mapping in Field Surveys

Abstract

Context: A geographic information system (GIS) is a framework for gathering, managing, and analyzing data. Department of Community Medicine was tasked with SARS-CoV2-IgG antibody serosurvey by Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, sampling 5000 people spread over an area of 181 sq. km. There were no real-time mapping apps available for field surveys. Aims: Our aim was to develop an easy-to-use GIS system with a shallow learning curve and real-time mapping for field surveys which could be easily deployed. Materials and Methods: The program was developed using PHP hosted on a virtual private server and using Google Maps Application Programming Interface (API). The field investigator shares location through telegram to a bot which parses message, decodes geo-coordinates, team information, and time stamp. The program then passes the information for further processing, viewing, or analyzing. The map is generated using Google Maps API at user request. The teams are segregated using color coding. Results: The data can be accessed at http://test.techlabel.in/. Over 638 households from which samples were taken were plotted by the data from ten teams over ten days. Real-time feedbacks were possible as the study progressed. Households plotted on the maps were verified by the respective field investigators after the study had completed and showed good accuracy. Conclusion: The introduction of GIS software such as ours could bring about a positive impact on small- and medium-scale field researches. The quality and internal validity of small-scale field researches could certainly be improved by using GIS programs.

Keywords

• censuses
• field studies
• field survey
• geographic information system
• gis
• investigation
• mapping
• serosurvey
• software
• validity