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SpatialNews.com Press Release
Hydro Power Planning Receives an Award of Excellence for Improving Mobile Data Capture
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Winnipeg, MB - Manitoba Hydro - Hydro Power Planning was presented with an Award of Excellence at ESRI Canada's tenth annual ESRI Regional User Conference in Winnipeg. John Kitchen, Vice President & General Manager of ESRI Canada, presented the Award in recognition of Manitoba Hydro's innovative mobile data capture application. More than 150 GIS professionals were on hand for the presentation.
"This is a leading edge example of integrating technologies to improve the efficiency and accuracy of capturing data in the field," said Mr.
Kitchen. "Manitoba Hydro is providing staff with tools to help improve operations and standardize their data collection process."
Manitoba Hydro - Hydro Power Planning department has developed a Rapid Capture Application to support the collection of samples and the monitoring of erosion and sediment transport in the future power generation project areas of Wuskwatim, Keeyask, and Conawapa (including the Nelson River estuary). Field crews collect water and bedload samples with other associated data (temp, turbidity, dissolved oxygen,
etc.) needed for analysis as part of the environmental assessment requirements for the planning, construction, and operations of future power generation projects. Data collection and analysis is required to understand current conditions and the potential impact of future development.
In the past, field crews would use hand written field notes to record information on a particular site. This process required office staff to perform extensive quality control as there was a high potential for human error during the transfer of data from the field notes to electronic format. To ensure consistency and minimize errors, Manitoba Hydro decided to implement an application that would automate collection processes and provide a standard format for all crews to use when capturing data. Development of the Rapid Capture Application was outsourced to Map It Out Inc. Map It Out used ArcGIS Engine from the ESRI Developer Network (EDN) to prototype and build the application.
Manitoba Hydro leveraged ESRI products including ArcGIS Engine, ArcGIS Desktop, and ArcIMS for the Rapid Capture system.
"Using the Rapid Capture Application our field crews are able to be more efficient with their sampling," said Ben Schmidt, GIS & Special Studies, Manitoba Hydro. "When we receive the data back in the office we have greater confidence in it than we did in the past. The information coming from the field is consistent and we don't need to spend time reviewing field notes and trying to understand what is happening at a location."
The Rapid Capture system provides field crews with a tablet PC based application that has standardized menu options that are based on the type of sampling being performed. Also, most of the data collection is now automated, thus resulting in a significant increase in data accuracy. Further, the application performs quality control on the incoming data by verifying that they are within a predetermined range.
The Rapid Capture Application uses WiFi hotspots in remote locations to upload the data collected and download current changes created in the sampling program on a daily basis. In addition, the Rapid Capture Application is integrated with GPS and other data including orthophotos and bathymetric data so crews can use it for increased awareness of the surrounding environment and for safe navigation between sites. In 2007, ArcIMS will be used in the office to monitor the location of the field crews via the tablets sending small messages with crew id and current location through a satellite phone.
Since its implementation in the spring of 2006, the Rapid Capture system has almost doubled the amount of data being collected by field crews.
About ESRI Canada:
Established in 1984, ESRI Canada is a Canadian owned company specializing in geographic information systems (GIS) solutions. We distribute the world's leading GIS software solutions from ESRI Inc., Miner and Miner, and Azteca. In order to provide organizations with complete industry-specific solutions we have established an extensive business partner program that includes more than 125 Canadian organizations. ESRI Canada also provides professional services including consulting, training, technical support, and enterprise GIS implementation. We are leaders in providing world-class enterprise GIS solutions for many industries including local government, utilities, public safety and defence, business demographics, education, natural resources, and transportation. ESRI Canada has thirteen regional offices across the country, with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit www.esricanada.com or call 1-800-447-9778.
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