Hey everyone!
Found this website and it seems like a great resource. I was wondering if I could beg some opinions from the members here about a very broad, complex subject - integrating GIS into a standard surveying CAD house.
We have been receiving requests for shape file for some time, and Carlson has been able to export these files without too much effort. However we've long known the impending wave of "GIS" looming on the horizon would catch up to us eventually, and it seem like for us we're almost at the crest of the wave. We're now receiving requests for complete GIS ERSI receivables to industry standards. As a CAD house we (I) find this and onerous obstacle to overcome; how do we keep track of the data correctly, how do we collect the data efficiently, and whether we are forced to run ESRI ArcGIS beside AutoCAD w/ Carlson Survey. For us the scary thing is GIS seems like it's going to force us to "double-dip" our data; that we'll have a CAD master drawing with survey points, and then an ESRI job or company specific database that will require us do draw everything all over again (more or less). But while we can somewhat annotate GIS data in AutoCAD Map, it feels "hacky" and unstable for long term data storage, and feels like just dog paddling without a life jacket in the center of Gulf.
This is a very broad topic, and I don't really expect any "solutions", but any tips would be great! I'm trying to get our TSC3's equipped with TerraMap or other plug-in compatible with GIS data attribute tables that we can create ahead of time so that our field crews can simply pick the data rather than enter it by hand, for example. Fingers crossed the answer isn't "hire a GIS department!" We've been to ESRI seminars and talked with local surveyors; the reputation of GIS 10+ years ago has put a bad taste in the mouths of our local survey community, and ESRI/ArcGIS professionals seem to be lacking understanding about the problems facing "metes and bounds" (as they put it) Survey CAD shops.
Joseph
Welcome. I see a tidal wave coming. Sit back.
Following this. Interested to hear the opinions of the experts
I would recommend talking with a local GIS professional services firm about partnering on a project or doing your own pilot project to gain a better understanding of the workflows involved. Working in survey software and exporting to a shapefile is one thing, but you may get customers that state you must deliver a geodatabase with attachments, related tables or connect to their ArcGIS Online or Portal and provide edits via real-time synchronization. There are only a small number of software packages capable of the items mentioned above.
First, your best bet is to stay within Access. Utilizing a data dictionary, you can create full feature-attributed survey, exportable to whatever format you wish. (Custom formatting is amazing with stylesheets).
As mentioned previous, the database is the issue. Civil3D's db is adequate enough for most simple projects. Geopak SS3+ does a better job. But you'll really need to step up the game with a GIS based software, to have full db control with layers, joins, queries, etc.
Honestly, surveyors are about to miss the boat in embracing GIS. We need them more than they need us.
Hire one GIS tech (I hired a college kid in need of intern credits), purchased the basic or standard ESRI software and hold off on extensions until you hit a wall, and just do it.
You need a supervisor that knows enough about ArcMap to keep the tech on his toes. If you get a good tech or go to school and learn Arc, you will quickly learn the numerous ways it can make or save you money.
Humans are visually oriented creatures and respond well to pretty pictures. Arc is an excellent tool for quickly displaying data.
re programs have you looked at Manifold GIS? Cheap as chips but only in dollar size not quality.
It isn't the sweetest of drawing package though.
Fly over to the forum and ask some questions.
Be prepared though. Some don't tolerate questions that answers come by way of an indepth study of the manual.
I second what Rabies suggested. We are an engineering and GIS firm that utilizes survey-grade GNSS equipment for some of our data collection. As you said, it will be difficult to maintain a project in both CAD and GIS formats. One will always be the master. Based on the project and client's needs, you will have to determine which is the primary workflow for each project. For example, we are collecting sanitary sewer manhole data for a small town. We also are the GIS consultant for the Parish where this town is located. We have helped the Parish convert their stand-alone GIS data and desktops to an enterprise, cloud-based web solution. So this town wants their sewer data to end up in this web GIS system. So here is our workflow for that project:
- Utilize the Esri local government database schema for the sewer manholes
- Import that schema into Trimble Business Center using their new GIS module
- Save the schema as a feature definition file (fxl) to use in Access on my Slate controller as a Feature Code
- After the data is collected in Access, import back into Trimble Business Center
- Process the Feature Codes and export the points back to an Esri shapefile
- Import the shapefile back into my original local government geodatabase
- Publish the geodatabase as a service for use in web and mobile applications
So you can see that clearly the GIS side is the master location for the data. Trimble Business Center is just used as a gateway between the survey and GIS data.
If possible, I suggest you hire someone with GIS expertise to help you along. Try to find someone that has worked for an engineering or surveying firm. Since the GIS profession is so broad, hiring say a biologist with GIS capabilities might not be a good idea. They will probably know about projections, but not have any clue about datum transformations and the high-accuracy needs of engineers and surveyors. Good luck.
Fell free PM me if you have any specific questions. I'm a registered civil engineer and GIS professional, so I can speak both languages.
Even though I work at Esri and hang out here, I'm not up to explaining the software that's best for the surveying profession. Google for ArcGIS for AutoCAD, esri surveying, esri collector for some starting points. If anyone wants to talk to the surveying industry manager (Donny Sosa), I can put you in contact.
Note: our big user conference is in less than two weeks, so contact requests may have to wait until July!
