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Data Management for Urban Tree Monitoring – Software Requirements

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Data Management for Urban Tree Monitoring – Software Requirements Data Management for Urban Tree Monitoring – Software Requirements Prepared by Azavea for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the USDA Forest Service Data Management for Urban Tree Monitoring - Software Requirements Authors Deborah J. Boyer, Azavea Lara A. Roman, USDA Forest Service Jason G. Henning, Davey Institute Matthew McFarland, Azavea Dana Dentice, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Sarah C. Low, USDA Forest Service Casey Thomas, Azavea Glen Abrams, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Acknowledgements The creators of this report wish to thank the following individuals for providing information on existing tree data collection projects and the technical and data needs for future monitoring initiatives. • Glen Abrams, Pennsylvania • Greg McPherson, USDA Forest Service Horticultural Society • Mia Mengucci, West Mount Airy • John Battles, University of California, Neighbors Tree Tenders Berkeley • David Nowak, USDA Forest Service • Kevin Burke, University of Pennsylvania • John Piller, Philadelphia Parks & • Chad Clink, The Holden Arboretum Recreation • Dana Dentice, Pennsylvania • Lara Roman, USDA Forest Service Horticultural Society • Bryant Scharenbroch, Morton • Jason Fristensky, Berger Partnership Arboretum • Rich Hallett, USDA Forest Service • Joe Schiavo, Old City Tree Tenders • Jason Henning, Davey Institute • Bill Toomey, The Nature Conservancy • Rachel Holmes, The Nature • Natalie van Doorn, USDA Forest Service Conservancy • Jess Vogt, DePaul University • Jennifer Karps, City of Portland • Blake Watkins, Friends of the Urban • Scott Maco, Davey Institute Forest • Mindy Maslin, Pennsylvania • Doug Wildman, Friends of the Urban Horticultural Society Forest The creators of this report also thank the following individuals for providing feedback and comments. • Andrew Koeser, University of Florida • John Mills, USDA Forest Service • Philip Silva, TreeKIT Suggested citation: Boyer, DJ, LA Roman, JG Henning, M McFarland, D Dentice, SC Low, C Thomas, G Abrams. 2016. Data management for urban tree monitoring – software requirements. Azavea, Philadelphia, PA. 124 pp. Available online at http://www.azavea.com/research/urban-tree-monitoring/. The use of trade of firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service. Cover photo of Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, PA taken by Jeffrey M. Vinocur and shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license. April 2016 Page | 2 Data Management for Urban Tree Monitoring - Software Requirements Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Urban Tree Monitoring Needs ................................................................................................................. 6 Background ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Objectives of this Report ..................................................................................................................... 8 Practitioner and Researcher Interviews ............................................................................................... 9 Systems Requirements ...................................................................................................................... 10 Philadelphia Case Study ......................................................................................................................... 15 Current Tree Planting Data Workflow ................................................................................................ 15 Current Tree Checker Data Workflow ................................................................................................ 16 Philadelphia Data Workflow Needs .................................................................................................... 17 Intended Users of the Software ............................................................................................................. 19 User Personas .................................................................................................................................... 19 User Stories ....................................................................................................................................... 21 Software Evaluations ............................................................................................................................. 22 Selected Software Platforms .............................................................................................................. 23 Long-Term Monitoring Features in Existing Software Systems ........................................................... 25 Extending Existing Platforms to Support Long-Term Monitoring ........................................................ 28 Proposed Software System .................................................................................................................... 31 Technical System Requirements ........................................................................................................ 31 Data Model ....................................................................................................................................... 36 Integration with External Systems ..................................................................................................... 40 Additional Needs ............................................................................................................................... 43 User Workflows ..................................................................................................................................... 45 User Stories ....................................................................................................................................... 45 Philadelphia Case Study ..................................................................................................................... 47 Additional Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 51 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 58 Appendix A – Interview Questions ......................................................................................................... 60 Appendix B – Software Evaluations ........................................................................................................ 63 Overall Comparison ........................................................................................................................... 63 AppSheet ........................................................................................................................................... 65 ArborPro ........................................................................................................................................... 70 ArborScope........................................................................................................................................ 76 Collector for ArcGIS ........................................................................................................................... 81 Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities ............................................................................................................. 86 i-Tree Eco .......................................................................................................................................... 91 Open Data Kit .................................................................................................................................... 97 OpenTreeMap ................................................................................................................................. 102 PyBossa ........................................................................................................................................... 107 TreeKeeper ...................................................................................................................................... 112 Tree Plotter ..................................................................................................................................... 118 April 2016 Page | 3 Data Management for Urban Tree Monitoring - Software Requirements Abstract The creation of this report was organized by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and the USDA Forest Service Philadelphia Field Station to explore how technology could be used to support the long- term systematic monitoring of urban trees by trained professionals, student interns and volunteers; assist with tree planting and maintenance data processes; and enable data to be organized and shared between researchers and practitioners. Interviews with researchers and forestry practitioners led to the development of user stories demonstrating how various individuals would interact with a software tool designed for long-term urban forestry monitoring. The information gathered from the interviews also resulted in a list of related system requirements for
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