Abstract
Conventional, grid-based sampling location tracking approach with GPS or topographic maps is time-consuming and inconvenient. Therefore, this study combined the freely available virtual/digital globe with recent advancements of smartphone geo-browsers to develop a new sampling location tracking approach. The sampling frame was developed with pre-uploaded point map formulated in GIS environment by combining land-use map and one-kilometer grid with center coordinates. The sampling location grid was uploaded to smartphone and each point was tracked with Google Map path finder using point ID (coded grid coordinate) when searching each sampling location. The suitability of the new approach was tested for soil sample collection from paddy lands distributed in 0.9 million hectares in Sri Lanka. The sampling locations could be reached conveniently with the help of Google path-finder voice direction guide and optional routes. The efficiency of new approach was found to be remarkably high, i.e., over 99% of the 9000 sampling points, which were spread across Sri Lanka having an area of 65,610 km2. All sampling points in the country could be covered with twelve member field investigation crew who were guided through smartphones uploaded with sampling point grid on six motorbikes within 60 days. The new sampling location tracking approach is effective in terms of cost, time, human resource requirements, thus can be adopted in large-scale soil/plant sampling frames with high accuracy.
Highlights
Sample collection is an important component in most of the field surveys as the use of whole population is impossible due to various limitations
The efficiency of new approach was found to be remarkably high, i.e., over 99% of the 9000 sampling points, which were spread across Sri Lanka having an area of 65,610 km2
All sampling points in the country could be covered with twelve member field investigation crew who were guided through smartphones uploaded with sampling point grid on six motorbikes within 60 days
Summary
Sample collection is an important component in most of the field surveys as the use of whole population is impossible due to various limitations. Many studies in agriculture related to soil fertility, water quality and productivity assessments have used various techniques to obtain required data precisely [1] [2] [3] [4]. This process involves the identification of sampling locations and navigation to those locations to obtain the samples. Due to the lack of efficient technologies and expertise, large scale surveys have not been conducted in most of the developing countries [5] [6] [7] This has partly hindered the progress of agriculture development and environment sustenance [3] [7] [8]
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