Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                

FieldMove User Guide

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 63
At a glance
Powered by AI
FieldMove is a digital mapping app designed for tablets to facilitate geological data collection and mapping in the field. It allows users to record field observations, take orientation measurements, draw geological features and save field notes.

FieldMove is designed for digital geological mapping in the field. It allows users to collect location data, record field observations and orientation measurements, draw geological features and save field notes on tablets.

FieldMove integrates tools for field data collection into a single platform on tablets, including a digital compass clinometer for orientation measurements, notebooks for field notes, and GPS for geo-referencing data. It aims to reduce the equipment needed for field mapping.

User Guide

www.mve.com

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction

Disclaimer

Application Layout

FieldMove Workflow

Settings

Digital Compass Calibration

12

Project Properties

14

Maps

16

Managing Location

20

Compass Clino

22

Drawing Tools

32

Stereonet

38

Notebook

41

Export

46

Project Management

50

Operating Systems

52

Frequently Asked Questions

54

Glossary

58

Our Experience

60

System Requirements

62

About Midland Valley

63

Introduction

FieldMove is a digital mapping app that has been designed for Apple, Android and
Windows tablets. The app has been laid out in a map-centric format, allowing
large-screen tablets to be used as a mapping sheet and data collection tool. Once
enough data has been collected, the advanced line drawing tools, which include a
virtual mouse for precision drawing, can be used to create geological boundaries
and fault traces. Simple polygons can also be generated to mark the location of
exposures and illustrate the wider distribution of rock types. Both lines and
polygons can be modified using the editing functionality in the app.
FieldMove uses the available sensors in a tablet to measure the orientation of
planar and linear features with a digital compass clinometer. The data captured
can then be analysed using the built-in stereonet. Orientation data can be saved
and stored in the app notebook, along with any sketches, field notes or editable
photos. The tablets GPS will geo-reference all saved data and provide real-time
positioning updates on your chosen map.
FieldMove integrates the traditional tools used during field work under one
platform, reducing the amount of kit required for field mapping. The app supports
online maps (via MapBox.com), which can be pre-cached for offline access whilst
in the field. It also supports the import of any custom maps that are saved as
MBTiles, GeoTIFFs or osgEarth files.
Projects can be exported as a .csv file (comma-separated values, similar to an
Excel spreadsheet), a .mve file (for direct import into Midland Valleys Move
software) and a Google Earth .kmz file. In addition to this, multiple projects can be
merged together within FieldMove, allowing for group work to be combined into
one project.
This user-guide contains instructions on the functionality and common workflows
used within FieldMove.

Disclaimer
The use of GPS devices, tablets and smartphones as
navigation aids
The internal GPS in your device can be used to automatically set location
information in the app, which is recorded as latitude and longitude.
Global Positioning System (GPS) devices are commonly used to aid navigation,
having grown in popularity over the past decade. Over the last few years, this has
extended to tablets, smartphones and digital compasses, which are often
equipped with GPS functionality.
GPS is a valuable aid to navigation during fieldwork, however it is important to
keep safety at the forefront, and we draw your attention to the advice given by
many mountaineering councils:
Everyone heading into the hills needs to learn how to read a map, and be able to
navigate effectively with a paper map and traditional magnetic compass,
especially in poor visibility.
FieldMove requires online data transfers for some features, such as accessing
online maps and sharing exported files. Accessing these features over data
network services may incur costs from your provider. If you use the app and data
services on your tablet, you are responsible for any fees that your service provider
charges. Your service provider is not the provider of FieldMove.
Midland Valley accepts no liability or loss, resulting from the use or misuse of this
product.

Application Layout
This section provides an overview of the general layout of the FieldMove app and
briefly describes its tools and features. When a new FieldMove project is opened,
the following view is displayed:

Figure:The default display when a new FieldMove project is opened. Shown is the map
view, along with the Location bar (top right)and Side Panel (left).

Location Bar
The Location Bar is situated above the map view, on the right hand side. It will
display your current location in lat/long format. It is also used to turn the
GPSon/off and locate your position within the map view.

Side Panel
The Side Panel is located to the left of the map view. It contains access to a
number of pages that can be opened on selection. The pages are arranged in an
order that reflects the typical workflow that a geologist would adopt when carrying
out fieldwork. The Side Panel can be expanded by tapping
in the top left.
It will list the following pages:

Figure:Expanded Side Panel displaying the pages that can be opened on selection.

Project Properties
The Project Properties page contains details of the active project. This includes
the name, creation date, declination, locality naming set-up and a project
description. In the Project Properties page, you can merge the active project
with a second project. The active project can also be exported from here.
Maps
Use the Maps page to import basemaps in MBTile, GeoTIFF or osgEarth format.
Alternatively, use the Maps page to switch between satellite, road or terrain maps,
which can be accessed providing you have a valid network connection.

Compass Clino
Use the Compass Clino page to take a bearing and record the orientation of
planes and lineations. Localities and a stratigraphy, or list of rock units, can also
be created on this page.

Drawing Tools
Use the Drawing Tools page to digitize lines and polygons on the map. The line
type, thickness, opacity and unit assignment can be set up for each line or
polygon. Localities and a stratigraphy, or list of rock units, can also be created on
this page.
Stereonet
Use the Stereonet page to plot orientation data as poles and/or planes on an
equal area or equal angle stereonet. Data can be filtered by its assigned locality,
unit or type.

Notebook
Use the Notebook page to create geo-referenced field notes, photos, map
screenshots and sketches. The Notebook page will list all saved data (orientation
measurements, line and polygon data, notes, photos, stereonet screen captures
etc.)by locality. The Notebook page also allows for data to be edited, moved and
deleted if necessary.

Export
Use the Export page to export the project to various formats, including the .mve
file format, which allows data to be imported straight into the Move software for
model building and analysis.
Extra options available from the Side Panel include:

Exit Application
Tap this button to exit FieldMove (Windows tablets only).

Full Screen Mode


Tap this button to enter into full screen mode (Windows tablets only).

Exit Full Screen Mode


Tap this button to exit full screen mode. This button will only be available if you
are in full screen mode (Windows tablets only).

Project Management
Tap this button to open the Project Management window. This page lists all
available projects that have been created in FieldMove. Each saved project can be
opened from this page, new projects can be created or external projects can be
imported.

Settings
Tap this button to open the Settings window. Settings relating to basemaps,
units, coordinates, line join distance, compass clino mode, sensors and cache
reset can be changed from here.

Help
Tap this button to open the FieldMove help pages.

FieldMove Workflow
Shown below is a suggested workflow for using FieldMove when mapping.

Settings
Prior to going into the field, it is important to check the basic app settings. Expand
the Side Panel by tapping
, then tap
to open the Settings window.
Note: The header of the Settings window will also display the FieldMove version
number.

Figure:Settings window.

The selected feature will be highlighted in blue. To apply any changes make sure
to tap
before closing the window. The following settings can be adjusted:

Basemaps
This setting determines whether the app uses basemap tiles from the internet
(Online) or whether it uses those that are already cached on the device (Offline).
Switching between Online/Offline will cause the map to appear fuzzy until it has
re-rendered. The default mode Auto, switches between online and offline-cached
modes based on its ability to communicate with the basemap tile server.

Display Units
This will determine whether the altitude and scale bar is displayed it in Metric
(default) or Imperial units.

Angle Convention
Choose between displaying planar or linear orientations as Dip/Azimuth
(default) or Dip/Strike (RHR). Both conventions are saved when the project is
exported.

Coordinate Input
Choose to display the lat/long coordinates as degrees, minutes and seconds
before the decimal point (Decimal Seconds) or just as degrees (Decimal
Degrees).
Note: FieldMove uses the Lat/Long WGS84 projection system. If a different
coordinate system is required, it can be altered once the project is in Move.

Line Join Distance


The Line Join Distance defines the extent (in points) at which it is possible to
extend or join a line when using the Drawing Tools. Values range from 8 to 24
points, in 4 point increments. The higher the value, the greater the distance across
which lines will be joined.

Compass Clino Edit Mode


This setting affects the interactive control in the Compass Clino page once a
measurement has been locked, or if the tablet sensors are disabled/unavailable
and orientation measurements need to be entered manually. If Relative Offset is
selected then edits to the dip and strike/dip azimuth are carried out individually.
The dip can be edited by dragging your finger in the direction indicated by the
arrows in the blue circle, shown on the clinometer face. Whereas the dip
azimuth/strike can be edited by dragging your finger in a circular motion around
the edge of the clinometer face.

Figure:Locked clinometer face showing the Relative Offset editing mode. The dip and
azimuth can be edited individually by following the direction of the blue arrows.

10

If Stereonet Style has been selected, edits to the dip/plunge and strike/azimuth
can be made at the same time by dragging the dark blue cross (highlighted by a
light blue circle)around the clinometer face. The latter is the equivalent to moving
the pole to the plane on a stereonet.

Figure:Locked clinometer face showing the Stereonet Style editing mode. The dip and
azimuth can be edited by tapping a moving your finger within the blue circle.

Enable Sensors
The sensors in your tablet are used to take orientation measurements in the
Compass Clino page. Some tablets may have poorly calibrated or inaccurate
sensors; this setting allows them to be turned off. Readings can be taken with a
traditional compass clinometer and input manually into FieldMove.

Reset Caches
This is set to off by default. If this setting is turned on, the next time the app is
restarted, any cached maps will be cleared. The app has to be terminated and
restarted for cached maps to clear.

Use Built-in Image Gallery


This setting is only available on Windows and Android tablets. If activated you can
insert an image into the project using a file browser, which will show thumbnails
for importable images within the app. If deactivated, files can be picked using the
photo gallery on Android tablets, or system file dialogue on Windows tablets.

11

Digital Compass Calibration


Internal Sensors in your Tablet
FieldMove relies on three hardware sensors within the device, a magnetometer,
a gyroscope and an accelerometer. These sensors have been programmed to
measure the orientation of planar and linear features in the field. The three
sensors are installed as standard in all Apple tablets (iPad and iPad mini), but are
not always present in Android or Windows tablets.
These electronic components may vary in quality and are subject to a number of
limitations including other internal and external magnetic materials (the hard iron
effect). As with a traditional compass-clinometer, always be aware of items which
may interfere with the magnetic field. This may come from magnets, ferrous
metals, watches, other electronic devices and tablet cases.
In addition to external interference, the quality of the sensors installed in Apple,
Android and Windows tablets varies considerably and at the time of writing (June
2015) we have been unable to find an Android or Windows tablet that will produce
a reliable reading from both the digital compass and the clinometer. The Apple
tablets appear to contain high quality components and the compass readings are
generally accurate to 5 degrees, with very good clinometer accuracy similar to
FieldMove Clino on the iPhone.
No matter what hardware you have, it is still important to know your device and
you should compare the output from your tablet with a traditional hand-held
compass clinometer before going into the field. Do not attempt this comparison
inside. You need to be outside and away from any magnetic or electrical
interference. We recommend that you collect data by holding the tablet in a
variety of orientations (landscape and portrait mode, at various angles on a planar
surface, and with the long edge pointing up and down for linear features). You
should obtain closely similar measurements regardless of the orientation of the
device. A range of different readings might indicate a faulty sensor, or interference
from another magnetic or electrical source. The iPad's in our testing programme
appear to record accurate data irrespective of the orientation of the tablet,
however some other tablets have a preferred orientation that is the more
accurate.
If you have no sensors, poor quality sensors, or the sensors are consistently
effected by external interference, we would advise that you input your compass
and/or clinometer readings manually either from a traditional compassclinometer, or by using the FieldMove Clino app on a smartphone. Even with
compass and clinometer manual input you can still access the other functionality
inside the application (drawing tools, stereonet, camera and notebook), and the
data will be georeferenced correctly via the internal GPS. You can then export your
data in a variety of formats and still save a huge amount of time compared to
inking in and drawing up maps by hand.

12

Digital Compass and Sensor Calibration


All iPads will display a black screen with a small red ball that must be rotated
within the confines of a graduated circle.

Figure:Digital calibration of an iPad.

The compass clinometer within FieldMove will not become active or accurate until
this operation has been performed. Both Android and Windows tablets appear to
have internal calibration.

Digital Mappers of the Future


New Apple, Android and Windows tablets are regularly released into the
marketplace and we will continue to test FieldMove on a variety of these new
devices. There is no guarantee that the sensors installed in the latest model will
be an improvement over the previous model. However, we will notify users as
soon as we find a tablet (or range of tablets) that gives consistently reliable
readings. If you are using FieldMove on a tablet and would like to tell us about your
own experiences good and bad, then we would be delighted to hear from you.
Contact us at www.mve.com/contact

13

Project Properties
When FieldMove is opened for the first time, a new project called Project 1 will
automatically be created. Specifics regarding the name of the project, declination,
locality naming and description can be edited from the Project Properties page,
which can be opened by tapping
from the Side Panel.
Note: If you do not wish to change any of the project properties continue to
section 'Maps'.

Figure:Project Properties page.

Editing Existing Project Properties


Name
By default the project name is Project #. Changing the name of the project will
change how the project is referenced in the Project Management window.
Although this will change the project name, the name of the .fm folder where the
project is stored will stay fixed.

Created
This displays the date the project was first created.

14

Declination
The declination can be set by manually entering the value, or by tapping
. The
declination will not update automatically. Therefore, if data is being collected over
a large area, you should return to the Project Properties page and update the
declination.
Note: All data in FieldMove is stored in true north.

Locality Prefix
By default the name assigned to localities is Locality #. Changing the locality
prefix will change the default name given to created localities. The hash (#)
indicates the position of the number in the name. If it is deleted the localities will
no longer be numbered.

Folder
This displays the name of the .fm folder and the location where the active project
is stored once the tablet is connected to a computer.

Description
The Description box can be tapped to add a detailed description of the project.

Merging Projects
In the Project Properties page, it is also possible to merge the active project
with a previously created project. To merge two projects together tap
; a list of
projects saved on the tablet will be presented. Select the desired project to open
the Merge Project window.
In the Merge Project window there is the option to ignore basemaps and/or
images during the merge. Keep in mind that importing these will create multiple
copies and will require extra storage space. Two projects can then be combined by
tapping Merge.
When merging the two projects, the stratigraphy and symbol databases will be
combined together. If the imported databases contain entries with the same name
as those in the active project, the imported data will be assigned to the existing
unit or symbol.

15

Maps
By default FieldMove will open the terrain map view . The display of online maps
and import of offline maps is controlled from the Maps page, which can be opened
by tapping
from the Side Panel.

Figure:Maps page showing the online basemap display options. As of yet, no custom
(offline)maps have been imported into the project.

Imported (Offline) Maps


Maps, which may contain geological, topographic and geophysical information, can
be imported into FieldMove as MBTiles, GeoTIFFs and osgEarth files.

MBTiles
We would recommend importing offline custom basemaps as MBTiles. The
advantage of this is that the zoom level can be set to a higher level of detail,
suitable for mapping. MBTiles also tend to render faster than GeoTIFFs due to the
fact that they have been pre-processed to the correct projection and appropriate
zoom level for display.
Midland Valleys Move software allows for the conversion of geo-referenced
images to MBTiles in a couple of steps. For more information see the help pages
within the Move software. Alternatively the following programs also allow for
MBTile creation;
l
l
l

16

Global mapper (Windows)


Map Tiler (Windows/Mac OSX/ Linus)
Arc2Earth plugin for ArcGIS (Windows)

Import Maps into FieldMove


The import of MBTiles, GeoTIFFs and osgEarth files depends on whether the tablet
is an iPad or Android/Windows.
iPad Basemap Import
For Apple tablets, a basemap can be inserted into the project folder using iTunes.
To do this, connect the iPad to the laptop or desktop computer that contains the
saved MBTiles, GeoTIFF or osgEarth file. Then open iTunes, select the tablet from
the iTunes toolbar (1), and select Apps from the device option panel (2). Scroll
down to the list of apps and select FieldMove (3). A list of FieldMove project files
will appear in the right-hand column. Click Add File (4), navigate to the saved
basemap file and click Open. Then click Sync to update the iPad.

Figure:Import of a basemap via iTunes.

Once the file has been added via iTunes, in the Maps page of FieldMove, tap
Import and select the desired basemap.
Android/Windows Basemap Import
To import a basemap using an Android or Windows tablet, connect the tablet to
the laptop or desktop computer that contains the saved MBTiles, GeoTIFF or
osgEarth file. Move the basemap from its saved location into the tablets Internal
Storage >FieldMove folder. Then in the Maps page of FieldMove, tap Import
and select the desired basemap.

17

Viewing Imported Basemaps


Multiple maps can be imported into FieldMove and they will be listed in the Maps
page, under the heading Imported Maps.
To display any of the imported maps, tap
so that the button changes to
.
Multiple maps can be displayed at once. It is also possible to adjust the
transparency of the map by tapping
. The third command
will centre the
view on the selected map.
The order of imported maps can be adjusted by dragging the map name.

Figure:Maps page listing three maps that have been imported into FieldMove.

Online Basemaps
Online maps can be displayed in three ways: satellite, road and terrain.

Figure:From left to right - satellite map, road map and terrain map.

18

Viewing Online Basemaps


To download and display online basemaps, a network connection is required.
Online maps are downloaded from MapBox.com and are stored in a cache on the
tablet. When zooming in/out of the map view, a blue loading circle will appear next
to the map icon
to indicate that the map is still rendering. When the map has
finished loading, the loading circle will disappear and the level of detail seen in the
map view is saved to the cache.
Before going into the field (or to an area with no network connection) it is
recommended that you zoom into the level of detail that you wish to see whilst
mapping. Doing so will automatically store the map at that resolution in the cache.
Once the tablet is offline, only the level of detail that is stored can be viewed.
Saving to a cache is an automatic process that all tablets use to speed up
programmes and apps that require repetitive data storage.
To clear the cache, expand the Side Panel by tapping
. Tap
to open the
Settings window and turn the Reset Caches option to On. The next time
FieldMove is restarted the cache will be cleared.
Note: After resetting the cache, it may take a few minutes for the online maps to
reload.
Imported maps (MBTiles and geoTIFFs) do not require online connectivity. These
maps can be zoomed into and out of areas with no network connection and hence
caching imported maps is not required. However, if working with osgEarth maps,
these should also be cached using the same process as the online basemaps.

19

Managing Location
Before recording data in the field, it is important to recognise how the location is
displayed and updated in FieldMove, and to be aware when data maybe recorded
in the wrong place.
Note:Orientation data can be moved if it is saved in the wrong location, see
section 'Notebook'.

Using the GPS


FieldMove uses the tablet's GPSto geo-reference all recorded data and provide
real-time positioning updates in the map view. This information is displayed as
lat/long coordinates and an altitude reading in the Location bar, which is situated
above the map view.

Figure:Location bar with the GPSturned on.

When the GPSis On, the map can be centred on your current location by tapping
the cross-hair
. The location will be indicated on the map by a blue circle with
a transparent halo. The size of the halo indicates the accuracy of the location
reading - the smaller the halo the more accurate the reading.
The horizontal and vertical accuracy is also displayed numerically (+/- metres)in
the Location bar, to the left of the lat/long coordinates. The last updated GPS
reading is also given.

Figure:Map view showing the current location as a blue dot, with a transparent halo to
mark the location accuracy.

Note:It is important to check the time of the last GPS reading to ensure that the
location is continually being monitored.
Keeping the GPS on at all times is battery intensive, so when possible use the
Location bar to turn the GPSoff to preserve the battery life.

20

When the GPS is switched Off, the location will be displayed on the map as a red
circle. This indicates the location at which any measurements will be saved to, if
the GPS is not turned back on.
Once the GPS is turned back on, it may take a few seconds to update. In this case
the On/Off switch will display a rotating loading circle
.

Adjusting Your Location Manually


Current locations can be set manually without using the tablet's GPS. This can be
carried out in two different ways:
l

Tap on the latitude or longitude box, and type in the


degrees/minutes/seconds corrdinates in the lat/long boxes. Upon entering a
new value, the GPSwill be automatically switched off.
Alternatively, set your position using the cross-hair dragger, which will
appear once you tap on the latitude or longitude box. Tap your finger on the
translucent dragger and move it to set your new position. It is also possible
to set the location by long tapping on the map. Once the cross-hair is moved
it will change from blue to red.

Once the coordinates or position has been set, tap


apply the update.

on the Location bar to

Figure:Map view showing the interactive cross-hair dragger (in red),which can be used
to set your location manually.

Troubleshooting
All my data are in the same position, even though I entered different
localities in different regions. ALWAYS check that your GPS is on and has been
updated recently. Any measurement will be geo-referenced to your last know
position. Therefore, if the GPS has accidentally been turned off, or has lost signal
the most recent measurement will be positioned at the last GPS reading, which
may be some distance from your true location.

21

Compass Clino
If you do not need to change the details of the project and are using cached online
maps, the Project Properties and Maps pages do not need to be opened. The
Compass Clino page can be opened immediately to start recording localities and
orientation measurements in the field. The Compass Clino page can be opened
by tapping
from the Side Panel.
By default, the Compass Clino page will display the digital compass as the active
face. The clinometer is displayed as a small inactive face, to the bottom right of
the compass. To switch between each face, tap on the inactive face.

Figure:Compass Clino page showing the compass face as the active face.

Note: Measurements in, and exported from, FieldMove are stored relative to True
North. This is calculated using the declination set in the Project Properties page.

Locality
When an orientation measurement is saved for the first time, it will automatically
be assigned to the default 'Locality 1'. Control and creation of localities is carried
out from the top of the Compass Clino page. It is a good idea to create new
localities when new outcrops are encountered.
To add and change a locality assignment tap Create Locality. In the pop-up
window, tap Create Locality once more. The locality naming is automatic and is
controlled from the Project Properties page. A new locality is geo-referenced to
your current position (providing the GPS is on) and once created, it becomes the
active locality and is denoted by a grey vertical bar. Tap
once happy with the
assignment.

22

Figure:Select a Locality window, from where the active locality can be selected and new
localities can be created.

Once a locality is created, it will be displayed in the map view as a pin icon

Note: Localities can also be created in the Drawing Tools page and the location,
naming and description of a locality can be edited in the Notebook page.
When a measurement, line or polygon is saved, it is not possible to change the
locality that these objects are assigned to. Therefore, make sure that the correct
locality is labelled at the top of the Compass Clino or Drawing Tools page
before saving.

Compass
The compass face will display a bold red arrow, showing True North, and a red
outlined arrow, showing magnetic North. To record a compass bearing, hold the
tablet horizontal and look towards your desired position. Give the compass a few
seconds to stabilise before tapping on the compass face to lock it. When the
compass is locked and you move to face a different orientation, a red bar will
appear on the compass showing the deviation from the locked bearing.
Note: The compass works best when the tablet is held horizontal. See section
Digital Compass Calibration for information on sensor consistency in different
tablets.

Figure:Compass face locked at a bearing of 153. Once the compass has been locked,
any deviation from the 153 bearing is shown by a red bar.

23

Once the compass is locked, the bearing will be displayed in the map view as a
black line at the centre of a cross-hair. As long as the GPS is on, and has been
updated recently, the bearing will be geo-referenced to your current location. If
the location needs to be edited, use the cross-hair dragger to move the bearing
(see section Managing Location).

Figure:Map view showing a locked bearing, as indicated by a black line at the centre of a
cross-hair. The cross-hair is blue, indicating that the bearing has been geo-referenced to
your current position. This has been detected since the GPS is on and is also shown by the
blue circle underneath the bearing measurement.

A bearing can also be recorded manually, or overwritten, without using the tablet
sensors. To do so, tap on the BEARING box and either type in a value or drag the
slider to set an orientation. The compass face will automatically update to reflect
that bearing. Tap
to apply the changes.

Figure:Bearing box, which can be edited once selected.

24

When saving a bearing, you can choose to assign a unit to the measurement. This
means that a stratigraphy, or list of rock units, will need to be set up. For more
information, see sub-section Stratigraphy (below). The bearing can also be
saved along with a comment. Tap the Add a Comment box to activate the
keypad. Tap Done once happy with the comment and Save to save the
measurement. A locked bearing is only saved on the map and in the Notebook
page once you tap Save.
Note: If you do not want to save a bearing, and need to unlock the compass face,
tap on the compass face once more.

Clinometer
Tap on the small clinometer face to make this active. This will allow you to
measure and record the orientation of planar and linear features. Before a
clinometer measurement can be saved, a stratigraphy needs to be set up so that
the measurement can be assigned to a rock unit, fault or contact.

Figure:Compass Clino page, with the clinometer face active.

Stratigraphy
When starting a project for the first time, the StratColumn is blank. To create a
stratigraphy, or list of rock units, either tap
or tap on the box stating Tap to
Add a Rock Unit. By default, this will add a rock unit called Unit 1. More units
can be added by tapping
multiple times and these will be listed as coloured

25

squares down the right hand side of the Compass Clino page. To assign an
orientation measurement to the relevant unit, contact or fault, tap on the relevant
coloured square so that its name is expanded.

Figure:Rock units displayed to the right of the Compass Clino page as a list of colour
squares. By default, the rock units are assigned the name 'Unit #'.

To change the name, assignment or colour of the unit, tap on the unit name to
open the StratColumn. The name can be changed by tapping on the text box. By
default, all entries are assigned as units (U) - i.e. a stratigraphic unit, rock type or
lithology - but this can be changed to mark a fault (F) or contact (C). To do this,
tap
(the colour of the button may vary)and choose the relevant assignment.
The button will change from a U to an F or C to denote the assigned type. To
change the colour of each entry, tap
to open the Pick a Colour window,
choose a new colour and tap
to apply the updates.

26

Figure: StratColumn showing a list of user-defined rock units and faults. The assignment
of 'Fault' is currently being edited.

Entries can also be re-ordered, refreshed or deleted from the StratColumn. To


re-order, tap on the three dots to the left of the unit (to make this the active unit)
and drag the entry up/down.
Note: The active unit expands further to the left compared to the remaining units.
To delete an entry, tap the three dots to the left of the unit to make this the active
unit, and tap
located at the top right of the page. To refresh the StratColumn
tap
, this will refresh to show only the units that are assigned to orientation
measurements, lines or polygons.
Additionally, a StratColumn can be imported into FieldMove by tapping
StratColumn can be imported in three different ways:
l

l
l

27

. The

Default StratColumn import a default column of units listed Horizon_01


to Horizon_10.
Browse Files import a .csv file generated from Move.
Other Projects import a StratColumn from other projects saved in
FieldMove.

Figure:Import StratColumn options.

Once happy with the StratColumn set up, tap Done at the top left of the page to
return to the Compass Clino page.

Symbol Type
As well as assigning a clinometer measurement to a unit in the StratColumn, it is
also important to ensure that the measurement is assigned to the correct symbol
type. By default the clinometer will display a dip symbol to denote a bedding data
type. To change this, tap Bedding. This is the data type box located below the
assigned unit. This will open a new window where a range of planar (cleavage,
joint, fault) and linear (lineation, slickenside, mineral and fold axis) symbols can
be selected. Switching between a planar or linear symbol will unlock the
clinometer, if a measurement was locked beforehand. Switching between symbols
in the same category (planar or linear) will not unlock the clinometer.

28

Figure:Select a Symbol window.

New symbols can be added and existing symbols can be edited. To add a new
symbol, tap Create Symbol. The window will expand to allow you to define a
symbol name and icon. Tap Save to add the symbol and tap
to collapse the
window. To edit a pre-existing symbol, tap
. Once the window has been
expanded, the relevant symbol can be selected from the data types list on the left
(the selected symbol will be denoted by a vertical grey bar to the left of the
symbol name). The symbol name and/or icon can be edited or the symbol can be
deleted.

Figure:Edit Symbols window, where the symbol name and icon can be edited.

Note: If a padlock is displayed next to any of the data types, this means that the
symbol cannot be deleted.

29

Taking a Clinometer Measurement


Once the rock unit and symbol assignment is complete, the clinometer can be
used to record orientation data. If the assigned symbol type is Bedding, the
clinometer will display a red dip with a grey great circle and pole to the plane. If
the assigned symbol type is Lineation, the clinometer will display a red arrow
with a grey line showing the horizontal.

Figure:Recording bedding (left)and lineation (right) measurements.

To record a planar measurement, it is recommended to lie the tablet on the


bedding plane, with the long axis of the tablet parallel to the bedding strike. To
record a linear measurement, postion the tablet vertically with the long axis
parallel to the lineation/vein/fold axis, ideally with the tablet facing you.

Figure:Photos showing the suitable tablet orientation when recording a planar (left)and
linear measurement (right).

Tap on the clinometer face to lock the measurement, the dip will change from red
(active) to black (locked). It will also be displayed at the centre of a cross-hair in
the map view.

30

Editing Clinometer Measurements


Once the clinometer is locked the display will vary depending on the compass clino
edit mode defined in the project settings (see section Settings.)
If the edit mode is Relative Offset, a locked measurement can be edited by
adjusting the dip and azimuth on the clinometer face individually. To edit the dip,
drag your finger in the direction indicated by the arrows in the blue circle, shown
on the clinometer face. To edit the azimuth, drag your finger in a circular motion
around the edge of the clinometer face.
If the edit mode is Stereonet Style, a locked measurement can be edited by
tapping and dragging the cross (highlighted in a blue circle). This represents the
pole to the plane.

Figure:Relative Offset (left)and Stereonet Style (right) editing modes.

The dip/azimuth can also be manually entered into FieldMove by tapping the DIP
and AZIMUTH boxes below the clinometer face. As with the compass, this will
open a new window where the orientation can be typed in or adjusted using the
slider.
When the measurement is being edited, the dip symbol will automatically update
in the map view. The location of the dip can also be moved using the cross-hair
dragger.
Tap Save to save the measurement in the Notebook page and on the map, along
with any added comments.
Note: Orientation measurements cannot be edited once they are saved in the
Notebook page.

31

Drawing Tools
The Drawing Tools page can be used to create linework and simple polygons on
to your chosen basemap. To open the Drawing Tools page tap
from the Side
Panel.
To maximise the map view whilst digitizing, the Drawing Tools page can be
collapsed to a narrow toolbar by tapping
. To expand the page tap
. Both of
these buttons are located at the bottom left of the Drawing Tools page.

Figure:Expanded (left) and collapsed (right) Drawing Tools page.

Locality
As with the Compass Clino page, lines and polygons will be assigned to a locality
ID. The active locality is displayed at the top of the expanded Drawing Tools
page. To change the locality tap on .
Note: The locality is linked in both the Drawing Tools and the Compass Clino
pages. Changing the locality in one page will update it in the other.

Line Style and Appearance


The appearance of lines and polygons can be customised in the Drawing Tools
page with the following options:
Style: Solid, dotted or dashed
Thickness: The line thickness is given as a point width and ranges from 2 to 30.
To change the thickness either adjust the number in the text box or drag the slider
left and right with your finger.
Opacity: The opacity is given in percentage and ranges from 20% to 100%. To
change the transparency, either adjust the number in the text box or drag the

32

slider left and right with your finger. Lines cannot be made fully transparent and
the outline of a polygon will remain more opaque than its filled colour.
Stratigraphy: Prior to digitizing a line or polygon must be assigned to a rock unit.
The line/polygon colour will match that of the rock unit. To change the rock unit
assignment, tap on any of the coloured squares listed to the right of the Drawing
Tools page.
Note: The StratColumn is linked in both the Drawing Tools and Compass
Clino pages. Edits made to the StratColumn in either of these pages will be
updated in the other.
As with the Compass Clino page, the StratColumn can be opened by tapping on
the active rock unit. The name, colour and assignment can be edited within this
page. Please refer to section 'Compass Clino' for more information.

Drawing Modes
From the Drawing Tools page, you can choose from three different drawing
modes: Freehand, Virtual Mouse and Vector Line.

Figure:Respective buttons for each line drawing mode. From left to right - Freehand,
Virtual Mouse and Vector Line.

Note: When in the Virtual Mouse and Vector Line drawing modes, it is still
possible to pan in the map view.
Freehand: Drag your finger to digitize a line on the map. The map view can be
zoomed in/out and panned by separating/pinching your thumb and forefinger
together. A new line is created for every stroke on the map.
Virtual Mouse: Lines can be drawn by moving the cross-hair dragger on the map.
The cross-hair will show the position of the line, whilst the translucent dragger
marks your finger position. This mode allows for precision drawing. To start
digitization, tap
. Press and move the translucent dragger to digitize the line,
then tap
to create it.

Figure:Map view showing the Virtual Mouse drawing mode. The colour of the cross-hair
will reflect the colour of the assigned rock unit.

33

Vector Line: Lines can be drawn by incrementally adding points one after another
using the cross-hair dragger on the map. To start digitization, tap
to create the
first point, then move the translucent dragger on the map. Tap
to create
further points and continue extending the line. The number of points will be
displayed to the right of the cross-hair dragger. To finish the line, tap
.

Figure: Map view showing the Vector Line drawing mode.

Note: To undo the creation of any lines/polygons, tap


Drawing Tools page. There is no redo command.

in the top right of the

Editing Lines
Lines and polygons can be modified by adding, moving or removing points. Lines,
can also be split into two. To activate the Edit mode in the expanded Drawing
Tools page, next to Edit line turn the slider to On. Or if in the collapsed Drawing
Tools page, tap the icon
so that it turns blue. It is also possible to activate
the Edit Line mode without having the Drawing Tools page open. To do this, tap
on a line in the map view and tap
. This will open the expanded Notebook
page, where it is possible to tap Edit.
Note: When the Edit mode is active, it is not possible to digitize lines or polygons.
Therefore, remember to turn this mode off before resuming digitization.

34

Adding nodes to a line or polygon:


l
l
l

Tap on an existing line or polygon to select it. It will be highlighted in yellow.


Turn on the Edit Line mode. The nodes on the line will now be highlighted.
Long tap on the line where a new node is required. The line will change to its
original colour to indicate a new point has been added.

Figure: Map view showing active Edit Line mode and displaying the nodes along a line.

Moving nodes on a line or polygon:


l
l
l

Tap on an existing line or polygon to select it. It will be highlighted in yellow.


Turn on the Edit Line mode. The points on the line will now be highlighted.
Tap and drag a node to change its position. The original line will remain
highlighted in yellow and the new position of the line will be shown in the
original line colour.

Figure: Map view showing the process of moving a node along a line to a new position.
The original line is highlighted yellow and the new location is coloured green.

35

Removing nodes from a line or polygon:


l
l
l

Tap on an existing line or polygon to select it. It will be highlighted in yellow.


Turn on the Edit Line mode. The nodes on the line will now be highlighted.
Long tap on a node and tap
to delete it.

Splitting a line:
l
l
l

Tap on an existing line to select it. It will be highlighted in yellow.


Turn on the Edit Line mode. The nodes on the line will now be highlighted.
Long tap on a nodes and tap
to split the line.

Note: It is not possible to split polygons.

Extending and Joining Lines


Lines can be extended and joined together by digitizing a new line from either end
of an existing line.
Extending a line:
l
l
l

Tap on an existing line to select it. It will be highlighted in yellow.


Draw a new line from the end of the existing line.
When digitization is ended, the new line will be added to the existing line.

Join a line:
l
l
l

Tap on an existing line to select it. It will be highlighted in yellow.


Draw a new line from the end of the first line to the end of the second line.
The two existing lines, as well as the new line will be merged together.

Notes to consider when extending or joining lines:


l
l

Only lines belonging to the same rock unit can be extended or joined.
Extending and joining only works in Freehand and Virtual Mouse modes
(not in Vector Line mode).
The Line Join Distance can be edited in the Settings window. Increasing
this distance will make it easier to connect and extend lines, however it will
not be as accurate. For more precise drawing, the Line Join Distance value
should be smaller.
It is currently not possible to close a line by drawing a new line between it's
two end points.

Drawing Polygons
To switch the drawing method from line to polygon tap Polygon at the top of the
Drawing Tools page. Polygons are created in the same way as lines.

36

Lines and polygons can be edited in the Notebook page. For more information,
refer to section 'Notebook'.

Figure:Digitizing polygons in the field to illustrate the distribution of rock units.

37

Stereonet
Any planar and linear data saved using the clinometer can be viewed in the
Stereonet page, allowing you to carry out a first look structural analysis whilst in
the field. Structural data is visualized on either an equal area or equal angle
stereonet. To access the Stereonet page tap
from the Side Panel.

Figure: Stereonet page. By default, the stereonet will plot all planar and linear
measurements that have been saved in the Notebook page.

Mean and Temporary plane display


Upon opening the Stereonet page, the default view will display the poles and
planes of all saved planar and linear data. The Mean Resultant Plane is also
displayed as a black great circle with the mean dip/azimuth shown in the bottom
right corner. To display a Temporary Plane (and pole) tap anywhere within the
circumference of the stereonet. The dip and azimuth of the temporary plane will be
displayed in the bottom left corner. Tap
to the left of the Temporary Plane
dip/azimuth reading to remove the plane from view.

Configure and Filter the Stereonet


Filters can be applied to display a subset of the collected data by tapping
located in the top left corner of the Stereonet page.
This will expand the page to show two new sections: Stereonet display to the left;
filter options to the right.

38

Figure: Stereonet page expanded to show the configure and filter options.

Stereonet Display
The display is controlled by tapping on the desired option. There are three
choices:
Show Mean Resultant Plane: Tap On to display the plane as a black great
circle.
Display of poles and planes: Tap to select whether Poles, Planes or Both are
shown on the stereonet.
Type of Stereonet: Tap to select whether the stereonet should be Equal Angle
(Wulff)or Equal Area (Schmidt).

Filters
At the top right of the Stereonet page, tap Filter. Structural data can then be
filtered by four categories: Data, Localities, Units and Types.
Tap on each category to change how the data is filtered. To remove any data (or
groups of data) from the stereonet, tap
. It will change to
to confirm that
the data has been removed from view. Tap again to turn the data back on. As a
shortcut, tap
to select all, none, or invert the selection of displayed structural
data.

39

Figure:Stereonet page filtered to only show the measurements recorded for the rock unit
'Ballagan Formation'.

Once the settings and filters have been applied tap


stereonet page.

to return to the main

Saving a stereonet.
To take a screenshot of the stereonet tap
at the top right of the Stereonet
page. This will open a window where a comment can be saved along with the
image. Tap
to add the stereonet image and comment in the Notebook.
The screenshot will be geo-referenced to your current location and will be
displayed in the map view by the following symbol
.

40

Notebook
The Notebook page stores all the data recorded and saved in the Compass
Clino, Stereonet and Drawing Tools pages. It will also store any photos, notes,
screenshots and sketches taken from within the Notebook page and allows for
data to be edited and deleted if necessary. To access the Notebook tap
from
the Side Panel.

Notebook Entries
In the Notebook page all saved data will be listed by locality. The active locality
will always be listed first and all data assigned to that locality will be listed in
reverse chronological order.
Note: The active locality is that displayed at the top of the Compass Clino and
Drawing Tools pages.

Figure: Notebook page listing all the data that has been saved in the FieldMove project by
locality.

41

Adding Notes, Photos and Screenshots


To add a Note, Photo, Screenshot or Sketch tap
Notebook page.

in the top right of the

Note
Tapping on Note will open a text box at the top of the Notebook page. The note
will be geo-referenced to the current location, as shown by the cross-hair dragger
in the map view. To move the note to another location, tap and move the
translucent dragger. The cross-hair will change from blue to red to indicate that
the position is not set by the GPS. To add the Note, type in the text box and tap
Save.

Photo and Gallery


Photos can be added to the Notebook directly from the tablet camera or by
uploading photos stored on the tablet. To add a photo directly from the camera,
tap on Photo. This will automatically open the camera view. Once the photo is
taken a comment can be added, and the viewing direction will automatically be
captured. Tap Save to store the photo.
Note:The photo will not be stored in the Notebook, until you tap Save.
To upload a photo already stored on the tablet, tap Gallery. The file browser will
open and you can navigate to the desired image. Tap on the photo to bring it in to
FieldMove. A comment can be added if required. Tap Save to store the photo in
the Notebook page. Photos will be geo-referenced to the current GPS location.

Screenshot
Tapping Screenshot will add a snapshot of the current map view, along with a
comment if required. Tap Save to add the screenshot to the Notebook page.
Screenshots will be geo-referenced to the current GPSlocation.
Sketch
Tapping Sketch will allow you to make a sketch in a new blank window. This
window provides basic 'finger painting' tools allowing you to choose the colour and
thickness of lines. Lines and text can be erased by tapping
and annotations
can be added by tapping

. The text size of the annotations is controlled by the

line thickness. To save the sketch to the Notebook, at the bottom left of the
window, tap
.

Data display
The display of notebook entries can be managed using the two buttons at the top
of the page:

42

1) By Locality: Tap
to show data assigned to a certain locality. This is useful
for larger projects. The locality selected will be listed at the top of the Notebook
page.
2) Filter data: Tap
to filter the Notebook page by Data only, Notes and
photos only or by Lines only. To filter the data tap on the desired option; the map
view will also update to show only the filtered data. Select All will display all of the
saved data.

Editing data
Tapping on each data entry will expand the Notebook page to show the object
details. It will also automatically zoom in on the selected data entry in the map
view.

Figure:Expanded Notebook page showing the editing options for the selected joint
measurement (left) and photo (right). The selected measurement has also been zoomed
into in the map zoom and is highlighted by an information label.

When a photo has been selected, it is possible to annotate and sketch on top of
the photo by tapping Edit. This will open a new window with the same tools that
are available when recording a sketch. Lines and text can be added to the photo.
To save the edits, at the bottom left of the window, tap
.

Figure:Photo editing window showing the annotation and digitization over a photo.

43

Note:If the FieldMove project is exported as an .mve file and imported into Move,
the edited photos will be stored within the .mve project and can be viewed in the
Field Image Browser. The original, unedited images will be saved and stored in
a separate folder.
The extended Notebook page will allow you to edit certain object properties
depending on the data type (see table).
Structural Data

Photos

Notes

Localities

Lines and
Polygons

N/A

Measurement

No

N/A

N/A

N/A

Unit Assignment

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

Yes

Data type

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Comment

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Location

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Facing Direction

N/A

No

N/A

N/A

N/A

Colour

Yes

N/A

N/A

Yes

Yes

Thickness

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Yes

Opacity

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Yes

Style

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Yes

Table: Data types stored in the Notebook, and properties that can be edited. Further
information on editing is provided below. N/A indicates that the property does not apply to
that data type.

Note: For structural measurements, the data type cannot be converted from
planar to linear or vice versa. Data symbols can only be changed to a different
symbol of the same data type. It is also not possible to edit the dip/azimuth or
plunge/azimuth or the measurement.

Colour
The colour of structural measurements, lines and polygons can be changed by
changing the colour of the rock unit it is assigned to. To change the rock unit
colour, tap on the object to expand the Notebook page, then select the active
rock unit to open the StratColumn page. In this page, tap
next to the unit you
wish to edit (the colour of the icon may vary). This will open the Pick a Colour
window where a new colour can be chosen.
The default colour for the locality pins is black. To edit this tap on the locality
listed in the Notebook page and tap
to the right of the locality name. Once
the preferred colour has been chosen, tap
to apply.

Unit Asignment
To change the unit assignment of a structural measurement, line or polygon tap on
the data entry to expand the Notebook page. To the right of the page, a number
of coloured squares are listed, which each represent a rock unit in your
StratColumn. Tap one of the coloured squares to change the unit assignment.

44

Moving Data
The location of structural data, notes, photos and localities can be updated. To do
this, tap on the data entry in the Notebook page, then tap
in the top of
the expanded page. The Notebook list will become hidden behind the Side Panel
to allow for more space on map. A cross-hair dragger will also appear overlying
the data point in the map view. Tap and move the translucent dragger to the new
location. Once in the correct position, tap
(which will have taken the place
of the button
).

Figure: Moving a dip measurment assigned to the unit 'Tuff'. Once you tap Move, a crosshair dragger will appear in the map view and can be used to re-locate your data.

Deleting Data
In the expanded Notebook page, all data can be deleted by tapping
in the
top right corner. Tap once to activate the button, then tap
to apply the
deletion. This cannot be undone.
Note:Data can also be selected in the map view and deleted via the object label.

45

Export
At any point in your work the FieldMove project can be exported so that data can
be managed and analysed in external programs. All exported FieldMove project
folders will be in the form projectXX.fm

Exporting a Project
A project can be exported through two different routes: i) Tap
to expand the
Side Panel and tap
. ii) Tap
to open the Project Properties page and tap
. Data can be exported in three formats:
l
l
l

Move (.mve);
Google Earth (.kmz);
CSV (.csv).

Once the export format has been selected, tap Export - a progress circle will
appear. The time of export will vary depending on the file format and size of the
project. Move and Google Earth files will take longer to export as they are larger
zipped files.

Figure:Export FieldMove project options.

Sharing a Project
Once the project has been exported, the data can be shared through:
l

AirDrop Share data wirelessly with another Apple device.

Mail Email the exported project as an attachment. Be aware that

46

large projects may be too big to attach to an e-mail.


Dropbox (requires network connectivity) This will let you upload the
exported file straight to Dropbox. The first time this is selected, you will
be asked to grant permission so that FieldMove can access your

Dropbox. This will be done from the Dropbox app if it is installed, or via
a web interface. You can then browse to your Dropbox folder and tap
Choose when you are ready to upload the file.
Open In Open exported data in another installed app. For example,
the Google Earth (.kmz) export can be directly opened in the Google
Earth app if installed.

Export Location
The location of exported files will depend on the file type. CSV files will be stored
within their project folder, whilst Google Earth or Move exports will be located
alongside the FieldMove folder (.fm) as .mve or .kmz files respectively.
The exported files are accessed in different ways depending on whether the tablet
is an iPad or Android/Windows.
iPad Export Location
To access the exported project connect the tablet to iTunes on a laptop or desktop
PC. Select the tablet from the iTunes toolbar (1) and select Apps from the device
option panel (2). The device may need to be synced to see these options. Scroll
down to the list of apps and select FieldMove (3). A list of associated files will
appear in the right-hand column. Select the .mve, .kmz or .file to copy from the
device (4) and click Save to... (5).

Figure:Export of a FieldMove project via iTunes.

47

Android/Windows Export Location


To access the exported data connect the tablet to a laptop or desktop PC. Once
the tablet has been recognised, navigate to the tablets internal storage folder.
Select and open the folder named FieldMove. A list of all the .fm projects currently
available on the tablet will be listed alongside any exported .kmz and .mve files.
To transfer these folders to the computers local storage, they can either be copied
and pasted to the desired location or simply dragged and dropped.

Figure: Windows Explorer showing the location of a number of FieldMove projects.

Viewing Exported Project Files


Each exported file format can be opened, viewed and manipulated in different
applications. The information below provides details on each export format.

Move
The .mve export is available so that projects can be imported directly into Midland
Valley's Move software. Move is designed for constrained 2D and 3D model
building, interpretation and validation. The .mve files can also be viewed in
Midland Valleys free 3D visualization software MoveViewer. Bringing projects
directly into Move is a great way to start building geological models.
Before importing .mve files into Move, it is advisable to set up the projection
system in a new Move document. Doing this avoids UTM calculation issues and
misplaced data for larger spanning projects. This process will also flag up any UTM
calculation issues on the import summary and is a good check of data
location/projection validity.
Note: The Field Image Browser in Move can be used to view, edit and annotate
photos taken using FieldMove.

CSV
A CSV file stores geo-referenced point data and photo locations in a spreadsheet
style layout. When choosing to export as CSV, several files will be output, with
each file containing data for a single data type, e.g. line.csv, plane.csv, note.csv.

48

The first column of each .csv file contains a locailtyID which is assigned to each
locality and data point. This can be used to cross reference localities and their
associated data.
CSV files do not support photos or screenshots. Instead the geographic location
and name of each photo is found within the image.csv file. Photos can be found in
the Images folder, which is stored in the .fm folder.
CSV files can be opened and/or imported into many GIS software packages as
CSV/ASCII data. They can also be viewed quickly in simple text editors (i.e.
Notepad) or spreadsheet software (i.e. MS Excel).

Google Earth
After exporting as .kmz, the file can be opened directly in Google Earth or in Move
(once the file has been unzipped).
Note: .kmz files do not preserve the line style for line data. The line data will only
be displayed as solid. The thickness of the line however will be preserved.

Troubleshooting
When I open my exported .kmz project into Google Earth I can only see
some of my data. In the top left of the Google Earth screen a time stamp bar
shows the range of information displayed that is set between specific dates. You
may need to alter this so that the extent range covers the time period when the
data was collected.

49

Project Management
The Project Management window stores all projects created in FieldMove in
order of their creation date. It is also the location where projects can be switched,
or where new projects can be created or imported. To open the Project
Management window, expand the Side Panel by tapping
then tap
.
Note: The Project Management window can also be opened by expanding the
Project Properties page and tapping
.

Figure: Project Management window showing three FieldMove projects.

The selected project is highlighted by a yellow header. It will display the most
recent photo added to the project, if present.
The Project Management window contains the following commands:

Create Project
Tap to open a new project. The project will become the active project and will take
you to a blank map view. This new project will be listed at the top of the Project
Management window.

Import Project (Android and Windows tablets only)


Tap to import any .fm folders that has been saved on the tablet, but are not listed
in the Project Management window. This opens a file browser, which can be
used to navigate to the desired project. This workflow can be adopted when
sharing a project across multiple tablets.
Note:On iOS tablets, projects are imported into FieldMove via iTunes. To do this
connect your tablet to a pc, open iTunes and select the tablet from the iTunes
toolbar. Then click Apps and, scroll down to open the FieldMove app. Click and
drag the .fm folder from your pc into FieldMove documents list. It may be
necessary to sync iTunes to insert the project into FieldMove.

50

Settings
Tap to open the Settings window. See section 'Settings' for more information on
the available options.

Switching Projects
When multiple projects have been saved in FieldMove, it is possible to switch
between these projects in the Project Management window. To switch to a
different project, tap Load Project.

Deleting Projects
Projects can only be deleted from in the Project Management window. To delete
a project, select the desired project so it is highlighted by a yellow header and tap
.
A warning will pop-up. Select Yes to confirm the deletion. This project will be
removed from the device.
Note: It is not possible to delete all projects from FieldMove. The application must
have at least one project saved.

51

Operating Systems
All figures in the User Guide have been taken from an iPad. Thus, the UI will vary
slightly if you are using FieldMove on an Android or Windows tablet.
As well as differences between the import and export of files, which are mentioned
throughout the User Guide, we also want to make you aware of the following
variations when using FieldMove on an Android or Windows tablet.

License Screen (Android)


When opening FieldMove for the first time, you must be connected to the internet.
This is so the tablet can communicate with the Google Play Store and retrieve the
license. If you are not connected to the internet, you will receive the following
message at the base of the start-up screen.

Figure: Warning message when FieldMove is opened for the first time without internet
connection.

License Screen (Windows)


The license screen is shown the very first time the app is run after a new install on
Windows. You must enter the license key (including dashes) that you received by
email when purchasing the software into the text box provided, then tap Submit
Key. This will contact the MVE license server, and activate the software. The app
will open to show the default map view, and the license screen should not be
shown on your tablet again.

Figure:Windows Licensing.

52

If the user does not have a license, the Purchase License button will open a link
to the MVE website in their default web browser, where the user can go through
the payment process.
If the user cant get a license for whatever reason, they can quit the app, either by
closing the window, or tapping Exit from the top left of the window.

Update Available Dialog


When FieldMove is opened on a Windows tablet, it will check to see if there is a
new version available. If so, the Updated FieldMove Available window will pop
up over the main view.
The window will show the current version the user currently has, the number of the
new one available, and any update notes.
If you tap Get New Version, it will open a link to download the new version using
your default web browser.
If you tap Remind Me Later, it will hide the window, and prevent it from
appearing automatically on start-up for one whole day.
You can also dismiss the window by tapping
in the title bar, which will hide the
window, but not prevent it appearing the next time that the app is started.
If you have dismissed the Update FieldMove Available window, but want to
access it again, you can do so from a button that will appear in the Settings
window, which only appears when updates are available.

Figure:Update FieldMove Available window.

53

Frequently Asked Questions


This section contains a list of common questions that have been complied from
previous user enquiries.

What does a tablet need to be able to take compass clinometer


measurements?
A tablet must have an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer
(sometimes called a geomagnetic sensor) to be able to take measurements.
Make sure you check the hardware specifications before using your tablet as a
measuring device.

How do I take a bearing?


To take a bearing, tap
to open the Compass Clino page. If the compass is
inactive tap on the small compass face to the left. To take a bearing, hold the
tablet horizontal and tap the compass face to lock the bearing. Deviations from
this bearing will be displayed by a red bar. To stop tracking the bearing, tap the
compass face again. Bearings can be saved by tapping Save.
Refer to section 'Compass Clino' for more information.

How do I take bedding measurements?


Bedding measurements, along with other planar or linear readings are recorded in
the Compass Clino page. If required, activate the clinometer by tapping on the
small clinometer face.
For the measurement to be saved, it has to be assigned to a rock unit. To set up a
stratigraphy, or list of rock units, refer to section 'Compass Clino'. Then ensure
that Bedding is selected as the active data type.
To record a measurement, place the tablet parallel to the surface. When the
device is active, the clinometer face will display a red dip symbol. To lock the
reading, tap the clinometer face; the dip symbol will change from red to black.
Once the reading is locked, check the location reading and associated properties,
add an optional comment, then tap Save. All measurements will be stored in the
Notebook.
Refer to section 'Compass Clino' for more information.

My measurements won't save, why?


To save a planar or linear measurement they need to be assigned to a rock unit
that is listed in the StratColumn.The workflow for setting up StratColumn is
described in section 'Compass Clino'.

54

How do I load a basemap?


To use an image as a basemap in FieldMove it has to be geo-referenced, and in the
file format GeoTIFF (.tiff), MBTiles (.mbtile) or Earth Files (.earth).
We recommend importing MBTiles via iTunes, as the zoom level can be set for
higher detail whilst working in the field. GeoTIFFs can be converted to MBTiles in
Move.
Basemaps are imported from the Maps page. Once the page is open, tap
and
select the desired map. It will be listed in the Maps page. Tap
to display the
map.
For more information on loading basemaps refer to section 'Maps'.

How do I take a geo-referenced photo?


From the Notebook page tap
and select Photo from the drop-down list. This
will automatically open the camera. Geo-referenced notes can be added to the
photo once the image has been captured.
Refer to the Notebook section for more detailed information.

How do I create a geo-referenced note?


From the Notebook page, tap
and select Notes. Once the note has been
saved it will be automatically geo-referenced. Details on its location can be
viewed by selecting the note from within the Notebook page.
Refer to section 'Notebook' for more information.

How do I change the project name?


The project name is edited in the Project Properties page. It is important to
note that the exported project folder will still have the name 'projectXX.fm'.
However, the folder name can be renamed once transferred onto a computer.
Refer to section 'Project Properties' for more information.

How do I change a locality name?


Locality names and positions can be changed from within the Notebook page. To
change the name tap on the locality title, and change the text in the expanded
Notebook page.
Refer to sections 'Notebook' and 'Project Properties' for more information.

How do I view and edit saved data?


All saved data is listed in the Notebook page. Select a data entry to view the
object details and make any apropriate edits. Data can be filtered in the Notebook

55

page, and the map view will update appropriately.


Refer to section 'Notebook' for more information.

How do I delete data?


To delete individual measurements (e.g. dips, lines) select the data in the map
view. This will display a data label in the map view, tap
to activate the
deletion, then tap
to confirm the delete. Data can also be deleted by
selecting it from within the Notebook page. This will expand the page from where
you can tap Delete in the top right corner.
To delete rock units in the StratColumn tap on the active rock unit from within
the Compass Clino or Drawing Tool pages. Tap
from the top right corner to
delete the active rock unit. To delete a different rock unit tap on the three dots to
the left of the unit name, to make this the active unit, then tap
.
To delete a whole project, navigate to the Project Management page. Listed
under the project title is the
button which, when tapped, will delete the project.
Refer to sections 'Compass Clino', 'Notebook' or Project Management
sections for more information.

Does FieldMove support other coordinate systems?


At present, FieldMove only operates using a Lat/Long and WGS84 projection
system. This is the standard web Mercator projection.
When the project is imported into Move, the coordinate system can be changed.
We recommend that before the FieldMove project is imported, a blank document is
set up with the correct coordinate system, as this will avoid UTM calculation
issues.

How accurate are elevation readings?


We have not tested the accuracy of altitude readings on tablets containing
barometers. We would advise that you project your data onto a DEM once in
Move, rather than relying on the altitude readings from the tablet.

How do I use FieldMove offline?


FieldMove requires online connectivity for the basic maps (satellite, road and
terrain views). If you disable online connectivity, the map view will still work but
will only display maps that have been cached previously. A basic grid will be
shown in places where there is no cached data.
Any basemaps that have been imported will display when there is no connectivity.
Refer to section 'Maps' for more information.

56

How do I clear the cache?


To clear the cache, expand the Side Panel by tapping
. Tap
to open the
Settings page and turn the Reset Caches option to On. The app must then be
completely restarted for the cache to reset. When opening FieldMove after the
cache has been reset, it may take a few minutes for the Online Maps to load. See
the 'Maps' section for more information.

How do I export a project?


The project can be exported through two routes:
1) From within the Project Properties page, tap
export the project.
2) Expand the Side Panel and tap

at the top of the page to

to export.

Data can be exported in CSV, Move and Google Earth file formats.
Refer to section 'Export' for more information.

Why might my project not be loading into Move?


One of the main reasons this has occurred in the past is due to the inclusions of
non Ascii characters such as , or % in file titles.. If it does occur try renaming
the file and upload again.

57

Glossary
Accelerometer

An electromechanical device that measures acceleration forces. With respect to


FieldMove, it measures the acceleration due to gravity (G-Force). When tilted, the
accelerometer can work out the angle of the device (e.g. Dip).

Barometer

A barometer is a device that measures atmospheric pressure. It is used in


FieldMove (as well as many other apps) to help detect the altitude level. Tablets
that contain a barometer will give more accurate altitude readings.

Bearing

The direction in which you are heading given by the orientation on the compass.

Cache Data

Whilst viewing maps online, the map view and zoom level are stored locally in an
area called cache. If the user then works offline, the maps stored in the cache
can be viewed. However if the user wants to zoom at a different level, or a
different area whilst offline, it will not be possible.

Comments

These are linked to specific measurements, for example describing in detail the
surface where a dip measurement has been taken from.

CSV

Comma Separated Values file. Files exported in this format can be opened in
programs designed for spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel.

Data Type

Defined as planar and linear data. The user can assign measurements to specific
data types such as bedding, cleavage or mineral lineation.

Declination

The angular deviation of the compass from true north. The value can be adjusted
in the Project Properties page.

.earth

Earth files are small XML text files that point to a web based server. Many
geological surveys and companies have user generated maps based on web
servers which allow users to stream and cache maps onto the device for viewing.

.fm folder

The file type used for storing FieldMove projects.

Geo-referenced

An object which contains information about its location. If an image is georeferenced then it carries information about its geographical position. Images that
are brought into FieldMove as basemaps must be geo-referenced.

GeoTIFF

A commonly used GIS format. GeoTIFFs can be imported directly but many tablets
struggle to reproject and render this data. Using Move to convert the GeoTIFF to
an MBTile file before importing to FieldMove will reduce the file size and speed up
the app in the field.

GPS

Global Positioning System. This is used to gather information from satellites about
your location.

Gryoscope

.kmz

Line Join Distance

Locality

58

A device that helps to indicate orientation by using the earths gravity by


measuring the angular rotational velocity.
Keyhole Markup Language file. Files exported in this format can be opened
straight into Google Earth.
The line join distance defines the extent (in points) at which it is possible to extend
or join a line when using the drawing tools . The higher the value, the greater the
distance across which lines will be joined.
Localities are a way of grouping data and are user definable. For example,
localities can be applied to an outcrop or for a new day in the field.

Magnetometer

Maps

MBTiles

Provides the orientation with relation to the Earths magnetic field.


Geographical images. FieldMove provides online maps for terrain, satellite and
road views. Map overlayscan beimported as MBTile files or GeoTIFF files.
This a web format that cuts data into a number of tiles depending on zoom level.
Move can directly export MBTiles from a geo-referenced image to load onto a
tablet.

Mean Resulatant
Plane

The average plane for all the selected data, displayed as a great circle on the
stereonet.

.mve

A Move file. Files exported in this format can be opened straight into Midland
Vallye' s Move software.

Notes

Notes are geo-referenced descriptions, such as a sample location or notable


change in vegetation. This is akin to the notes taken in a field notebook while
mapping.

osgEarth files

This file type uses an XML based file format called an Earth File to specify how
source data turns into an OSG scene graph.

Pixel Width

Project

Projection

Relative Offset

Stereonet Style

StratColumn

59

The width measured by individual pixels. This measurement is used to alter the
width of the lines and polygons in the Drawing Tools page.
A project is a set of localities, structural data, notes and images related to a
specific mapping area. When exporting data it is the whole project that is
exported.
A projected coordinate system, is always based on a geographical coordinate
system, but is defined on a flat two dimensional surface. Across the two
dimensions, it has constant lengths, angles and areas.
Refers to the editing mode in the Compass Clino page. Edits made to the dip and
strike or dip azimuth are carried out individually.
Refers to the editing mode in the Compass Clino page. Edits made to the
dip/plunge and strike/azimuth can be made at the same time.
User defined list of rock units that is used to assign a colour to structural
measurements or line objects i.e. to define a rock type or a fault. On export this
information is recorded as an attribute.

Our Experience

Figure:Collecting data on Arthur's Seat.

Hardware
Battery can last for a full field day (~8 hours with the GPS on, but with other apps
and data streaming turned off). Larger tablets with heavy batteries tend to have a
good battery life in the field but this must be considered against the tablets
weight. This is highly dependent on the tablet, and we recommend experimenting
with your device to get the best out of usage time. Older tablets may suffer from
reduced battery life. Lithium batteries tend to falsely report a low battery in cold
conditions and so keeping the device from being exposed will help reduce this
problem.
When your tablet is locked, the GPS will become inactive and will not drain the
battery.
There are plenty of tough cases and waterproof pockets on the market that to
protect the tablet such as LifeProof, Idry, Aquapac etc.

Preparation
A common hindrance to successful digital geological mapping is a lack of advance
preparation before leaving for the field. In addition to collation of digital
basemaps, elevation models, and existing geological maps, the most important
aspect of preparation is to practice using the software and hardware tools. As with
any compass, orienteering, and basic mapping skill, advance practice ensures that
the mapping device is not the focus of the users attention, leaving the field

60

mapper to focus on 3D spatial analysis of rock units. We find that these issues are
relatively easy to overcome with advance planning and training, giving an
appreciation of the potential benefits of digital field mapping.
We recommend testing and calibrating the tablet against a compass before going
to the field. See our guide on Digital Compass Calibration.

Things to watch out for when mapping with a tablet


1. Make sure that you lock your device when traversing. This will ensure
that you dont end up with ghost readings while youre en route to the
next outcrop.
2. Check that the GPS location has updated to your current location,
before saving a reading. Look at the time stamp (to the left of the the
lat / long readings) and check that the lat/long coordinates have
updated for the current location. If you are still unsure if the GPS has
placed you correctly check your position on the map.
3. Make sure that your device has enough storage space for a days data
collection. We recommend that, at the end of each day, you copy your
files from your device to your PC and back these up. You can then
delete the project from your device and start a new project, to free up
memory. To put a project back onto your device, simply paste it from
its saved location on your PC into the FieldMove app folder through
iTunes.
4. At the start of the day, check your devices calibration before taking a
reading. Make sure that you are away from buildings, cables, vehicles
and jewellery and compare the readings from your device with a
traditional compass-clinometer.
5. Take care to check that you have assigned the correct rock unit and
structure type before tapping the Save button. It is very easy to
collect incorrectly classified data. The rock unit and symbol assignment
can be edited in the Notebook page.

Closing remarks
We find that digital mapping tools improve the 3D spatial interpretation process by
facilitating more analysis and less data management than traditional techniques,
especially in the field office during the evenings. With a digital mapping
workflow, data organisation largely occurs in the field upon data collection,
transcription from paper to digital format is unnecessary, and data backup can be
as simple as copying digital files to external hard drives. Digital mapping allows
more time in the evenings for problem solving, targeting areas of uncertainty, and
formulating effective field plans.

61

System Requirements
FieldMove has been built on Qt, which is the same development platform used
by Move. The application will run on Apple (iPad and iPad mini), Android and
Windows tablets, but it cannot be used on smartphone devices. For more
information on how FieldMove runs on iPads, Android and Windows tablets
please refer to the Digital Compass Calibration section. We strongly
advise that users read this section to understand some limitations of
FieldMove on specific tablets.

Minimum iPad tablet requirements


l

iOS 8 and above running on iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2,
iPad Mini, iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 3.

Note: WiFi and Cellular model is required for GPSsensors.


We recommend at least an iPad 4, iPad Air or iPad Mini 2 or better for ideal
performance.

Minimum Android tablet requirements


l

A tablet running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and above.

Tablets must have a magnetometer, gyroscope and accelerometer for the


orientation readings to work.

Minimum Windows tablet model requirements


l
l
l
l
l

Windows 7 or above (32 or 64 bit)


1GB RAM
512MB free hard disk space
DirectX 9 or DirectX 11 compatible graphics
Magnetometer, gyroscope and accelerometer.

Recommended:
l
l
l
l

62

Multi-Point Touch Screen


9-axis orientation sensors (Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer)
GPS (compatible with Windows Location Services)
Intel HD Graphics series, GeForce 500M series or above, or AMD Mobility
Radeon 5000 series or above.

About Midland Valley


Midland Valley is a world leader in the field of structural geology and the
development of software modelling tools using structural validation, restoration
and forward modelling, to provide best practice workflows and reduce risk and
uncertainty. Our structural modelling software, Move, is the validation technology
of choice for Oil, Gas and Mining companies, in addition to being used by
Geological Surveys and a variety of Geotechnical organisations worldwide.

About Move
Move provides workflows for digital field mapping, cross-section construction, 3D
model building, kinematic restoration and validation, geomechanical modelling,
fracture modelling, stress analysis and sediment modelling. The software helps
the user to go beyond static models, which may be little more than an artists
impression or a computer animation. By addressing time development of structure
and checking evolutionary feasibility, users are three times more likely to produce
the correct result.
Find out more about the Move suite by visiting our website at www.mve.com
where you can contact us for more information, pricing details or for details about
our software evaluation license.

63

You might also like