A mobile client oriented to subjective and objective information collection for township land resources surveying

Abstract Mobile survey tools (MSTs) are helpful for the collection and management of massive field information for the surveying and planning of township land resources. Willingness and consciousness information, which are derived from residents, are critical for land resources business at the rural scale. However, existing MSTs focus on surrounding environmental information collection (locations, environmental photos, and geography features records), while subjective information that reflects residents' consciousness and willingness is rarely considered. To overcome this deficiency, this study developed ‘Townplan-APP’ to collect multiple types of information for township land resource surveying. Three functions were realized to ensure that objective and subjective information could be collected and managed in real time. First, collection of surrounding environment information is determined as the basic function, which is designed in accordance with existing APPs. This function supports the recording of latitude and longitude, as well as photos and texts that represent environmental features. Second, the interview and questionnaire information collection function, which is the most important novel component in this APP, was designed to record specific residents' consciousness and willingness according to online questionnaires filling. This function was operated in accordance with universal processes, such as ‘template presetting - questionnaire updating-questionnaire filling-questionnaire delivering’. Hence, default templates are provided and can be applied directly to the following surveys, which are oriented to similar businesses, rather than redesigning questionnaires. In addition, updating and revising templates are also supported. Third, back-end management, especially the surveying data representation function, which ensures that multiple types of surveying information can be transmitted and represented from front-end (Mobile APP) to back-end (web-based platform) in real time, not only improves the efficiency of data transmission but also enhances the visualization effect. In general, Townplan-APP is an effective tool for township land resources surveying and planning that can be applied and promoted in international areas.