Tracking pollution with a pocket PC 

You can play games, write emails and plot your appointments. And now the pocket PC is fulfilling another function. This autumn COWI's field workers were registering polluted ground in Aalborg using precisely the same kind of pocket PC as everyone else.

But instead of games, the content is reams of information about cadastral maps, houseowners' associations, roadways, addresses and graphical maps. With a small pen and some simple codes, you enter your registrations on the map. Then, back at the office, all the coordinates and registered information are loaded straight into the municipal environmental database for use in producing thematic maps.

The well-known GIS data (Geographical Information Systems) has become mobile. No more outsize maps getting you in a flap, and time and resources saved.

"By using pocket PCs, we can make almost 30% more calls daily. Meaning fewer days spent in the field and less time spent processing data. Instead of having to write it in afterwards, data can now be transferred directly from the pocket PC to the database. There is no risk of error and we save on quality assurance in the end-phase, as it is now integrated with the rest of the work," explains project team member Ricki Korsholm Knudsen, COWI.

Work made easy

The idea came about when COWI tendered for a municipal water supply project for Aalborg Municipality, Water Supply. In a municipal initiative to protect the groundwater, everything that could conceivably be a source of pollution - from oil tanks to mink farms, artesian wells and mains systems – was to be registered

. In the beginning the field workers went about their tasks in the traditional way, but colleagues working alongside with geographical information systems started to discuss alternative work methods.

"We agreed that there must be an easier way to do the job than with our maps flapping in the wind," smiles Ricki Korsholm Knudsen. "And as we were already receiving a lot of information in digital format from the municipal authorities, we thought: why not do away with paperwork altogether and feed everything straight into the computer?

"The pocket PC can store virtually all the data we need - mains systems, landscape registration… you name it. And you can always take your favourite game with you for the lunch break."

Published 13.12.2002