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OpenTreeMap App Released To Support Urban Forestry Projects

Azavea has released the source code for the first smartphone version of its OpenTreeMap urban tree inventory software.  

OpenTreeMap enables organizations to collaborate with the general public to map trees in the urban forest and explore the economic and environmental benefits they generate for the community. 

Available online, the OpenTreeMap Mobile code provides access to an OpenTreeMap database via smartphone and tablet devices.  The OpenTreeMap Mobile code is now available for iPhones, and an Android version is currently under development and should be available later this fall.

The first application of the new OpenTreeMap Mobile iPhone was released in late August and provides mobile access to PhillyTreeMap, a web-based map database of trees in the greater 13-county, 3-state Philadelphia region.  The app can be downloaded for free from iTunes.

Urban street trees have proven benefits for communities including providing shade, improving air quality, assisting with stormwater runoff, raising property values, decreasing utility bills, and enhancing the look and feel of communities. 

While tree inventories ensure that municipalities have data to consult when managing the urban forest, creating a complete inventory is a time consuming and resource intensive process. 

OpenTreeMap provides an easy-to-use public inventory platform that enables individuals, organizations, and governments to collaboratively contribute to an interactive and dynamic map of a community’s tree population.

The benefits of using mobile technology for tree inventories were demonstrated this past summer as interns at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission used PhillyTreeMap to conduct a survey of over 1,500 trees in South Philadelphia.  Accessing the site via iPads, the interns were able to add trees and edit data directly in PhillyTreeMap and then export their survey results for further spatial analysis.

OpenTreeMap is currently in use in five cities across the country. Along with Philadelphia, OpenTreeMap is used in San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Grand Rapids. 

OpenTreeMap and OpenTreeMap Mobile are open source projects.  For more information about OpenTreeMap or to download the code, visit the OpenTreeMap website.


10/1/2012

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