Guide to field data collection

Learn best practices on running field data collection by building a GIS survey from scratch.

With Felt's Field App you can take any Felt map into the field and turn your phone into a complete data collection tool. Everything captured in the field is instantly synced to the map for all team members to see, transforming field observations into actionable insights in seconds.

This guide gives you the key steps to design a survey for data collection and feed this collection directly onto a map that powers a spatial dashboard. Streamlining the collection and reporting allows your organization to collect field data or assets and report out actionable insights all in one place.

The key benefits of using Felt for GIS survey collection are:

• Get started in 3 steps: Felt's interface is simple and allows you to skip complicated set up requirements or permission structures.

• Standardized data collection: Felt allows you to create surveys from scratch to gather data for inspections, tracking inventory, or surveying assets while ensuring data consistency across your organization.

• Location mapping with precision: Field App allows you to access and track your position on the map, as you move. Use accurate GPS tracing to record data.

• Document conditions with photo capture: Geotagged photos can be attached directly to features via surveys, or on standalone comments.

• GIS tools at your fingertips: Attribute tables, tabular or spatial filters, search, and measure tools let your team record data and make decisions with confidence.

• Connected across teams and sites: Updates in the field happen live on the map for everyone else, allowing you to coordinate seamlessly between the field and office on a single map.

Features included in this guide are only available to customers on the Enterprise plan. To upgrade, contact sales.

Step 1: Set up the survey map

This step happens on desktop by an editor or admin in Felt.

Start with mapping existing data

Use Felt’s upload anything tool to visualize existing data on the map. Use our Styling guides to symbolize the data you need and add Dashboard components to create interactive widgets in the legend. Components will allow you to report out on the status of assets on the map and track real-time updates.

Pro tips:

• Don't have any data? Try Felt’s Layer library

• Consider changing the Basemaps

• Add high resolution imagery (see Raster and imagery)

Create a survey to track field work

Create a new layer in Felt to track field assets on the ground. This layer will have a consistent structure and table of attributes. The team in the field will add features to this layer using the Field App.

1. Select the dropdown next to the pencil icon in the toolbar and click + New Layer...

   
2. Give the new layer a name for the assets you want to track

3. Add the attributes to track with each asset. For numeric or text attributes, use surveys to create dropdown values for that column.

   

   When teammates fill out the survey they must choose from the set values in a dropdown menu
4. Continue adding attributes with + Add attribute

5. Click Done when you are finished setting up all attributes you want to track for data collection

Pro tips:

• Use surveys as often as you can to enforce consistency in the data collected.

• We recommend configuring the following fields

  • "Status" field (Text) to track the status of asset

  • Photo column (Photo) for photo capture on the ground

Make it a spatial dashboard

Your field crew might need to take measurements in the field, like the length of a trail segment they're editing or the area of a damaged section. And while the map tells you where work is happening, Dashboard components tell you how much. Without them, other teams must count features manually or open the attribute table to get a full status update. Now that all the data is configured, we can apply the finishing touches to the map.

Requires access to the Dashboards and App Development features. To upgrade your plan, contact sales.

1. Click on the asset layer in the legend and select Components on the layer panel

2. Click Add Component and select Statistic

   
3. Rename this Feature count statistic to "Total Assets" to summarize the working dataset.

   
4. Next, we'll add a measurement tool to the map. Click App development from the toolbar

5. Select the option for Measure. This tool will live at the top of the Legend for all viewers

6. Select the types of measurements you want to include for field teams

   

Pro tips:

• Toggle the setting for "Update based on view" in your statistic component to get a dynamic count from the current viewport

• Add another statistic component to summarize a key metric the team is collecting

• Add a filter or bar chart dashboard component to summarize the data collection in different ways (by status, by type, etc)

• Consider adding other Extensions, like Find or Spatial Filter

• Review Map settings to control viewport limits and table view settings

Step 2: Invite your field team

This step happens on desktop by an editor or admin in Felt.

1. Click Share in the top right corner

2. Enter the email addresses for your field crew

3. Set them as Editors so they can add and modify data

4. Click Invite

They'll each get an email with a link to the map. When they tap it on their phone, it opens directly in the Field App.

Step 3: Working in the field

This step happens in the mobile Field App by an editor or admin in Felt.

Open the map

1. Download the app and open the survey map in the Field App

2. Tap the location button at the bottom of the screen to center the map on your location. If you need to jump to a different area, use the Search bar to find it by address or place name.

3. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see all the layers on the map. Everything the project manager set up is right here.

For more information on navigating the Field app, see Tour the Field App.

Collect data

1. Tap the button in the bottom right corner

2. Select the target asset layer from the list

3. Tap the map to drop a point or vertex. To snap the point to your current location, tap on the location icon in the bottom right

   
4. When done drawing, fill out the attribute form that appears with the fields to collect. These are the same fields that were configured in Step 1.

5. Tap Done when finished.

The newly reported asset will appear on everyone's map immediately, including all attributes and photos collected. Components and symbology will be updated immediately.

Update attributes

You can update attributes for features on the map, such as the service status of a feature to change the progress. When updating attributes that are used in symbology or components in the legend, your changes will be reflected instantly on the map for all devices viewing the map.

1. Tap a feature to select it and see its current attributes

2. Tap Edit

3. Change the attribute values to update the information

4. Tap Done

Fix or correct data

You can also edit the geometry of any existing features on the map: move points to the correct location, redraw trail segments, and correct plot drawings. Changes will be reflected instantly on all devices viewing the map.

1. Tap on a feature to edit it

2. Tap Edit and select Edit geometry

3. Drag the endpoints to move the vertex or vertices to the correct location.

4. Tap Done

Next Steps

See it in action: LED park upgrade webinar

To show you how the Field App works in practice, this webinar walks through a real use case: a city preparing for an LED upgrade across its parks.

Scenario: The project manager needs to send field crews out to verify the current condition of every light pole, update any inaccurate trail data, and document damage they find along the way. By the end of each day, she needs to send a summary report to city leadership.

Visualize progress with styling

Color-coding your data collection by attribute is what turns a map from "where things are" into "what's happening." For field collection work this can be critical: your crew needs to visually identify which assets to work on and you need to monitor progress without clicking on every feature. You can style your newly created assets layer by a "status” or “progress” attribute to easily visualize the status of data collected from the field.

1. Open the map in edit mode on desktop

2. Click on the asset layer

3. On the style panel, click on the Type dropdown (the dropdown will say "Simple")

4. Select the Categorical option

5. Click on Color by dropdown and select the column that represents your status or progress.

6. This will update the map and legend.

7. Continue styling by customizing colors, symbols, size, transparency, etc. See Vector layers for a comprehensive guide on style settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

What file formats can I upload for the initial data layer?

Felt's upload anything tool supports a wide range of geospatial formats including Shapefiles, GeoJSON, KML, KMZ, GPX, GeoPackage, and CSV files with latitude/longitude columns. For a complete list of supported formats, see our upload anything guide.

Can I export the data collected in the field?

Yes, you can export data from any layer at any time. Click on the layer in the legend, open the data panel, and select Export. You can download your field-collected data in GeoJSON, Geopackage, or CSV formats.

How many photos can be attached to a single feature?

You can attach multiple photos to a single feature through the photo attribute field. Photos are geotagged automatically and stored with the feature. Keep in mind that large numbers of high-resolution photos may impact sync times in areas with slow internet connections.

How do I ensure data consistency across my field team?

Use surveys with dropdown values for text and numeric attributes. This forces field users to select from predefined options rather than typing free text, which eliminates typos and ensures standardized data entry. Configure these dropdowns during the layer setup in Step 1.

Can viewers use the Field App, or is it only for editors?

Everyone with a Felt account, viewers included, can download and log into the Field App. Viewers can see the map and real-time updates through the Felt web app or mobile app, but cannot add or edit features. If someone needs to collect data in the field, they must be invited as an editor or contributor.

When a feature's status is updated in the field, do others see that update immediately?

Yes, all updates made in the Field App sync instantly to the map for all team members. This includes attribute changes, new features, photos, and geometry edits. Dashboard components and symbology will also update in real-time.

Do I need to set up Dashboard components, or can I skip that part?

Dashboard components are optional but highly recommended. Without them, your team would need to manually count features or open the attribute table to get status updates. Components like Statistics and Bar Charts give you instant visibility into collection progress.

How do field users snap a point to their exact GPS location?

When adding a feature, tap the location icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. This will snap the point or vertex to your current GPS position rather than manually placing it on the map.