Field Survey & Mapping Assignment 2026 | Technological University Dublin

Field Survey & Mapping Assignment

In this assignment you will perform a Field Survey. You will then produce a map of the data you collect during that survey. 

Choose an area and a topic

Decide on an area in which will you perform your survey and identify what you plan on surveying. For example, you could do a survey of:

• the local Coillte Forest trail showing locations of signposts, gates, viewing points, toilet facilities, parking and so on
• your local town showing the location and condition of vacant properties
• your local town showing the location various amenities or useful businesses – playgrounds, cafes, hairdressers, tourist information and more
• the location of various features on a farm – sheds, feeding troughs, ring forts, sheds and outhouses

If you have an idea but have doubts about it please email me for advice.

Walk the area to get a feel for what it is that you might survey. For my trial run I walked the area, and found so many categories of things that I could choose to survey – signs, trees, rabbit holes, plants, house, potholes, water assets (valves etc), telecom poles and telecom cabinets and so on.

Check for anything that might hinder your ability to safely perform a survey in that area. If the survey is near any hazards such as a busy road for example, or riverside, then carefully assess the risks involved. Safety is paramount, please do not perform the survey in any area that might put your safety at risk. The assessment should be performed during daylight and in good weather conditions. Wear appropriate footwear and clothing – for example wear a high vis vest if on roadway.

You should plan what type of information you wish to store. For example, if you are birdwatching then the information you might gather would probably include: species, location, date/time, weather, habitat. On the other hand, if you are surveying vacant properties then the weather on the day is unlikely to be relevant for your survey. Only store useful information about your target.

Ensure your phone is fully charged. Consider bringing a power bank if your phone does not last long on a full charge.

Requirements for your Project

For your survey you should have at least 5 fields and make use of the different field types available to you:

Date and Time – to store the date and time of the moment you survey that data point

Checkbox – to store yes/no or true/false data

Photo Image – to store an image of the species or asset that you are surveying

Number – a numeric value; perhaps for the height of a tree, or width/area of a pothole, number of pieces of litter, or number of dragonflies, or….

Text – this might be some notes that you make at each data point “a specimen Ash tree” or “the entrance gate to the Coillte plantation” Your survey should have:

• At least 25 data points recorded
• At least 20 data points should have photographic images
• All fields should be completed for all of the data points

NB for photos, it is best to take them in landscape mode, as this can save a lot of trouble later. 

Extract the QGIS project from your phone

Once you have completed the project you might not be able to use the Mergin Map to synchronise with the cloud as you will likely have a lot of photographic data, and this will exceed the data limits if you are using the free version of the app.

So you will need to connect your phone to your computer and extract the QGIS Project. I have added a video demonstrating this for an Android phone. The process for an iPhone should be similar. If you have any difficulties, please email me.  

Survey Map

Configure the map so that when the mouse pointer is at one of your survey data point a popup window will appear containing some data and a photo (only for the points for which you have taken photographs). I explain how to do this in my video lectures.

You may find that your photos appear on their side which is very annoying. Simply open the photo on your computer and save it (even though you made no changes it resets the orientation of the photo). And it fixes the problem.

Ensure your popup windows are well designed to make use of the limited space. An example of a well-designed popup window is shown below, although the spacing could perhaps be improved. Note the way the data is clearly displayed.            

Export the Map

Once you are happy with your map you need to prepare it for publication. Go to Print Layout and choose New Print Layout, give the layout a name and then you will be able to add your Map to the Layout.

Add a Scale Bar to help viewers to interpret your map. Also add any relevant labels you feel will help with the Interpretation. An abstract can also be added to give the reader information about the map.

In print layout you can export the map (use menu Layout->Export-> and select PDF/JPG or SVG format).

Document

Produce a short word document containing:

• A description of the how you carried out the survey
• A discussion of any difficulties you encountered
• No more than 500 words
• Reflection on how the project might be improved if you were to start all over again 

What do you need to upload for the assignment?

You should upload two files:

1. Upload the entire QGIS project folder in zipped format. This project folder will contain all photographs, the QGIS Project File and the Geo Package file.
2. Upload a word/pdf document containing your discussion and a copy of your exported map

It is important that all files required for the project be contained in the folder you upload. There will be an automatic penalty of 10% if I have to request that you upload missing files. Last year many of the submissions were missing files. Some students used photos that were in a folder that was not contained in the folder that the student submitted. Some used layers in their maps which were in other folders on their computers. When I open such projects, I get a missing layer error. It wastes a lot of my time.

Marking

100% of the marks for this assignment are for the maps and documentation outlined above.

When marking this assignment, I will be looking at the originality of the work, the professionalism of the map produced, the level of difficulty in manipulating the data and documentation submitted.

Make sure your work is well presented.

Your survey map(s) should be clearly labelled, well presented, and easily interpreted by the viewer.

Make sure all files/layers used in your map are present in the zipped folder that you submit.