Field Survey

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Overview

NIKA Mobile’s survey engine is purpose-built for environmental field data collection. It combines a standards-compatible form renderer with voice recording, on-device transcription, and AI-powered auto-fill — so surveyors spend less time typing and more time observing.

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Survey Hierarchy

Surveys are organized in a three-level hierarchy designed for complex ecological assessments:

1. Survey — the top-level project (e.g., “BNG Habitat Assessment — Site A”)
2. Plan — a spatial unit within the survey (a habitat parcel, transect route, carbon plot, or point location)
3. Session — a single data collection visit to a plan, capturing form responses, GPS tracks, photos, and audio

This structure supports repeat visits, seasonal monitoring, and multi-surveyor coordination across large sites.

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Form Engine

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Rich Field Types

The form renderer supports the full range of field types needed for compliance surveys:

• Text & numeric — free text, integer, decimal inputs
• Selection — single-select (radio) and multi-select (checkbox) with choice lists
• Spatial — geopoint, geotrace (line), and geoshape (polygon) capture via interactive map picker
• Media — photo capture and audio recording
• Temporal — date, time, and datetime pickers
• Logic — skip logic (relevant expressions) and constraint validation

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Compliance Schemas

Pre-built form schemas for industry-standard environmental methodologies:

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LLM Form Generation

Describe the survey you need in plain language and the AI generates a form schema for you — no spreadsheet editing required.

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Voice-to-Form AI

The standout feature for field productivity:

1. Record — tap the floating microphone button to start recording while you observe and narrate
2. Transcribe — on-device AI model converts speech to text in real time, entirely offline
3. Auto-fill — Claude analyzes the transcript against your form schema and extracts structured values into the correct fields
4. Review — auto-filled values are highlighted for quick review and manual adjustment before saving

The AI handles type coercion (matching spoken choices to select lists, parsing numbers, validating dates) so the extracted data is immediately usable.

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GPS Integration

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Position Capture

• Survey-grade position averaging from multiple GPS samples
• Accuracy-aware indicators (green/yellow/red) so you know when readings are reliable
• Multiple coordinate formats (DD, DMS, DDM, UTM)

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Trail Recording

Record a GPS breadcrumb trail for every survey session. Trails are stored as GeoJSON LineStrings with distance, duration, and sample count statistics — useful for verifying site coverage and documenting transect paths.

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Spatial Data Types

• Geopoint — single tap on map to capture a coordinate
• Geotrace — walk a route to capture a line geometry
• Geoshape — walk a boundary to capture a polygon geometry