In order to use and manipulate geospatial data directly on site, the creation of a centralized version of the geodatabase became necessary, from which partial datasets could be deployed to the teams excavating a specific building to make it possible to use the tablets for documentation. Once the tablets were deployed on site, there were a number of perceptible results that could immediately be seen as successes in terms of implementation. For example, there was an obvious increase in the ease and speed of primary data collection using ortho-rectified photos. The results eventually proved accurate with a little care from the operator. Furthermore, as planned, the primary level of graphical record was effectively digitised straight into a dedicated shapefile that could easily be assimilated within the main site-wide geodatabase in the lab. Not only did this effectively cut out the onerous task of secondary manipulation of conventional graphics in order to digitise them, it also allowed for full integration with the project's intra-site GIS, allowing the results to be reviewed and fully edited in the field.
The data structure of the components of the intra-site GIS that hold these primary graphical records were designed to capture the key elements of graphical interpretation, thus emulating traditional analogue modes of recording and ensuring that none of the interpretative processes associated with graphical recording was lost in the digitalisation of the process. Thus the digital GIS record includes planning conventions and the capacity to record geo-referenced annotations.
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