Bird Count

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v1.0 Submitted for approval 22 July 2023. Approved 24 Jul 2023. Find it on the App Store

The Start page. This iPhone^™ app, Bird Count, facilitates the geotagging of Bird Count stops and the return to the same stops during the next and subsequent Bird Count sessions. Stops in an open meadow or forest aren't always easy to reproduce. Using GPS it is possible to return to within a few (3-10) feet of each stop. The apps use is not restricted to Bird Counts but that is the primary reason for its development.

Details Page' This is the main, details page. A title for the bird count area can be entered at the top of this screen, replacing 'PPC Plots 2022'. Each observation point is described by replacing Plot 1, Plot 2, etc. and latitude and longitude enter in the next two text fields. More conveniently pressing the + button to the right of the 'Your Location' will enter the coordinates in the lat/lon fields. After moving to the next observation point location entry can be repeated. This can be repeated for up to a total of 20 locations. If more points are needed for the bird count additional sets of 20 locations can be recorded.

Once all the locations have been entered, either from a first walk of the bird count area of from a set of coordinates, tapping the longitude field of the first row will highlight the lat/lon fields and display the distance to this fist point above the map. Moving towards the marker on the map will provide the distance to this point. Be aware of your surroundings as the distance is as the 'bird flies'. Follow available paths to this point. From each point touching the longitude field in the next row will provide the distance to the next point.

Common to apps using GPS it can take a few seconds or so to get a result. From there the app will display the distance to the point as the user moves towards or away from the corner. The system seems to be accurate within about 5-10 feet so you will need to look around a little to confirm your location. Remember you will need to include 4-5 decimal places to achieve this precision. Note 0.0001° latitude is approximately 36 feet (around 37° N). Ref https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gccalc.shtml with the best accuracy (open sky and multiple satellites) as about 16 feet (https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/performance/accuracy/). e&oe.

Save Screen The SAVE page. The current location can be saved, added to the local device database after moving to the Save tab. You can edit entries on this page if necessary. Click the save button to save this location set.

It is possible to save multiple Location Sets to the iPhone (Files areas) or if connected iCloud (possibly in a folder called "Bird Count"). The Location Sets file in an iCloud folder can be accessed on your Macintosh computer (or iPad) for editing and archiving. Files in a suitable csv format can be placed in the iCloud folder on the computer for access on the iPhone.

The Load page. A location set stored on the device can be retrieved from this page. Here there two files file, Clicking on a green button will load the data for that location set. Multiple locations can be stored on the device or your iCloud account. Location sets can be deleted from the device store by swiping left. These could be developed in a spreadsheet, such as Numbers, and saved as a .csv file.

Technologies Used:
SwiftUI
MapKit with UIViewRepresentable
LocationManager to find the User
@EnvironObject to allow 'global' variables
CoreData for multiple location sets

David Bourne (david@boomer.org)