Geospatial Information Technologies for Mobile Collaborative Geological Mapping: The Italian CARG Project Case Study

A collaborative open-source IT infrastructure is designed and implemented to optimize the process of geological field data collection, integration, validation, and sharing. Firstly, field data collection is carried out by multiple users using free and open-source GIS-based tools for mobile devices according to a predefined database structure; then, data integration is automatically performed in a central server, where the collected geological information is stored and validated; finally, data are shared over the Internet, providing users with up-to-date information. The IT infrastructure is currently being employed to accomplish surveys for the realization of the "Brescia" geological map within the New Geological Map of Italy, scale 1:50,000 (CARG Project). Users are only required to run the field data collection application on their mobile devices, add different geometric features to predefined thematic layers and fill in the dialogue forms with the required information to store the new structured and georeferenced data in the central database. The major advantage of the proposed IT infrastructure consists of guaranteeing the operational continuity between field surveys and the finalization of geological or geothematic maps leveraging field data collection tools that are operational both online and offline to ensure the overall system resilience.