Which set-up?
Four ways to work with Collect Earth, from one interpreter on a laptop to a whole team on your own server. In every one of them you decide where the data lives, who sees it and where it goes next.
Find your set-up
Every set-up needs an internet connection while interpreters work, because Collect Earth shows the imagery from Google Earth and the other imagery services. What differs is where the answers go. Answer two or three questions; you can change your mind later: a project can move from one set-up to another (see Moving between set-ups).
Who will assess the plots?
How should the team's work come together?
For a few interpreters the simplest is often the local database: each person works in Collect Earth on their own computer, and one person, the administrator, brings everyone's plots together. No server and no accounts.
Where may the team's data be kept?
For example, national rules may say where survey data can be kept.
Does everyone work in one office, on one network, with IT support?
Your set-up
1. One interpreter, on your computer
Open the project file and assess the plots. Your progress is on My dashboard, and you can move to a cloud project later.
Your data: in a database on your computer, and nowhere else unless you export it.
Your set-up
2. A small team on the local database, with an administrator
Each interpreter works in Collect Earth's own database on their computer. One person acts as the administrator: they give out the plot files, receive everyone's exports and bring them together into one database, where they follow progress, check the data and export the results. Simple and free: no server, no accounts, nothing to install beyond Collect Earth.
Your data: on the team's computers, and the complete set with the administrator. It travels only as the export files you choose to send.
Your set-up
2. A team sharing one office database
Your IT sets up PostgreSQL on the office network, and every computer saves straight into it. No exports to carry, but each plot must go to one person only.
Your data: in one database on your office network, run by your IT.
Your set-up
3. Collect Earth Cloud
Nothing to install beyond Collect Earth. The coordinator invites the team with a link and follows progress, quality checks, training and the time spent per plot on a web dashboard.
Your data: on each interpreter's computer first, then in your private project on FAO's free server. Only the people you invite see it, and you can download or delete it at any time.
Your set-up
4. Your own server
Everything set-up 3 offers, on a Collect Earth Cloud your organisation runs: on Google Cloud in about 20 minutes, or on any Docker host.
Your data: on your team's computers and your own server only. Nobody else, including FAO, can see it.
- Working alone? Set-up 1.
- A small team? Set-up 2: each person works in Collect Earth's local database, and one administrator brings everyone's plots together. No server needed.
- A team that wants the web dashboard, and FAO's free server is fine? Set-up 3, Collect Earth Cloud.
- A team whose data must stay on its own server? Set-up 4, your own server.
Your data, in every set-up
Collect Earth is built so that the data belongs to the project that collects it, not to the tool or to whoever runs a server. Whatever the set-up:
- It is saved on your own computer first. Every answer is saved at once in a database on the interpreter's computer, before it goes anywhere else. Collect Earth backs that database up each time it closes and keeps the last ten. The one exception is a shared office database (set-up 2), where answers go straight into your own PostgreSQL.
- You decide where it goes. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you join a cloud project, or export it and send the file yourself.
- It comes out in open formats. CSV, KML, compressed XML and Open Foris Collect backups from the desktop; CSV, GeoJSON, KML, shapefiles, IPCC exports, and backups for Collect Earth or Open Foris Collect from the dashboard. No lock-in.
- It belongs to the project. When someone deletes their account, the plots they sent stay in the project. When the coordinators delete a project, everything in it goes, for good: the project file, the plot files, the invitation links and every plot collected.
- You can check all of this. Collect Earth and Collect Earth Cloud are open source under the MIT licence: anyone can read the code and see what it does with the data.
Where the data is, and who controls it
| Set-up | Where the answers are kept | How they move | Who runs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. One interpreter | A database on your computer, with the last ten backups | They don't, unless you export them | You |
| 2. Small team, local database | Each interpreter's computer; the administrator's once imported | As export files the interpreters make and send: email, USB, a shared drive | You |
| 2. Team, office database | One PostgreSQL database on your office network | Straight into the database at each save; nothing leaves the office | Your IT |
| 3. Collect Earth Cloud | Each interpreter's computer, then your private project on cloud.collectearth.org | Sent by Collect Earth over HTTPS a few seconds after each save | FAO, for free |
| 4. Your own server | Each interpreter's computer, then your own server | As in set-up 3, to your server's address | You |
Who sees what in a cloud project
In set-ups 3 and 4 the project is the boundary: each project's data is kept apart from every other project's, also inside the database.
| Who | What they see |
|---|---|
| Coordinators | Everything: every tab, names, quality per person, time spent per plot |
| Reviewers | Progress, Map, Quality and Training, and their own work. No figures per person |
| Collectors | Their own work only: My work and My quality |
| Funders with a progress link | Progress only, without names, until you stop the link |
| The server's administrators | No project's data, unless they are members of the project. Their server page shows totals only, with projects by number, never by name |
| Anyone else | Nothing. They cannot even tell the project exists |
What the coordinators can always do
- Stop an invitation link, change someone's role, remove them, or leave their plots out of the results (People).
- Sign a person out of every device if a laptop is lost (Sign out everywhere). A sign-in left unused for 90 days ends by itself.
- Download every answer as CSV, GeoJSON, KML or a zipped shapefile, with or without the plots' coordinates (Leave out where the plots are), or a Collect Earth backup with the survey and the records.
- Share progress with a funder through a read-only link that shows no names, and stop it at any time.
- Close, archive or delete the project. Deleting removes everything in it for ever: download the data first.
The four set-ups side by side
| 1. One interpreter | 2. Team, local | 3. Collect Earth Cloud | 4. Private server | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical use | A study, a pilot, one expert | A small team that wants it simple, with no server | Most team projects | Organisations that must keep data in-house |
| Where the data lives | Your computer | Each computer, or your office's PostgreSQL | Each computer, and your private project on FAO's server | Each computer, and your own server |
| Who can see it | You | Whoever you give the files or the database to | The people you invite, by role | The people you invite, by role |
| Plots reach the coordinator | Already there | The administrator imports each person's exports; or at once, through the shared database | By themselves, within seconds | As in set-up 3 |
| Giving out plots | Not needed | One plot file per person, by hand | On the dashboard: whole files or divided automatically | As in set-up 3 |
| Progress | My dashboard | My dashboard on each computer | Web dashboard for the team | Web dashboard for the team |
| Quality checks, training, time spent | Self-checks only (My dashboard › Quality) | By hand | Built in | Built in |
| Internet connection | Always, for the imagery | Always, for the imagery | Always: the imagery, and sending plots to FAO's server | Always: the imagery, and sending plots to your server |
| Who runs the server | Nobody | Nobody (or your IT, for PostgreSQL) | FAO | You |
| Cost | Free | Free | Free | About 10 to 15 US$ a month |
1. One interpreter, on one computer
Best for: a study, a pilot, the validation of a map, one expert's assessment.
- YouCollect Earth on your computer
- Your dataA database on your computer, with the last ten backups
- Only if you chooseExports: CSV, KML, XML, a Collect backup, a LULUCF package
Where your data is: in the database on your computer, and nowhere else.
The workflow
- Get the project file. Design the survey in Open Foris Collect's Survey Designer and export it as a Collect Earth project (
.cep), with the plots of your sampling design. - Open it with File › Import CEP file, or drag the
.ceponto the Collect Earth window. - Assess the plots. Each answer is saved as you go; press Submit when a plot is complete, and the next one opens.
- Follow your progress with Tools › My dashboard, including self-checks under Quality.
- Use the results: Tools › Analyse the data for tables and charts, Data Import/Export › Export data for CSV, KML or a Collect backup, and Tools › Generate LULUCF package for IPCC reporting.
The details: Collect Earth for interpreters.
2. A small team, without a server
Best for: a small team that wants to keep things simple: no server, no accounts, nothing to install beyond Collect Earth. Also a team whose data may not leave its own computers. There are two ways to do it.
2a. The local database, with an administrator
- InterpretersEach works in the database on their own computer
- Export filesCompressed XML, sent by email, USB or a shared drive
- AdministratorImports them into one database with all the data
Each interpreter works in Collect Earth's own database (SQLite) on their computer. One person acts as the administrator, usually the coordinator: they prepare and give out the work, and bring everyone's plots together in their own Collect Earth, which then holds the complete data set. For a few interpreters this is often the simplest set-up of all.
Where your data is: on each interpreter's computer, in the export files they send, and on the administrator's computer once imported. It travels only as files you choose to send, by the route you choose.
- Administrator: prepare the project file, and split the plot file into one per interpreter with Utilities › Divide large CSV plot files.
- Administrator: give each interpreter the
.cepand their own plot file. - Interpreters: open the project, choose their plot file in Settings › Project, and assess the plots.
- Interpreters, regularly (every week, say): Data Import/Export › Export data (CSV, XML, backup or KML), format XML (compressed), choosing Records modified since the last export, and send the file to the administrator.
- Administrator: bring the files together with Data Import/Export › Import data (ZIP or CSV), which asks what to do with plots already there, and follow progress with Tools › My dashboard.
- Administrator: analyse and export the combined data, as in set-up 1.
2b. One shared database in the office
- InterpretersCollect Earth on each computer
- Your dataOne PostgreSQL database on your office network, run by your IT
- CoordinatorWorks on the same database
Where your data is: in one PostgreSQL database on your office network. The answers are not kept on the computers, and nothing leaves the office.
- Your IT: set up a PostgreSQL database on the office network, with backups.
- On each computer: Settings › Data storage › PostgreSQL, with the database's address and account.
- Coordinator: give each interpreter their own plot file. Never give the same plot to two people: the last save wins.
- Interpreters: assess the plots. Every save goes straight into the shared database, with no exports to carry.
- Coordinator: follow progress and export the data from any computer connected to the database.
3. Collect Earth Cloud
Best for: most team projects, from a handful of people to a national team.
- InterpretersCollect Earth saves each plot on their computer first
- Your private projectOn cloud.collectearth.org, within seconds
- CoordinatorsWeb dashboard: progress, quality, downloads
Where your data is: on each interpreter's computer first, then in your project on cloud.collectearth.org, the free server run by FAO. Only the project's members see it, each according to their role (see Who sees what), and the coordinators can download or delete it at any time.
- Coordinator: ask FAO for a project on cloud.collectearth.org, or for your account to be allowed to create projects. Work already done on a computer can be the start: From a Collect Earth backup.
- Coordinator: upload the
.cepon Project file, and add the plot files on Plot files, or make them there with Design the plots. - Coordinator: on People, make invitation links (as Collector, Reviewer or Coordinator, limited in uses and time) and send them.
- Coordinator: give out the plots: whole files, or Divide plots evenly or by a column such as province, with an overlap for blind quality checks.
- Interpreters: install Collect Earth, choose File › Join cloud project..., paste the link, and choose their assigned plot file in Settings › Project. Collect Earth downloads the project by itself.
- Interpreters: assess the plots as usual. Each save reaches the server within a few seconds; if the connection drops for a moment, the plots wait on the computer and go as soon as it is back.
- Coordinator: follow Progress, People, Map and Activity; check quality with blind checks, reference plots and the review queue; train the team with calibration and learning sets.
- Coordinator: on Data, download every answer with the final decisions (CSV, GeoJSON, KML, shapefile), open the analysis with the IPCC uncertainty, or take a Collect Earth backup.
- Coordinator: when the work is over, close or archive the project, or delete it with everything in it (Settings).
Every screen: Running a cloud project; the interpreter's side: Join a cloud project.
4. Your own server
Best for: organisations that must keep their data in-house, or that want their own Collect Earth Cloud for many projects.
- InterpretersCollect Earth saves each plot on their computer first
- Your serverYour Google Cloud project, or your own hardware
- CoordinatorsThe same web dashboard
Where your data is: on your team's computers and your own server only. The server's administrators see no project's data unless they are members of it, nobody else, including FAO, can see it, and the server sends no usage data anywhere unless you switch it on.
- Your IT: install the server, on Google Cloud with the guided
deploy.shin about 20 minutes (about 10 to 15 US$ a month, with nightly backups), or on any Docker host with PostgreSQL. - Your IT: open the server's address, type the setup code, and create the administrator's account.
- Administrator: in the server settings, leave Anyone can create an account off, so people only join through invitations, and choose Who can create projects.
- Coordinators and interpreters: from here on, exactly as in set-up 3, on your server's address. The invitation links carry the address, so interpreters never type it.
- Your IT: keep the server up to date (run
deploy.shagain) and test restoring a backup once before the work starts.
The details: Your own server.
Moving between set-ups
Nothing ties a project to the set-up it started in.
- From a computer to a cloud project (1 or 2 to 3 or 4). Export XML (compressed) and create the cloud project from it with My projects › New project › From a Collect Earth backup: it brings the survey and the plots already assessed. Or upload the same project file, and let each interpreter send what they already did with Data Import/Export › Send this computer's records to the cloud project.
- From Collect Earth Cloud to your own server (3 to 4). On the Data tab take a Collect Earth backup, and start a new project from it on your server with From a Collect Earth backup. The backup holds the survey and the records: invite the team again and give out the remaining plots.
- From the cloud back to a computer. Open the project in Collect Earth and import the same backup with Data Import/Export › Import data (ZIP or CSV).
What else leaves the computer
Collect Earth sends your answers only where you send them. A few other things travel, and it is worth knowing which:
- Imagery. To show a plot, the imagery services you use (Google Earth, Esri, Earth Engine, Earth Map, Planet) receive the place you are looking at, as with any web map. If the places themselves are sensitive, keep that in mind when choosing the imagery.
- Usage events and error reports. The desktop program sends usage events (Google Analytics) and error reports (Sentry) that help the Collect Earth team find and fix problems. A server you run yourself sends none unless you switch them on.
- The AI assistant on the dashboard's Quality tab is off unless the server allows it and a coordinator turns it on for the project. When on, it sends Google's Gemini the choice and number answers, the survey's questions and the quality figures, with people's names replaced by "Person A", "Person B". It never sends coordinates, plot ids, comments or other text answers, and it changes nothing.
- Progress links show the project's progress to anyone who has the link, without names, until you stop them.