ATLAS GeoMaster is now available for small to medium forest owners as a cloud 
computing service (SaaS) provided by Interpine. GeoMaster is a proven forest information system used by large forest owners across New Zealand and Australia. Its user base includes hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest estates and has been developed and customized to suit the needs of small and large forest owners. It enables the forest manager to easily plan, manage, and report on all activity within a forest and land environment, maintaining a history of all events and changes in area and structure over time and all rotations. Seamless integration with GIS allows users to perform their tasks using maps (on-screen) to ensure that areas and activities are recorded accurately.
The cloud service is hosted on Interpine’s private cloud based at Vocus Communications in Auckland. All licensing and hardware is provided with a range of pricing options and functionality to suit end users requirements. For example, a user may not want the additional costs of having access to the full ESRI ArcMap GIS software, preferring to just use GeoMaster and the ATLAS GIS Manager which allows just viewing of GIS data (without GIS editing rights, but the same integrated functionality with GeoMaster). Some may prefer full access the ESRI ArcMap or use an existing licenses for ESRI ArcMap that the client already holds. Pricing is based on monthly service costs with no upfront fees (unless specifically for GIS updates or data entry).
The environment just needs a Microsoft Remote Desktop client (available for MAC or Windows OS) with an internet connection. It features seamless integration with onsite printers, local storage drives, and supports multiple monitors to allow for easy presentation and review of Geomaster information in data views and within the GIS.
Figure 1 GeoMaster showing with ArcMap Integration and Stand Reporting Working inside the Interpine Cloud Service
Figure 2 GeoMaster and ArcMap Working on Dual Screen Environment inside the Interpine Cloud Service
Users are able to print to locally connected devices such as printers to print maps and reports, save exported files and information directly to their local drives and copy and paste data and information from their own computers using the built in features of the Microsoft Remote Desktop cloud services.
Figure 3 Local services connected to the cloud service.
For ease of use, the cloud services also include Microsoft EXCEL, WORD and ACCESS providing direct access to exported reports and templates used in Geomaster. Users can quickly export reports, create operation prescription templates within the cloud environment and be able to review, edit and save them for future use.
Figure 4 GeoMaster chemical usage report example, exported and opened directly inside the Interpine cloud service with Microsoft Office EXCEL 2010
Users get the most updated releases of the Geomaster software quickly, and without user intervention. The ATLAS team have a direct support link with the Interpine cloud service and provide assistance for upgrades and any issues users may have.
Many small to medium forest owners struggle with management and storage of detailed forest information, with many resorting to paper or spreadsheet record keeping practices. Many a time have we seen where data on the forest asset is simply lost, only in the diary of a previous employee, or in a small system which is designed in house and the one person that understood is on leave or gone. In the modern regulatory environment; whether you’re a forest owner, manager or on the ground supervisor, requires forestry managers of all sizes to maintain an easily query-able store of all forest records and log sales. This does not just include the current status of the forest but all the historical events that have taken place as well. So this begs the question, why not use an off the shelf proven product to store and report on forest information, that is used by most large forestry companies? Usually it comes down to upfront costs, complicated licensing from multiple suppliers and the required computer systems infrastructure to support it.
GeoMaster cloud services provision by Interpine provides a solution to these problems with just a simple monthly fee structure. If you would more information on this please contact us via our feedback form, or view our Online Cloud Services Information.
A little more about ATLAS GeoMaster Forest Stand Records System:
- Typical events recorded by Geomaster include: Assessments, Blanking, Change Area, Carbon Assessment, Clearfell, Crop Protection, Disestablishment, Disturbance, Fertilize, Foliar Sample, Oversow, Planting, Pruning, Site Preparation, Thining and of course general notes.
- Typical reports by Geomaster include: Age Class, Area Change, Carbon Assessment Areas, Chemical Usage, Compartments, Croptypes, Forest Summaries, Height and Age, National Forest Exotic Description (NFED) Annual Submissions, Operations, Patches, Stand Maps, Operation Maps, Stand Yield, Stands, Stock Book, Work Programs, and of course a range of custom reports and SQL queries output formats.
Download a PDF version of this article below:
Interpine – ATLAS GeoMaster in the Cloud – Overview of Service
Interpine – Cloud Services for Forest Management – Overview of Service