Kraemer Tower

Survey with your phone

Use the KraemerTower field app on Dave’s or Eli’s Android phone to find the 43 numbered plots and enter counts. It combines Eli’s aerial image, GPS guidance, flagged-center records and large counting buttons. Use a tape to measure each 16.65-foot horizontal radius. The survey guide explains what to count.

Install and check the field app

  1. Open kraemertower.org/survey-app/ in Android Chrome. Enter your own name. Use September 2026 stocking as the survey round on both phones.

  2. In Chrome’s three-dot menu, choose Add to Home screen or Install app. Open the new KT Survey icon. In Save / share, tap Check offline setup and wait for Offline map ready.

  3. Turn on airplane mode while keeping Android location enabled. Reopen the installed app and confirm that its map and plot numbers appear. Tap Use my location and allow location if you want GPS guidance. Test this at home before depending on it in the woods.

  4. At a plot, use Find to approach safely. Flag the center as plot ID-A and save the marked center, using GPS or a written marker description. The app shows GPS accuracy and preserves the original planned point. Its bearing is relative to true north; it does not rotate with your phone.

  5. Use Count and the large + buttons. Undo last count corrects a tap. Record healthy and damaged live redwoods separately; expand the other categories for uncertain, dead, known missing positions and other conifers. A dash means unfinished. Fill blanks with 0 is an explicit statement that you checked those categories.

  6. Check the planting year and edges, choose the plot condition, and tap Review & finish this plot. Edge, unsafe, not-planted and revisit records stay visible but are excluded from full-circle calculations. An all-zero circle requires an extra confirmation.

Keep and combine your counts

Records save on that phone; they do not automatically upload or sync. After each outing, use Save / share → Download full backup and keep the file in Android Files or Drive. Check that the file arrived. Send that backup to the other person using Share backup, or attach the downloaded file yourself. Clearing site storage or losing the phone can remove records that have no separate backup.

To combine counts, open Save / share → Choose backup file on the other phone. Import keeps existing records, preserves edit history and skips identical copies. If both people counted one plot, Review individual visits lets you choose which visit to use in totals. Neither visit is deleted. Results for the 2025 trial and 2026 planting remain separate. Use a new survey-round name for future remeasurements.

Download this round as spreadsheet creates a CSV for review; the full JSON backup is the file to import or restore. Counts per acre are descriptive results for selected full circles, not a whole-planting survival estimate. Record photos with the phone camera and label them with the plot ID; photos remain separate from app backups.

The app’s GPS, storage and offline behavior use standard browser features. Location and reported accuracy · Offline app caching.

Optional onX companion

The onX files already supplied to Eli use exactly the same plot IDs. Keep onX for its familiar map and photo features if useful. The setup below remains available as a second mapping workflow.

Before leaving Wi-Fi

  1. Get the numbered GPS layout. The September 8 map and downloads contain 36 points for the 2026 planting and 7 separate points for the 2025 trial. GPS coordinates are prepared; confirm planted edges, cohorts and exclusions in the field before counting.

  2. Keep one survey folder in My Content. Use “KT Survey 2026-09-08-A REVIEW.” The complete onX KML imports through the web map with 47 items: 43 plot centers, two road references and two working shapes. Alternatively import the 43-point GPX. Do not import both copies. Check existing folders first and verify every plot ID.

  3. Download an Offline Map. Include the planting area and access routes at a useful detail level. Wait for completion. Test in airplane mode with location services enabled: confirm the map, points and your location remain available. GPS reception does not require cellular service; the imagery needs to be saved beforehand.

  4. Save your backups locally. Download the numbered fillable packet and 43 phone-note blocks. Test typing into a PDF field, saving a copy, closing it and reopening it on your own phone. Print the packet if your reader does not reliably save fields.

At 26-P01, then repeat

Select the planned point and use Go to Waypoint. The straight direction line is not a safe walking route; detour around hazards without moving the intended center. Tracking your walk can help keep a record of access.

At the marked center, preserve the planned waypoint and save another called 26-P01-A. Open its edit view. Paste 26-P01’s block into Notes, enter counts and observations, attach the overview and close-up photos, and save. Continue through 26-P36, then use the separate 25-T01 through 25-T07 series for the 2025 trial. Keep the two years separate.

26-P01 — 2026 REDWOOD SURVEY
Date/time / observer:
Unit / boundary version:
Status: COMPLETE / EDGE / REVISIT / UNSAFE
Actual latitude, longitude / accuracy (m):
Horizontal radius: 16.65 ft
H healthy live:    D damaged live:    U uncertain:
X dead:    M known missing:    O other conifers:
Other species / planting year / origin:
Acceptable crop-tree count / reviewer criteria:
Brush class: 0–25 / 26–50 / 51–75 / 76–100%
Symptoms / optional height and units:
Photo filenames:
Edge / offset / skipped reason / follow-up:

Reopen the record before leaving. Confirm the ID, counts and photos. If using voice dictation, proofread every number. Put zero in completed empty categories; leave unresolved observations clearly marked. Colors can distinguish planned, complete and revisit points, but the written status is the lasting record.

At breaks and after the walk

Compare completed IDs with the paper register so a missed point is visible. Back on Wi-Fi, let onX sync and inspect the records on a second device. Export the geographic information, then save the notes and original photos separately. onX exports do not include photos; web-map exports also omit notes. An exported map file is therefore not a complete survey backup.

Photograph filled paper sheets. Keep the completed PDF, note copies, original images, geographic files and final boundary together under the Timber survey records. Do not rely on one phone or one cloud sync as the only copy.

Official onX help

Updated September 7, 2026. Use the current in-app help if menu names differ.