End-to-end workflow overview

TerraSitu supports the complete field data lifecycle — from project planning through field collection to reporting. This overview shows how the pieces fit together.

flowchart TB
    subgraph Planning ["Planning (Web)"]
        A[Customer] --> B[Project]
        B --> C[Sites]
        C --> D[Surveys]
        D --> E[Form Templates]
        D --> F[Trip Plans]
    end

    subgraph Deployment ["Deployment"]
        E --> G[Bundle Packages]
        G --> H[Download to Devices]
    end

    subgraph Collection ["Collection (Mobile)"]
        H --> I[Offline Field Work]
        I --> J[Observations]
        I --> K[Photos & GPS]
        I --> L[Species Records]
    end

    subgraph Return ["Return & Sync"]
        J --> M[Sync to Server]
        K --> M
        L --> M
        M --> N[Conflict Resolution]
    end

    subgraph Review ["Review (Web)"]
        N --> O[QA Review]
        O --> P[Approve / Flag]
        P --> Q[Reports]
        Q --> R[Client Delivery]
    end

    style A fill:#2D6A4F,color:#fff
    style R fill:#2D6A4F,color:#fff

The five phases

1. Planning

Set up your project hierarchy in the web portal: create customers, projects, sites, and surveys. Configure form templates, survey methods, and team assignments. Plan field trips with logistics and schedules.

2. Deployment

Bundle survey packages that contain everything field teams need for offline work. Field researchers download packages to their mobile devices before heading to the field.

3. Collection

In the field, researchers use the mobile app to collect observations — GPS-tagged data points with photos, structured form data, and species records. Everything works offline.

4. Return and sync

When connectivity is restored, observations sync to the server. If two researchers edited the same data offline, conflicts are detected and resolved.

5. Review and reporting

Back in the office, QA reviewers check observations for quality and completeness. Approved data feeds into reports for client delivery.

Key roles

Related articles

• Getting started with TerraSitu
• Project setup workflow
• Trip planning workflow
• Field data collection workflow
• QA review workflow