MOTION TRACKING
With the Slovak Tatra National Park we have built a system for monitoring the movement of tourists
The TANAP team has long struggled with inaccurate data on the number of people coming to the Tatras. Insufficient statistics made it difficult to plan new investments and made it difficult for administrators to manage tourism. So this time we used our mapping technology to create an online service that tracks visitor movements in the Tatras and gives conservationists, foresters and rangers an accurate overview of the state of tourism.
ABOUT THE CLIENT
Tatra National Park (TANAP) is the oldest national park in Slovakia. It is visited by around 3.5 million tourists and other mountain lovers annually. There are around 600 kilometres of official hiking trails. Tatra nature lives its own life, but it is increasingly influenced by humans. Therefore, it is important to be aware of and correct the amount of movement in the Tatras.
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Motion tracking sensors
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Sensor's battery life
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Yearly tourists
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Sensor's range
Objective of the project: creation of a new platform for monitoring tourism in the whole area of the Tatras
In 2021, TANAP approached us with a plan to improve the tourism monitoring system in the park. They knew that we at Mapotic had experience with tracking maps and that we could give them accurate numbers not only about the movement of people, but also about temperatures in certain areas of the park.
The TANAP team already had the numbers of visitors to the park before our cooperation, but it was not enough. They get data from several sources – for example, from accommodation operators or carriers. However, day tourists or those staying in private accommodation often fall through the net. They also have information from an annual census of tourists in the mountains, but the data is not accurate and the results do not help to determine anything about trends in visitation. Improvements can be made by working with mobile operators who will provide TANAP with their data. However, this will cost the park managers a lot of money and they will only get data for the whole area, which will not be broken down into individual areas as the people of the park would need.
Due to inaccurate data, people from TANAP have limited options. They cannot make objective decisions about investments based on clear data, and it is difficult for them to manage and correct tourism.
Therefore, they approached us with a request for measuring equipment and clear results in the form of maps.
Challenges we dealt with in the national park project
Monitoring movement in difficult terrain
Data on the movement of people, temperatures in the area and more
Measuring with low-power sensors
Maps, analytical dashboards or heat maps as a result
Detailed statistics and options for further work with the data
Tested with a pilot project
Implementation: online monitoring with low-power sensors
We set about selecting the most suitable monitoring equipment and fine-tuned the system for transmitting sensor data. We used the technology of monitoring moving objects (visitors to the Tatra Mountains) as well as a large number of data obtained from predetermined locations, for example, temperature measurements in precisely defined locations in the park. We transmit data from remote locations to the system using so-called telemetry. We have built the monitoring system on 4 basic pillars:
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Telemetry and tracking throughout the park
Thanks to Mapotic, the national park receives data from tracking visitors as well as data from sensors that examine values such as the current temperature. It's called remote sensing, and in short it means that we are able to get data into the system from places that are hundreds of kilometres away. This is possible thanks to the cooperation with Hardwario, from whom we have the software. "Clients often ask me about readings from certain locations. They are interested in how it works and how much the hardware costs. Then they are surprised and say, 'Wow, that's so cheap,' and want to know more details," says Mapotic CEO Ivo Gajdorus.
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Sensor measurement with GPS and low battery requirements
As a key technology we chose GPS sensors from Hardwario in waterproof housings, which we placed on posts, basket holders, stones, bridges, tree trunks, stumps or branches. Thanks to GPS technology, the sensor can be repositioned at any time and still function as it should. The sensors are based on a powerful battery that lasts up to two years. The sensors have a range of 5 metres and send data regularly once a day using the Vodafone NB-IoT network. This is connected to the IoT network and has good coverage throughout the park.
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Pilot project to test the whole system
In order to see how it will work, we first started a pilot project together with people from TANAP. Together we selected less and more frequented routes and deployed sensors.
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Maps, dashboards and heatmaps as a result
The park rangers needed to view the results on the web. We prepared for them overall reports in the form of classic maps, a dashboard with an overview of statistics and heat maps, which are ideal for comparing temperatures in different areas of the park. Park rangers can view the data on desktop and mobile, filter, export and further manipulate it. The detailed statistics were the most important result of our cooperation for the people of TANAP.
We have long been looking for ways to gather information on visitor numbers. The available statistics do not manage to capture the necessary information. In cooperation with mapotic, we have installed meters directly in the field, which continuously send us data on the movement of tourists, which mapotic has clearly visualized for us. This gives us slightly better information on tourist behaviour, which we can share with other institutions in the region and thus work together to better manage visitors."
Ing. Lenka Rusnáková, Executive Director
Result: a flexible tool for keeping track of what's happening in the national park
By launching the monitoring of tourists in the Tatras, the administrators will finally get accurate data on visitor numbers. They will know which routes are overloaded and in urgent need of increased capacity. They will also be able to see where it does not make sense to plan investments at the moment.
The sensors can be moved around the park to measure data in different places. Thanks to this, the TANAP people, in cooperation with the Mapotic team, can gradually fine-tune their most suitable location.
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About Mapotic
EUROPEAN UNION
European structural and investment funds Operation programme Prague – Growth Pole Czech Republic.
In 2020, the company Mapotic, s.r.o received support from the European Structural and Investment Funds, implemented through the Operational Program Prague – Growth Pole of the Czech Republic and drawn through II. call of specialized vouchers (reg. no. CZ.07.1.02 / 0.0 / 0.0. / 16_027 / 0000607). The support was aimed at the participation of the Mapotic s.r.o. at the Prague implementation site in order to increase the competitiveness. The expected output is innovation and launch of other services and products of the company.