Markings¶
Why mark observations?¶
Mark boldly
Do not skip marking because you are unsure of significance. Mark it and set importance to Trivial. It stays in system but does not clutter command situational picture.
In field, observations should be marked immediately, not only after return to command post. Reasons:
- Location is known for sure, later exact place is hard to remember
- Timestamp is stored automatically
- "One person's trash is another person's treasure": low-value observation for one search team may be decisive for another
Creating a new marking¶
Marking is added with plus button, then observation type is selected.
When own location is enabled, marking is automatically placed at GPS location. With gloves, there is no need for precise tapping.
Observation types¶
Karttahimmeli has six point observation types:
| Marking | Use |
|---|---|
| Air scent (IR) | Dog air scent indication — dog signals direction toward a scent source |
| Track (jalki) | Dog's indication of a ground track, or a visible footprint found in terrain |
| Item | Any relevant find linked to the missing person — item, equipment or other object |
| Public tip | Tip from the public or possible sighting of the missing person |
| Person | Mainly used in exercises: marks target person location or find site, shows clearly in replay |
| Other | General-purpose annotation for anything that does not fit the above types |
Person marking in exercises
The Person marking is displayed prominently in track replay, making it the best choice for marking a target person's location or the exact site where they were found during exercises.
Marking importance¶
Each marking can be assigned importance:
| Importance | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Very significant | Call command immediately. Affects search direction. |
| Normal | Reportable observation; contact command as needed |
| Trivial | No immediate search impact, but stored |
Trivial markings are shown faded on map and do not clutter situational picture, but they stay stored for later review.
Very significant = call command
If you mark observation as very significant, call command immediately. Karttahimmeli entry alone is not enough. Command has other tasks and may not monitor map in real time.
Direction arrow¶
Direction arrow can be added to observation, for example from where sound came or where track continued. Arrow is added while creating observation.
If phone compass works, you can point phone to direction and save automatically. Otherwise direction is set by dragging arrow from crosshair.
50 m grid for event coordination¶
Event first aid cover and security operations have long used a 50-metre coordinate grid as a standard map for the event area. Karttahimmeli supports this established practice directly.
The Grid 50 m marking type draws a coordinate grid on the map:
- Each cell is 50 m × 50 m
- Columns are numbered left to right: 1, 2, 3 …
- Rows are lettered top to bottom: A, B, C …
A location can be communicated as a grid coordinate, e.g. B7 — all members of the operation can immediately find it on their map without further explanation.
How to use
Press plus button → select Other → select Grid 50 m → tap the point on the map where the top-left corner of the grid should be placed. The grid becomes visible when the map is zoomed in to approximately level 14 or deeper.
The grid can also be used in search and rescue operations whenever the area needs to be divided into coordinated sectors.
Areas and plans¶
In addition to point observations, areas and route plans can be drawn on the map. Drawing tools are accessed via the plus button. When drawing an area, the app shows the area size in real time; when drawing a route plan, total length and the last segment length are shown.
A drawn area or plan can be given a name visible on the map and free-form comments by tapping the object. Plan colour can be chosen from four options.
Route area — a dedicated tool for drawing search areas for route patrols: draw the route and define the search depth on each side.
Accessing area details
Additional information for areas and plans is accessible only when the map is zoomed out to a coarse terrain map level. At closer zoom levels, tapping targets point observations.
When markings overlap on the map, Karttahimmeli shows a selection window where you can choose the desired item using arrows.
Saving and network connection¶
Offline use
Karttahimmeli also works without network. Markings are stored locally and sent automatically when connection returns. Do not close app in forest only because network is down.
Marking is first saved locally and sent to server as soon as network is available. Spinning icon on the add button means upload is in progress.
Reviewing markings¶
By tapping a marking you can view:
- Timestamp
- Search team name
- Extra info and comments
- GPS accuracy at marking time (with 95% accuracy the team was within the stated radius; multiply by three for 99% probability)
- Wind data from nearest weather stations
Wind data is stored automatically. This is especially useful for dog teams post-analysis.