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Recording Notes

Making Field Notes with the Natural Atlas App

brandon · Mar 23rd, 2017

When out on an adventure there are often many places and moments worth saving for later. Scenic views, cool plants, fish you catch, bird sightings, etc are several examples of notes you can record with the Natural Atlas app. Notes recorded out in nature are automatically plotted on the map and can have a title, description, multiple photos, and can be classified by type using the Natural Atlas taxonomy.

Example Notes

Thinleaf Huckleberry

Field note

Jul 22nd, 2017

Grizzly Bear

Field note

Jun 10th, 2017

Views East of Avalanche

Field note

Jul 19th, 2017

Getting Started

To create a note, from the main screen, press the + Note button. This will bring up 3 options: Photo, Marker, and Segment. For this tutorial, press the Marker button. The photo button is just a shortcut that opens the camera right away and segments are a more advanced, less-used feature we will get to later. Note: If you are recording a trip when you add a note, the note will automatically be attached to the trip.

Classifying Notes

Now you are on the classification screen where you can specify what type of note you are recording. If you spot an elk, you can select “elk”. If you are noting a waterfall, you choose “waterfall” – there are tens of thousands of options to choose from. Choosing a classification for your note allows you to keep your notes organized to taxonomic tree. If you record a Brook Trout, it will also show up in your lists of fish notes and animal notes. If the note does not fit a classification, or you would rather skip this step and just do this when you are back at home, you can skip this step.

Title & Description

If you want to give your note a title and description you can. This is optional, but can be nice to give viewers more context.

Photos

You can take up to 3 photos to attach to each note. If you want to attach photos from your camera later, you can do that from the website whenever you are back at your computer.

Website Sync

Notes are automatically synced to your public profile on naturalatlas.com and can be shared with friends and family. If you would rather not share your note with the world, you can mark it as private if you are a pro member (sensitive classifications such as petroglyphs are private by default for everyone).

Segments (advanced)

Notes don’t have to be point markers. If you want to record a segment noting something like “following tracks” or “difficult pitch”, start by pressing the segment button after pressing the + Note button. If you are recording your entire journey start recording a trip instead. Segment notes start recording once you press Start and can be stopped at any time by tapping the ongoing note from the main screen and then pressing Stop.