Collect geographical or geological field data
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Physical, manual and inspection work |
| Jobs that do it | 7 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Handling and Moving Objects (4.A.3.a.2) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 7 occupations that perform it.
- Gather information from geographic information systems (GIS) databases or applications to formulate land use recommendations.
- Collect supporting data, such as climatic or field survey data, to corroborate remote sensing data analyses.
- Gather and compile geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps.
- Collect information about soil or field attributes, yield data, or field boundaries, using field data recorders and basic geographic information systems (GIS).
- Collect geological data from potential geothermal energy plant sites.
- Conduct laboratory or field experiments with plants, animals, insects, diseases, and soils.
- Collect geospatial data, using technologies such as aerial photography, light and radio wave detection systems, digital satellites, or thermal energy systems.
- Participate in fieldwork.
- Conduct field work at outdoor sites.
- Collect verification data on the ground, using equipment such as global positioning receivers, digital cameras, or notebook computers.
- Collect data on physical characteristics of specified areas, such as geological formations, climates, and vegetation, using surveying or meteorological equipment.
What we would actually use
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
How people actually do it
No workflow names this activity yet, but these automate the same kind of work, with the prompts to paste and what to keep for yourself.
Who does this work
7 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Collect environmental or biological samples”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Collect biological specimens from patients | 21 |
| Collect environmental data or samples | 13 |
| Collect biological specimens | 6 |
| Collect geological samples | 3 |
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.