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6.3 Geospatial Information Management

6.3.1 What is geospatial information management?

Geospatial (or location) data has a critical role to play in humanitarian information management - it tells us not only what is happening, but where. This ‘where’ can itself take many forms, from point location data to analysis at province, or regional level, from high-resolution satellite imagery to 3D models of terrain. With location also comes attributes - associated information that does not have to be location-based - for example how many tents are there at an IDP camp, how many are occupied?. Not all of this data will be used by humanitarian workers on the ground, but almost all data has a geographical component of some kind, and location data is often critical to humanitarian efforts.

The most obvious benefit of spatial data is the ability to represent information on a map, a direct and widely understood form of communication. This can support decision making and understanding, and represent multiple datasets at the same time. However, spatial data, used in the right systems, can also be analysed, answering questions such as ‘how many people have been affected by flooding?’, and ‘what is the current state of crops in the drought area?’.

This chapter will explore in more detail where location data comes from and how you can use it.

6.3.2 Where does geospatial data come from?

In its simplest form, geospatial data can be represented by latitude and longitude coordinates in a spreadsheet, or even an address, although this would normally need to be converted into coordinates before it could be used by an information system (a process called geocoding). More complex spatial entities such as the path of roads, geographical features such as rivers and lakes, and ‘invisible’ entities such as boundaries can also be represented, though this would require the use of a Geographical Information System (GIS).

These categories of data, where the entity can be represented by a single pair of coordinates (for points), or a set of coordinates (for lines or polygons), are known in GIS terminology as vector data.

The other main form of spatial data is raster data, which usually comes from earth observation (EO) sources - that is from satellite or aerial photographs or sensors. In this format, data is held as images, with individual pixels holding values for say colour, intensity, or height. This kind of data may be used ‘as is’ to provide a visual reference, or may be analysed to derive intelligence about what is happening on the ground, and in turn could be transformed into vector coordinate data. Other forms of raster data might include meteorological data, 3D scanning data using LiDAR, gridded data such as population, and infrared data used to assess crop health.

For vector data, there are a number of ways in which humanitarian staff can source data with a spatial element - for example with coordinates, or related to administrative areas:

  • Direct collection: many free apps support the collection of data on phones, for example tracking a path, or logging points of interest. More specialist tools such as KoboCollect, will allow you to create surveys which collect location data automatically on the ground. These methods normally result in a spreadsheet which includes coordinate data.

  • From providers directly: some organisations make their data freely available online, while some require licences. Data may be downloadable, or available as a live feed online - this ensures that you are using the latest version, though requires stable Internet.

  • Portals: in many cases the easiest way to access data is through a portal, where a range of data is held or linked, with the ability to search and filter. For humanitarians, the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) is the principal source for many types of data, including boundaries and population for example, and ESRI Living Atlas also has many global datasets from a range of sources.

For raster data, the task is more challenging, as imagery is less frequently free, and file sizes are usually large.

  • Individual or groups of images: these can be downloaded and incorporated into GIS applications, but this can be laborious because of the size of the files, and the number of images needed to cover an area.

  • Base mapping or imagery: it is usually easier to use tile-based images from a web service - that is images which are downloaded as needed from an online source, in the same way as for example Google Maps works. These sources can usually be accessed directly in a browser, or incorporated into a GIS application.

  • Derived data: it is often more useful to use data which has been derived from satellite imagery - for example an analysis of building damage following an earthquake, or the extent of drought or floods. These derived products are often made available as vector data, which can be easier to analyse and incorporate into mapping by the non-specialist.

When undertaking all IM tasks, especially location-based ones, there is often a balance between collating existing data and using locally collected data. Many existing sources of authoritative data can form the foundation for spatial work and not need to be re-collected. Examples include basemaps such as OpenStreetMap, weather data, and demographic data, using portals such as HDX.

6.3.3 Uses of spatial data

Some examples of IM products and processes that can be enriched by leveraging their location-based components are shown below.

  • 4W data:- Who is doing What, Where and When - the ‘where’ element can easily be mapped to show coverage of humanitarian actions in an area and identify any potential gaps

  • Emergency response: such as Search & Rescue - capturing location during search and rescue ensures coordination so places aren’t searched twice or missed

  • Image analysis: detecting damaged buildings or flooded areas from post disaster imagery, either manually using GIS software,or automatically using AI tools - both ensure the location element of impact is captured to share with response coordinators

  • Anticipatory action: including geospatial data to predict disaster impacts, including flood modelling to model which areas will be affected, populations impacted by a drought, or predetermining optimal locations for warehouses to support rapid logistics

6.3.4 Ensuring quality in spatial IM

As with all information products, accuracy and quality checks are important parts of the process of analysis and product creation. Robust data management and quality control processes should be put in place to avoid and fix common location data errors such as incorrect coordinates in source data, misalignment of boundaries, or misleading symbols.

Spatial data has the advantage of being able to be visualised on a map - so even if a map is not the final output of your work, it’s often useful to view your data in mapping software in order to identify any errors or inconsistencies.

Following a standard workflow can ensure that spatially-enabled products such as maps deliver value to end users. An example workflow is given below.

  • Define purpose or product - who is the target audience, what is the core message, what is the lifetime of the product

  • Identify and collect required data - what data is required, where can it be procured, is it up to date?

  • Select production and dissemination toolset - delivery medium (e.g desktop GIS such as QIGS or Arc, online GIS, MS office toolsPo, Google Earth/Maps)

  • Design and create product: combine data, analsysis and design elements to create the product

  • Review and QA: verify that product meets requirements, with third-party quality assurance where possible

  • Disseminate: publish or distribute to ensure easy access by target audience through appropriate channels

  • Catalogue / archive: ensure product is documented and catalogued for future access

6.3. 5Spatial IM resources

While some standard IM software and tools will accommodate spatial data, there are also many specialist tools and web sites which can be used by information managers to carry out spatial analysis and create spatially-enabled products such as maps. Below is a small selection of some of the most relevant.

Desktop software

Data sources

Web / online mapping

Product examples and other resources

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