The status of geospatial data for natural resource

management and food security assessment in the SADC

Region

T. Tamuka Magadzire

USGS/Famine Early Warning System NetworkSADC Regional Remote Sensing Unit

CODATA: 5-7 September 2005; Pretoria, South Africa

Outline

• Classifications• Potential Usage• Some data-holding institutions• Case study on SADC RRSU & USGS/FEWSNET

– Data holdings– Data distribution– Data updating– User Access to Data– Data User Community

• Conclusion

Classifications

• Distinction between thematic/baseline datasets and EO satellite datasets

• Thematic: – variations in a specific data theme over geographic space– Frequency of updating depends on time for evolution, and

effort/resources required

• Satellite datasets– Sometimes considered a method of data collection for the

generation of other interpreted datasets with specific application– Production of interpreted datasets requires ground-truthing

ClassificationsData Theme Examples

Administrative/political boundaries Countries; provinces; districts; cities

Agriculture Agro-ecological zones; farming systems; crop zones

Climate rainfall; temperature; humidity; radiation etc

Ecology Vegetation; Biodiversity; Protected areas; Wetlands; Plant/animal

species occurrence and distribution

Economics Production; trade; markets

Elevation & derivatives DEM; spot heights; contours; watershed delineations

Hydrology Inland water resources - ground-water; surface water reservoirs; stream

networks

Geology bedrock geology; geophysics (e.g. magnetics); minerals; hazards

earthquakes

Soils  Soil types; water holding capacities

Cadastral  Land/property boundaries

Infrastructure Transportation; Utilities; Structures; Facilities Health Centres; schools

Demographic Population; Population densities; Population clusters

Health History and spread of various disease & epidemic outbreaks

Landuse/landcover  Land use; land cover

Potential usage

• Primary benefit of geospatial data is for the production of information that will assist in the process of informed decision making

• Many disciplines can benefit from usage of geospatial data

• Some examples:

Potential usage• Administrative applications: effectiveness of current

administrative boundaries in relation to population and resource distribution can be assessed

• Agricultural applications: Agro-ecological zoning assists in planning of agricultural development initiatives

• Climate applications: applicable in different disciplines, e.g.:– Simulating crop development under seasonal patterns to provide

food security early warning – Predicting potential for malaria outbreak by identifying areas

where climate favors mosquito breeding• Natural resource management: Hydrological modelling in

context of watershed management to facilitate equitable distribution of water to industrial, agricultural, domestic, ecological stakeholders

• etc etc etc…

Potential usage

• EO datasets– Production of thematic datasets such as land

cover and land use, elevations, infrastructure– Regular monitoring of resources and

phenomenon such as • Vegetation• Deforestation• Meteorological forecasting • Rainfall estimation• Crop development through the season• etc etc etc…

Data producers/distributors

• Institutions with data on southern Africa can be classified into – Global– Regional– National

• Some few examples (not exhaustive) are listed

Data producers/distributors

• Global– Global data providers include the following:– United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)– U.S. Geological Survey– Dartmouth Flood Observatory– European Space Agency– United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization– U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Authority (NASA)– U.S. National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA)– University of Maryland Global Land Cover Facility (GLFC) ???– Pennsylvania State University Libraries (Digital Chart of the

World)

Data producers/distributors

• Regional– SADC Regional Remote Sensing Unit– World Wide Fund for Nature – Southern Africa

Regional Program Office– South Africa Satellite Applications Centre

Data producers/distributors

• National – includes national mapping agencies– Angola: Institute Geodesia e Cartograia de Angola– Botswana: Department of Surveys and Mapping– Lesotho: Lands and Survey, Physical Planning– Malawi: Surveys Department– Mozambique: The National Directorate of Geography

and Cadastre (DINAGECA)– South Africa: Chief Directorate Surveys and Mapping– Swaziland: Surveyor General’s Department– Tanzania: Surveys and Mapping Division– Zambia: Surveyor General, Survey of Zambia– Zimbabwe: The Department of Surveyor-General

Data producers/distributors

• National (cont)– Issues include the conversion of hardcopy

map database to digital format; completion differs between institutes

– Other national institutes also maintain geospatial data (e.g. meteorological departments maintain climate data

– Access issues…

Case studies

• SADC Regional Remote Sensing Unit

• USGS/FEWSNET activity

The Regional Remote Sensing Unit (RRSU)

• A component of the SADC Regional Early Warning System in the FANR Directorate

• Objective to strengthen national and regional capabilities in the area of Remote Sensing and GIS for use in early warning for food security and natural resources and disaster management within the SADC Region.– Monitors weather, crops and vegetation using satellite

images and GIS techniques at regional level. Trains national institutions to do the same at Member State level.

– Maintains geospatial databases to facilitate analysis for FS EW and NRM

The SADC Region

RRSU Principal contact institutions

• National Meteorological Services (NMSs).

• National Early Warning Units (NEWUs).

• National Disaster Management Units.

RRSU Technology Partners

SADC REWS, Units, Projects and Directorates

Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN

USAID Famine Early Warning System Network

United States Geological Survey

US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

… and others.

RRSU Data holdings

• comprises both baseline datasets and earth observation datasets, compiled from a variety of sources

• uniform regional standard vector data set for SADC at a scale of 1:1 million was compiled as part of this dataset – originated from the DCW – updated using inputs from the SADC

countries

RRSU Data holdings

• Administrative (borders, subnational boundaries, cities)• Elevation• Land use and land cover • Hydrology (water bodies, rivers, lakes)• Infrastructure (roads, railroads, bridges, airports, utility

lines)• Soil• Agriculture (crop zone maps)• Climate (rainfall, temperature etc)• Demography• Satellite images

RRSU Data holdings

Administrative

National borders of SADC countries

Sub-national boundaries of SADC countries

National borders of SADC countries (FAO/GIEWS version)

Level 1 sub-national boundaries of SADC countries (FAO/GIEWS version)

Major cities and towns of SADC countries (FAO/GIEWS version)

Cities and towns of SADC countries

Urbanised areas of SADC countries

Cultural landmarks of SADC countries

Elevation

Digital elevation model

Elevation contours in SADC countries

Spot elevations in SADC countries

Land use and land cover

Land cover areas of SADC countries

Forest types in SADC countries

Managed areas (including national parks) in SADC countries

Centre points of managed areas in SADC countries

Hydrology

Small water bodies of SADC countries

Rivers of SADC countries

Surface water bodies of SADC countries

Perennial and non-perennial water layers in SADC countries

Wetland types in SADC countries

Lakes of SADC countries

Small islands and lakes of SADC countries

Small coastal islands of SADC countries

Infrastructure

Roads in SADC countries

Railroads in SADC countries

Road and Railroad Bridges in SADC countries

Airports in SADC countries

Utility lines in SADC countries

Soil

Soil types in SADC countries

Agriculture

Crop zone maps of SADC countries (FAO/GIEWS version)

Crop harvest dates of SADC countries (FAO/GIEWS version)

Crop planting dates of SADC countries (FAO/GIEWS version)

Historical crop statistics for the SADC countries

Crop Water Satisfaction index (1996 – 2005)

Start of rainfall season estimates (1996 - 2005)

Climate

Dekadal, long term average: rainfall, temperature, evapotranspiration

Monthly, long term average: radiation, humidity, wind

Satellite Rainfall estimates from 1995 to 2005

Demography

Population for SADC countries, by province

Satellite images

MODIS imagery (2000-2005)

AVHRR NDVI vegetation images (1981-2005)

Landsat imagery: regional coverage for 1970s, 1990s, 2000s

ASTER (partial SADC coverage) imagery for late 2001, early 2002, and 2003

Meteosat thermal infrared and cold-cloud duration imagery

SPOT-4 VGT NDVI vegetation images (1998-2005)

RRSU Data updating

• Satellite datasets updated at different intervals– Some satellite based datasets updated every 10 days

(NDVI, rainfall estimates, water balance outputs)– Other freely available, larger datasets (e.g. MODIS,

ASTER) updated less regularly, when available

• Baseline vector datasets updated as and when available, through interaction with collaborating national partners

Famine Early Warning System Network

• FEWSNET Partners

• FEWSNET Vision– To strengthen the abilities of African countries and

regional organizations to manage threats of food insecurity,through the provision of timely and analytical early warning and vulnerability information.

Famine Early Warning System Network

• FEWSNET Coverage in Africa

FEWSNET/USGS Activity

• The USGS FEWSNET activity focuses on– production and distribution of geospatial data for food

security early warning analysis– building capacity among national and regional

institutions for geospatial analysis supporting EW

• As FEWSNET aims to build and support existing local networks, USGS works closely with existing regional institutions– Southern Africa: SADC RRSU– East Africa: RCMRD– West Africa: AGRHYMET

FEWS NET operations and linkages w.r.t satellite data

SADC RRSU

World

FEWSNET/USGS Activity

• Through partners, FEWSNET routinely produces, maintains, archives, and distributes geo-spatial data related to food security.

• Data regularly produced includes satellite data and derivatives useful for monitoring vegetation (AVHRR NDVI), rainfall (satellite-based quantitative rainfall estimates) and crop development (crop water balance model products).

• Data and information distributed via e-mail and by web (http://earlywarning.usgs.gov/adds)

Africa Data Dissemination ServiceAfrica Data Dissemination Service

http://earlywarning.usgs.gov/adds

User Access

• Defining user access to information– Access versus availability. Information may not be

accessible from available data.– Geospatial information is accessible when

• The user has an awareness of the existence of the data• The user has an awareness of the potential of the data to

address their problem• The user can access the capacity to process the data,

either through personal skill, or through an awareness of the location of the skill required to produce the desired results

User Access

• Web presence: – USGS/FEWSNET: (

http://earlywarning.usgs.gov)– SADC RRSU: currently transferring their web

pages onto sadc.int website

• Metadata uploaded to clearinghouse nodes

• Workshops to address info access issues…

User Access• Workshops

– National and regional Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) workshops to train users on the establishment of SDIs, the utility and production of geospatial metadata, and the use of clearinghouses.

– National user-producer workshops, to make data users aware of available information, and to make data producers aware of user’s needs.

– Annual training workshops for agrometeorologists on the use of remote sensing and GIS in agrometeorological applications to early warning for food security

– Awareness-raising workshops and presentations to practitioners in various fields that could potentially utilize GIS and remote sensing for early warning, including disaster management authorities, agro-economists, agro-statisticians, and other early-warning practitioners

– Special training workshops to provide training on the use of low-to-medium resolution satellite imagery in natural resources management

Spatial Data Infrastructure

• SDI is the relevant base collection of technologies, policies and institutional arrangements that facilitate the availability of and access to spatial data – GSDI cookbook

• NSDIs in the SADC region are at different levels of development, ranging from very low, to complete

• RRSU has undertaken RSDI efforts covering SADC countries, seeking synergies with other institutions working in related activities– EIS Africa– UNEP and SARDC (through AEIN)– GSDI and USGS/EROS (through EINFORM program)

User Community

• The USGS/FEWSNET and SADC RRSU’s data user community is a diverse group

• Users who regularly receive satellite image updates include– Meteorological departments– National early warning units– Agricultural departments and institutions– UN organizations– Conservation institution

• Other collaborators include academic community

User Community

• Interaction with users has exposed – a great demand for training in the handling of

geospatial data– challenges from resource availability to

acquire appropriate software

To round up…

• A lot of geo-spatial data resources available, but...• SDI needs to be promoted• Updating of datasets required• Awareness of data among potential users and

relevant decision makers• Resources for geospatial data analysis• Studies to show potential economic benefits of

geospatial data• Discipline-specific training programs