Accurate and Efficient: How Drone Mapping and Site Plan Overlays Improve Land Parcel Demarcation

Land parcel demarcation is crucial in real estate development and land management. In the past, traditional surveying methods, such as measuring tapes, total stations, and theodolites, were used for this purpose. However, with the introduction of drone technology, land surveying has become more accurate and efficient.

Drone mapping, also known as aerial surveying, uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to capture high-resolution aerial images of land and its surroundings. These images are processed to create detailed maps and 3D models that can be used for various applications, including land parcel demarcation.

Recently, we helped our client visualize their property boundary as per their survey plan onto a precise map generated with our drone mapping solution and site plan overlay using GIS. The map has a 1.5 cm GSD (Ground Sample Distance) or pixel resolution, providing high accuracy and detail.

One key benefit of drone mapping is its ability to produce highly accurate and detailed maps. Drones have high-resolution cameras that can capture images with resolutions as high as 1 cm per pixel, resulting in minimal errors in the maps created.

Another advantage is that drone mapping is faster and more efficient than traditional surveying methods. Drones can cover large areas of land in a short amount of time, reducing the time and resources needed for land surveying. This allows for quicker land development and management.

Site plan overlays can also be used for land parcel demarcation. These overlays involve combining maps and other data onto a site plan, providing a comprehensive view of the land and its surroundings. Information, such as property boundaries, topography, vegetation, and infrastructure, can be included in site plan overlays.

By combining drone mapping with site plan overlays, land surveyors can create highly accurate and detailed maps that provide a comprehensive view of the land and its surroundings. This is particularly useful in complex land demarcation projects with multiple land parcels with varying boundaries and terrain.

Drone mapping and site plan overlays are cost-effective solutions for land parcel demarcation. Traditional surveying methods can be expensive, requiring expensive equipment and trained personnel. In contrast, drone mapping and site plan overlays require minimal equipment and can be completed by a small team of trained personnel.

In conclusion, drone mapping and site plan overlays are highly effective tools for land parcel demarcation. They provide highly accurate and detailed maps, are faster and more efficient than traditional surveying methods, and are cost-effective solutions for land development and management. Using these technologies, land surveyors can provide accurate and efficient demarcation of land parcels, contributing to more effective land development and management.

Drone Applications in Real Estate.

Drone technology is among the most disruptive technologies of our time. Mining, surveying, health care delivery, industrial inspections, environmental monitoring, and many more industries are adopting this technology rapidly. Real estate has become a stronghold for drones. As a result of their various benefits, drones are revolutionizing the way real estate projects are planned, monitored, implemented, bought and sold. The following are some of the benefits of drones.

Real estate marketing.

Location! Location! Location! A property's location is the most significant factor in its valuation. A drone can capture aerial footage of a property from a high altitude, showing the surroundings as well as the property itself. This includes road access, scenic landscape, prominent landmarks, shopping complexes, and parks. Labels can also be used to highlight their details and positions in the image. A simple layout of the area can be created with high-resolution imagery and corresponding labels. This will especially benefit when a large property is being split into several smaller parts before being sold. Each piece can be labelled and listed online with its location and dimensions, making it easier for buyers to decide between pieces. 

Drones provide a unique perspective on properties listed on online portals. A single frame gives buyers an overview of the dimensions of assets such as a swimming pool, patio, garden, walkways, etc.

Video tours of a property can capture a potential client's attention for an extended period. It is very common for buyers to look at aerial images of locations before visiting them in person to get a clearer picture of the place. In this case, real estate agents benefit because buyers can fall in love with the property before they even visit it. 

Scaled map of the property

Using aerial photogrammetry, we can generate a precise orthomosaic of the data collected. An orthomosaic is a scaled map of the property that can be used for planning and drawing. Any institution that leases out open spaces will benefit from this feature, especially the hospitality sector. Traditional photography cannot capture the entire property in a single image. Drones can follow a predetermined path to capture images. The multiple images are then stitched together to create a single large orthomosaic covering the entire property area. An orthomosaic showing the boundaries of spaces leased out with labels on them would greatly assist their clients in choosing the most suitable space in the property that is suitable for their needs. 

Interactive 3D Models

A UAV is a perfect tool for the 3D modelling of buildings. Spin, rotate, and manoeuvre around your model with impressive detail and clarity. Gain deep insights into your project and visualize it from previously unseen angles. Make advanced measurements and calculations on your model. Select points to measure the area of a rooftop, the distance between points, and even the volume of a stockpile. Creating a 3D model of the surrounding area can be a great way to put your development in context. 

Not just individual buildings, we can model entire city blocks! This data can then be used by architects and engineers for future designs, additions or alterations, by councils and heritage registers for records of current building condition, or by inspectors to assess the condition of the building in high detail without the need for specialist safety equipment. 

These models are also used for assessing risks (i.e rockfalls, cliff failures etc) that may cause a safety hazard, designing structures (i.e retaining walls), and inspecting inaccessible areas .   

Buildings by Mikhail Savenkov on Sketchfab

Roof inspection of the property for appraisal.

A drone can easily assess the condition of hard-to-reach areas like building roofs. Using drones, high-resolution images can be obtained of roofs.

Monitoring of property

Planners, architects, and construction contractors can use drones to capture site data over time to create progress reports and analyze how the site plan is being implemented. It is accomplished by superimposing the site development plan over the orthomosaic generated at various times according to the needs of the project. 

A drone service provider can provide homeowners with up-to-date aerial footage of their properties to help them assess their conditions and monitor any other concerns they may have such as trespassing by neighbours while they are away. By capturing footage from multiple angles, drones can provide complete coverage of the property's assets.

Cost-effective.

By integrating technologies such as artificial intelligence and GPS-enabled flying, drones capture data in the most efficient way with the minimum amount of manpower and in a shorter time frame.

Creating a Orthophoto Map from Aerial Imagery captured with a UAV(Drone)

The purpose of a map is to represent the earth's surface so that you can measure dimensions, directions, areas, etc, as opposed to using aerial photographs that have distortions. An orthophoto (a geometrically correct aerial image map) was created from a single aerial image captured with an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone). 

Raw Drone Image

Google Satellite Image of the same location

The drone image has a very high resolution as compared to the satellite image. Imagine if we could use this data to directly measure dimensions from an image. This is exactly what we did.

Once the aerial image was processed and converted into an orthophoto, the orthophoto was overlaid onto the satellite image and we found excellent results when measuring the dimensions. According to the institution, the size of the ground is 100m x 68m which we have measured with centimetre accuracy using our orthomosaic map. You can see it below. 

 

A survey of the street lights on Betalbatim's main road.

Electricity is one of the basic human needs of modern society. In our villages, we have electricity distributed through overhead electrical wires mounted on poles equipped with street lights. Many times, the lights don't work and monitoring them becomes a hassle due to their number and close proximity between neighbouring electrical poles. Each pole has a unique pole number. Panch members and the villagers would benefit greatly if they could report their grievances by stating the pole number. The electrical staff and the panchayat members could subsequently refer to the pole distribution map made available to them. GIS can also be used to track one's position with respect to the village map. This is done using mobile phone GPS and a base map of the electrical pole distribution overlaid on satellite imagery. 

Geosensitive provides mapping services that can benefit the village administration in delivering better services to their villagers. Contact us to know more. Email: geosensitive.goa@gamil.com , WhattsApp: +91 7057067906. 

Optical fiber network mapping to enhance business operations, reduce capital expenditures, and increase customer service.

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system used to store, edit, analyze and display geographically referenced information. This system utilizes GIS to map out where Fiber Cables are installed and used in order to provide valuable information to telecommunication companies for more accurate planning for new fiber network and seamless management of the entire integrated infrastructure. Staying competitive in the modern fiber optic development space is hard without a Geographic Information System (GIS). GIS platforms enable fiber network managers to create high-quality digital representations of their networks, run data queries, troubleshoot issues, and plan for future growth. 

Fiber Maps Defined 

A visual representation of a fiber network is called a “fiber map.” 

GIS fiber mapping is essential for the following reasons: 

• Understanding how all network components work together
• Revealing spatial distribution and growth opportunities
• Identifying network vulnerabilities 
• Improving system analyses

Understanding your network 

When it comes to fiber network management, operators must be able to visualize how all elements are arranged and related to each other. Creating visual representations of fiber optic networks, or fiber maps, helps bring about a deeper level of understanding of how a network is performing. With fiber maps, operators have a digital record of all network components that is easy to maintain and reference. Evaluating spatial distribution and planning for the future Using GIS platforms, fiber network operators can gain a clearer perspective on how components are distributed spatially across a given market. They can see where they lack coverage and plan expansion efforts more effectively. For example, a network operator could reference a fiber map to see where he or she has excess capacity in existing cable routes. With this information, the operator could make an informed decision on how to expand to serve new clients. Sales teams can also use fiber maps to see where they should focus their efforts. They could query network data to identify potential clients who were positioned close to unused fiber strands. Without investing major capital into new cable installations, sales leads could turn to their fiber maps for ideas on how to grow within a market. GIS fiber maps can also help network managers decide how to allocate limited resources, such as repair support. Guided by GIS tools, they could identify areas with the highest concentrations of clients and place repair technicians near those areas in order to reduce issue response times.

Keeping networks up and running

 Any fiber network operator knows the importance of effective troubleshooting. GIS platforms make it much easier for fiber optic network managers to identify problems and address them quickly. For example, network operators can use the fiber maps to determine where cable issues are occurring. Additionally, field technicians can study urban basemaps to create minimally invasive action plans when cables need repair. At the same time, operators could see where they have extra capacity to support clients while primary routes are repaired. Overall, using GIS for fiber management is less costly and reduces downtime for end users. On a broader level, GIS fiber mapping can help operators discover network vulnerabilities. Fiber maps make it much easier to recognize where there is a lack in network redundancy that could create issues down the road. Operators can use this information to address weaknesses and avoid future problems.

Web-based GIS 

With a web-based GIS product, many different departments within a company can access the data and use it for various applications including engineering, operations, research & development, marketing, finance, and planning. Overall, there are many use cases for fiber maps as operators can combine data layers in countless ways. Being able to visualize network elements has tremendous advantages for managing and optimizing fiber optic networks over the long term. 

Geotagged inventory of customers 

Visualizing customer distribution will generate locational intelligence that will help guide logistics management, enhancing inventory and marketing decisions. Geotagging can help you optimize your resources' distribution between branches. Identify how and where customers interact with your brand, helping you make better inventory and marketing decisions

Contact GeoSensitive for all your GIS Mapping Needs.
Ph: 7057067906

GIS in Everyday Life

Wondering how to identify the accident prone zones on a road? Or how to put up your collected data in a pictorial form on a map canvas? The answer is very simple- GIS, Geographic Information system. Through the use of highly specialized and efficient technology, modern geography is able to collect, analyse, and report on data about Earth’s surface. 

Geographic Information System acts as a powerful decision-making tool for any business or industry since it allows to analyse environmental, statistical and topographic data. Data from GIS applications help companies and various industries, and consumers, make better decisions. Not only for bigger companies and scientific purposes but GIS can also be used by common people to solve their community-level problems. GIS-generated datasheets or maps are easy to read and highly efficient, even for a non-familiar person. For example, GIS can be used to generate accident prone zone map of any selected area or simply to know the crops grown in an area. These maps are easy to read and analyse. 

Let us have a look at some scenarios where GIS can be helpful and convenient. 

1. Urban planning- GIS can help select sites for new developments and analyse the growth in urbanization. It can be useful for construction sites and the laying of new paths. 

2. Environmental Impact Analysis- GIS can be beneficial for the preservation of natural resources and the creation of new eco-sensitive areas. It can also help to understand the impact of human activities on the environment. 

3. Agriculture- More appropriate techniques can be used if GIS analysis has been done over an agricultural area. Production of crops, their maintenance and harvesting can also be managed and known through GIS. 

4. Disaster management- GIS can be a source of information for disaster-prone areas. Being reliable and quick in updates, can help with rescue operations and relocating the people to the nearest safe zones. 

5. Surveying- Data collected through surveys can be easily transferred to GIS software to generate maps and reports that are easier to understand. These can be useful to develop action plans if needed.

 

Apart from the mentioned, GIS is also a tool for navigation, transportation, resource management, garbage management, water facilities and much more. Using GIS for solving the problems that we see around, not only helps to provide a solution but also does it in an effective way. This, in turn, would make things easily manageable and systematic. All we need to do is find the cause of the problem and GIS helps to provide a solution! 

 -Apoorva Pimprikar

Intern,

Geosensitive, 2022.

Margao City Heritage Walk

Take a stroll along Margao's streets to admire the Portuguese heritage architecture. An interactive city map with photos is presented. To expand the photo, click on the house icons. Click on the link below to access the web map.

https://malcolmadvetureseeker.github.io/Portuguese-Houses-in-Margao/#16/15.2827/73.9613

Contact Geosensitive at 7057067906 or geosensitive.goa@gmail.com if you would like more information about such maps.

Geotagging of plant saplings during plantation drives

Monsoon season is here, so it's time to plant more trees and saplings to regenerate forests. Seeds and saplings are distributed throughout Goa by NGOs, institutions, forest departments, local MLAs, etc. This is an annual event during this time. That's great, but how successful are these campaigns? These campaigns are rarely assessed based on data that can verify the success of particular campaigns. Has the plant grown to maturity? What was the number? What is their location? Those trees were planted by whom? When were they planted? We would be more accountable for our plantation campaigns if this data were available, in addition, the spatial distribution of the saplings would allow us to determine what areas are currently covered by our program and where new plantation drives could be launched. As such initiatives are rarely successful without community support, we will also know where to look for volunteers. Mobile technology, such as geotagging, can help us achieve this goal. 

 

Geotagging refers to adding geographic coordinates to media based on a mobile device's location. The geotag can be applied to photos, videos, websites, text messages, and QR codes, and it could also include a time stamp. 

Geotagging can help us 

• In order to assess the growth of plants through Apps and websites
• Assessing the protection of plants and saplings
• Locating and counting trees and saplings in order to document the afforestation process 

As part of the Plantation Programme, all plants must be geotagged so that the authorities can monitor their progress. 

This makes it prudent to include geotagging of the saplings as part of future sampling drives. Due to low-cost technology and easy access to mobile phones, this novel technology is now accessible to everyone. 

GeoSensitive has been the technical team behind the ongoing Plantation Drive with Geotagging 2022 in Benaulim Constituency, Salcete Goa.

You can reach us at geosensitive.goa@gamil.com or WhatsApp on 7057067906 for help

Georeferencing

 

Georeferencing is the name given to the process of transforming a scanned map or aerial photograph so that GIS or mapping software can 'place' the image in its appropriate real-world location

GIS for Agricultural Planning at Village Level

Agricultural activity is best handled through community participation. This is particularly relevant in the case of Goa, India where farm holdings are extremely small and fragmented. In community farming, resources are shared and managed together, thereby bringing greater benefits to all. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to map and quantify all the available agricultural land in a village and identify its status of utilization, i.e. whether it is cultivated or not.  

An Agricultural Map of Carmona Village in South Goa is shown here. In order to map all the designated agricultural land in the villager, the Regional Plan for Carmona was used as a basemap. Various high-resolution satellite imagery was interpreted using Google Earth Engine and Google earth pro to identify cultivated and uncultivated areas. The map was further validated on the ground with farmer inputs before it was finalized.

Using this map, the village can better plan logistics for cultivating 250.5 ha of agricultural land, of which 90.2 ha are cultivated and 160.3 ha are uncultivated. 

On the basis of the spatial insight provided by the map, the farmers have identified four clusters of areas. Clusters have a designated farmer in charge to oversee all the farmers who have land in that particular cluster. This is the first time a local farmers' group has used GIS and Remote Sensing technology for grassroots planning in Goa. There is still a long way to go, and more plans for GIS implementation are in the works. This will be covered in another post. watch this space. Thanks for reading.

Community Outreach Footprint Mapping

A lot of NGOs work in specific regions where they conduct various activities for the communities that they serve. Many times the objective is to reach out to the maximum number of people in need, this also needs to be done in a cost-effective and efficient manner without missing out on anyone. this is where GIS can help gain spatial insight for better decision-making. 

Presenting a community outreach footprint map. This map depicts the areas covered under community outreach initiatives of a local NGO based in Goa. Such maps can help the NGO's/Organizations/Institutions gain a spatial insight into planning their activities more efficiently. For example, they can identify areas of clusters of activities and areas that have remained out of their outreach programmes and hence plan further activities in these areas.

Contact: geosensitive@gmail.com

Destruction of Mangrove forest and the need for its documentation.

What's happening in Sal River? River dredging or Mangroove smothering!? Let's find out in this post. The river in question is located in Salcete Goa. Recently the river has been in the news due to the ongoing tussle between the Traditional fishermen community and the state government authorities to stop the dredging work. As per government view the dredging work is being carried out to desilt the river so as to allow sufficient depth for river navigation, fishing and other activities that will benefit the Traditional fishing community however the Traditional Fishermen community believes that their livelihood is at stake due to the environmental destruction caused by the haphazard dredging activity. 

In the below Sentinel II satellite time-lapse imagery from 2019-to 2022 of the river stretch between Varca and Carmona Village, it appears as if the river has been stripped of its jewels- the mangroves. 

A ground inspection of this stretch reveals piles of matured mangroves trees smothered to death under heaps of sand. A number of dead tree stubs protrude out of the sand on the river bank with machine cut marks an evidence of its death caused by humans. Take a look at the videos below captured along this stretch in Carmona on 25/07/2021 and in Varca on 28/12/2021 respectively.

 

Dredge caught in action while causing destruction of Mangrooves near Orlim bridge, on 28/12/2021. 

The extent of the loss is hard to quantify as most of the trees are buried beneath the heaps of sand, in spite of this there still a significant evidence left on the ground which needs to be documented properly so that the concerned authorities are held accountable. This documentation can be achieved by launching citizen science initiatives which can make use of open souce GIS software to collect geotagged ground data which can then be utilized to prepare authentic technical reports and measure the loss in terms of biodiversity, economic, ecological functions, watershed functions etc. Only by preparing such a report we will be able to draw the attention of the concerned authorities and seek answers from them. In the absence of such authentic data to substantiate claims the authorities in power easily plead ignorance to the subtle voices of the weaker sections of the society. GeoSensitive is capable of providing the technical GIS expertise and train volunteers to collect data and prepare authentic maps (sample below) which can be verified and acted upon by the concerned authorities. 

Sample Map from Geotagged data

To get in touch write to geosensitive.goa@gmail.com

Thank you.

References 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/stretches-of-sal-worst-hit-among-states-rivers-finds-pollution-body/articleshow/66112034.cms 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/traditional-fishermen-oppose-sal-river-desilting-seek-inspection/articleshow/80104683.cms

https://www.thegoan.net/goa-news/phase-ii-of-river-sal-dredging-fishermen-environmentalists-cry-foul-term-ongoing-dredging-work-as-illegal/80677.html

https://www.heraldgoa.in/News-Today/Ongoing-mode-of-dredging-in-River-Sal-to-put-livelihood-of-fishermen-at-risk-say-surveyors/186880

Customized Thematic Maps: Village Road Network

In a world full of ready access to knowledge, getting the right direction becomes crucial. At a click of a button, we can get access to a lot of data however what we often really need is a focused blueprint. Welcome to the world of customized thematic maps. This post is about how a customized thematic road network map can give us an edge in planning. 

As a part of our endeavour to document our entire village biodiversity, we need to plan documentation trails for field data collection. This sounds straightforward. Google maps? You may say. here are some difficulties 

• Village roads are better known to the village people rather than google. (Think of all your childhood secret trails and escape routes after stealing mangoes)  
• Satellite imagery/maps do not represent village/ward/other boundaries however local landmarks do. 
• Most often, the type of road, its status is not shown on ready available roads maps. 
• All you need is just the Road map minus the clutter.

Therefore we took up this task to compile a road network map for Betalbatim Village in Salcete Goa. We will keep on updating this but for now, we shall plan our documentation trails for birds, religious structures etc.. with this map. 

Presenting a clutter-free thematic road map of Betalbatim village below. 

Road network overlaid on Satellite Imagery

How will you use your village road network map? Tell us in the comments below. 

Thank you, readers. 

GeoSensitive: Simplifying Decision Making - Services Offered

GeoSensitive prides itself in being a service provider to the bottom level decision-maker and upwards. We deliver spatial insights using Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing for decision making that impact lives, livelihoods and our environment. Our speciality is that we do this using a collection of some of the worlds leading open-source GIS platforms, skills we have honed over a period of 5 years. This allows us to provide the best and latest technology solutions at significantly lower project costs.

Our services cover two broad aspects

• Providing Geographic Information Systems Services and Remote Sensing Services for quick decision making and facilitating better and efficient management of resources to the people of Goa.
• Offering professional GIS skill development training on the world’s leading open-source GIS platform i.e., QGIS. 

 Our customers include- NGO'S, Local panchayat bodies, Businesses, Researchers, Farmer groups etc. 

Technical Services

Geosensitive provides specific technical expertise for the clients. These include but are not limited to 

• GIS mapping
• Field Data Collection/Surveying
• Terrain Analysis
• Hydrological Modelling
•  Digitization of existing maps

Training Services

Geosensitive provides education to the client. This can take the form of workshops, coaching, on-the-job support, etc. The following workshops can be curated as per the needs of our clients.

• Basic mapping using QGIS- 2-days (hands-on program).
• Advanced mapping using QGIS- 6 days (hands-on program).
• Ground truthing and Field data collection – 2-days (hands-on program).
• Basics of Satellite Remote Sensing – 6 days (hands-on program).

Specialized Services

Geosensitive provides specialized expertise and advice to the client.

• Spatial Analysis
• Site Suitability Analysis based on set criteria
• Remote Sensing Applications

Project Management

This includes completing a broad range of tasks for the client that is delivered as a package.

• Providing training and follow-up for employees.
• Overseeing implementation of the system.

We are always looking to upgrade our knowledge and expertise by tackling new problems and are happy to discuss burning issues concerning your environment/locality. Write in the comments below.

Drop-in an email at geosensitive.goa@gmail.com to connect with us and we will be happy to respond.   

Mobile GIS for Ground Truthing

In this post, I wish to highlight the usefulness of mobile GIS for ground-truthing work. First of all, what is ground-truthing? Simply put it is verifying the features/facts present on the ground. Why am I talking about ground-truthing? Recently a lot of villages in Goa received notices from various government departments saying that officials will be deputed for ground-truthing work related to Coastal Zone Management Plans.  This exercise is very important considering the fact that many important features such as sand dunes, khazan lands, fish breeding areas, fishing areas, water bodies, mangroves, coastal infrastructure and several other cultural and heritage structures were missed in the proposed plans. Most of the villages in Goa identified these errors and made their own plans with the help of NGO'S and handed these over to the State Coastal Zone Management Authority in the form of hard copy maps and also in the form of soft copy Georeferenced Pdf file format.    

It is observed that the deputed government officials are finding it difficult to accurately locate these features onto the cadastral plan used by them. A very easy approach to solve this problem is the use of GIS apps on a GPS enabled mobile device.  

The app allows one to stack/overlay georeferenced layers of maps one above another and using the inbuilt GPS on the mobile device one can easily identify their location on each of the maps. The maps in this case would be 1. Proposed CZMP 2. Peoples CZMP 3. Cadastral Plan and 4. Satellite Imagery. The location is updated as one moves from one location to another just like a car navigation system but with your choice of the base map instead of the default satellite/road imagery. In addition to this, the app can also be configured to collect additional attribute data in the form of geotagged photographs, text, numbers, booleans etc. 

Screenshot shows the app interface with Betalbatim Village Peoples CZMP stacked on top of Satellite Imagery, Blue dot indicates my location at the time of taking this image. 

Detailed view of the Peoples CZMP map with a scale and finer details on zooming in on the location. Note: The location of the device is out of the scene at the time of taking this imagery hence no blue dot indicating the location on a map.  

Thank you. 

GeoSensitive- Providing Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems intelligence for informed decision making.

Interactive Web Maps: Goa Covid-19 Status as on 25/05/2021

Every once in a while we deal with data in the tabular form. Long tables of data are boring, especially when the data in question has some spatial attributes to it. So when I noticed the government website disseminating covid related information using a table it got me thinking, can this be done better? can we tell the covid story more efficiently so that anybody can understand the situation? and so I thought of making an interactive webmap of the covid-19 status in Goa as on 25/5/2021. Not only was I successful in creating one but it was all done using free to use open source tools including QGIS, WebMap plugin, and Git. 

Goa Covid information is available on the government portal at https://www.goa.gov.in/covid-19/. 

The boring form of spatial data presentation

    A better way of presenting Spatial Data.

Check out the interactive webmap below.  You can play around with the point and polygon features to access additional details such as the number of reported active cases, taluka name, place name etc. 

So what do you think? .... webmaps V/s Tables. 

Google Earth Engine: A powerful application for Earth Scientists

Hello Readers!

Have you ever faced the difficulty of downloading a vast amount of satellite data due to slow internet? ever troubled by the limited processing capabilities of your computer system? lack of storage to handle the data? fear not! because now there exists a solution to all these problems-Google Earth Engine is the answer to all your satellite image processing requirements.  

Google Earth Engine is a cloud computing platform to process various kinds of spatial data, especially remote sensing satellite data. One can now access thousands of satellite imagery with just a few lines of code something unimaginable in the last decade is now possible. Thanks to GEE. 

GEE is the go-to tool for anybody seeking to use remote sensing data because of its powerful cloud data processing and its free access and availability of a vast number of datasets. Moreover, there is excellent documentation for one seeking to learn how to use it. With just the basic knowledge of Javascript syntax, one can get started on the platform using javascript API on the google earth engine code editor. There are also several user forums on social media and open access courses where one can find relevant information and help. 

Google Earth Engine Code Editor interface and a simple image classification procedure performed for Betalbatim Village, Salcete Goa showing 5 classics viz. Green: Vegetation, Yellow: Agriculture, Red: Builtup, Blue: Water, White: Bare ground/sand. 

This might seem a bit overwhelming for a newcomer without the knowledge of coding however let me assure you that with each line of successfully executed code your confidence skyrockets. This has been the case with me (a non-programmer). When you realise the potential that this platform holds you will automatically get the motivation to learn.  So if you are somebody who has a desire to find solutions to real-world problems using satellite data on GEE then Introduction to JavaScript for Earth Engine is the place to start with or any basic course in javascript. Once you have a basic knowledge of javascript head over to the GEE documentation to learn how to use this platform. for those who already have a programming background, you can try completing the exercises from this free course material End-to-End Google Earth Engine (Full Course Material). 

Happy learning.

Thank you. 

Cool things one can do with QGIS: Animated Tracks

QGIS is one of the fastest developing and widely used open source GIS platform out there. It offers some really cool GIS capabilities. One of the cool things to do is to create animated track of your awesome adventures.  I was able to log my bike ride track using an app on the phone, which I later used to create this amazing animation.  

Animated Bike Ride Track

As you can see we wasted some time at several pit stops waiting for our friends to join in and one major halt for snacks and tea before we zig-zag into the mountains at the end of the trip. This animation itself tells us the story of our ride. how cool is this? 


I learnt this QGIS trick courtesy of  Ujaval Gandhi  who has generously shared his high quality QGIS course material for free. 

  

Status of Agricultural Land Utilization in Betalbatim Village.

Betalbatim is a Coastal Village in South Goa with abundant agricultural land lying uncultivated due to various issues, however the current pandemic situation has brought a change and more and more people are taking interest in agriculture due to job losses in other industries. This has created a unique opportunity to strengthen the agricultural sector in the Village. Here we have tried to estimate the total amount of agricultural land available in our village and the amount of land actually brought under cultivation for the last 5 years by analyzing satellite imagery.

With the advent of free availability of very high resolution satellite imagery extending for over a decade on open source platforms such as google earth it is now possible to uncover details about our environment like never before. As a simple use case we will be monitoring the progress of agriculture in our village. 


All the agricultural fields were digitized by geo-referencing the proposed regional plan 2021 for Betalbatim village over the satellite imagery. 

Temporal analysis of high resolution satellite imagery pertaining to the area around Betalbatim was carried out by visual interpretation using image elements such as tone, texture and pattern to identify cultivated fields.

 

5 year Sentinel 2 Satellite timelape of Betalbatim Village

Anybody with an eye for detail will easily notice the changes taking place in agricultural fields in the above satellite time lapse. Scientists use these changes to map the features on the ground besides several other techniques. 

Post harvest changes seen in cultivated fields(whitish tone) whereas uncultivated fields show green tone due to presence of wild grass.  

  

About 144 hectares of land under the jurisdiction of Betalbatim Village Panchayat is cultivable land, of this an estimated 47 hectares is currently cultivated which accounts for only 32% of land available for agriculture. Thus uncultivated  agricultural land accounts for 68%. 

We are now witnessing an agricultural revival of sorts and are expecting the figure of cultivated land in Betalbatim to go up from this year onward, until we achieve 100% utilization of agricultural land .

 To be continued.....