article / 6 November 2015

From Data Collection to Decisions

The speed at which data travels from the point of collection to a format which is understandable and useful for decision makers can be of critical importance. In this case study, Tim Wilkinson discusses a powerful suite of tools developed by UNEP-WCMC that present a near real-time representation of Blue Carbon habitats along the Abu Dhabi coastline. 

Blue Carbon is a term used for coastal marine habitats which are able to sequester carbon a a much greater rate than terrestrial forests. Mangroves, in particular, also provide vital habitats and ecosystem services. These habitats are critical resource, especially in the northern desert belt where Abu Dhabi is located, that need to be managed sustainably. 

As part of the United Arab Emarites Blue Carbon Demonstration Project, UNEP-WCMC partnered with the Abu Dhabi Gloabl Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI), The Envrionment Agency of Abu Dhabi, and Grid Arendal to develop an application to map the Blue Carbon value of ecosystems around of Abu Dhabi. 

AGEDI wanted to investigate the opportunities in building a local, greener UAE through the better understanding of carbon and coastal ecosystem services and their potential contribution to climate change mitigation efforts. 

Using remote sensing data from the latest LandStat imagery, AGEDI already had an initial dataset of mangrove, sea grass, salt marsh and algal mats. The first step of the project would be to undertake a scientific study of the carbon sequestration rates of these different habitats, including an exploration of the factors which influences this sequestration rate. The goal would be to create a blue carbon map of Abu Dhabi that showed not only the location of these habitats, but also contained the carbon sequestration rates at a very detailed scale. 

Follow this, the partners would then ground truth (validated) this dataset by visiting sites in the field. Data collected in the field would assess the accuracy of the remotely sensed data and add additional information about the features of the habitats (such as age, density and condition) that influenced their ability to sequester carbon. 

Finally, this information needed to be easily accessible by government planning teams, the public sector and the public to help them better account for blue carbon habitats when making planning decisions in the region. 

UNEP-WCMC developed a suite of tools to help through the project process: 

  1. A mobile application to record data in the field
  2. An administration interface for AGEDI to manage the data collected and the teams collecting it
  3. A public facing website for users to explore and interact with the data

The Mobile Application

The Blue Carbon mobile application built by UNEP-WCMC enables in the field edits to the dataset. Using built-in GPS, users can locate their position relative to the habitats desplayed as coloured layers on the map inside the application. They can draw on the map to define areas of habitat to either classify them as correct, delete, or add in new areas. They can also add characteristics such as age and density to their validations. 

The application works offline as many of these habitats are located on small, remote islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi. It then pushes the data to a cloud-based geospatial server once a data connection is established. The geospatial data collected is in vector format, so file sizes are minimal and can be synchronised with the cloud server relatively quickly. [video]

A demonstration of using the WCMC Blue Carbon iPad app developed for the AGEDI Blue Carbon Demonstration Project

The Administrative Interface

Using the administrative interface, AGEDU project managers are able to track validations as they come in. They can delete validations deemed to be incorrect, or edit details should that be necessary. 

Administrators can also manage field teams using the mobile application, as it allows a user to define areas for teams to work. This functionality ensures that there are no clashes of data being merged with the central dataset [i.e. two people don't make changes to the same data, in the same location, at the same time). 

The data can be downloaded by habitat type in ESRI Shapefile format for integration into national datasets. 

The Public Facing Website

The public facing website allows users to interact with the data directly. A user is able to draw areas of interest on the map and where these areas intersect with habitat layers, statistical results are returned. These results who how much habitat is within that area and how much carbon is therefore sequestered in that location. The results can be shared via a unique URL or exported in CSV format to be used in reports and presentations.

Outcomes

Together, these applications form a powerful suite of tools that enable AGEDI to present a near real-time representation of Blue Carbon habitats along the Abu Dhabi coastline. 

A scientist could make a change to the dataset in the field and that edit would be represented in the application being used by a planner almost immediately. 

A scientist could make a change to the dataset in the field and that edit would be represented in the application being used by a planner almost immediately. Tim Wilkinson

This demonstration project offers exciting opportunities for mapping ecosystems wherever they may be and storing that information in a standardised, easily accessible and shareable format. 

Future Prospects

Based on its success, we are looking to expand the project to other project zones around the world. We are also adding features to the administrative interface to enable project leaders to customise teh type of data collected alongside the geospatial data, so project teams could record different details that are more pertinent to their work. 

Through the European Space Agency's Space App Camp, we have created variations of this technology which pulls data from the ESA's 'sentinel' satellite programme. 

For more information on this new application, please visit www.biome.space

About the Author

Tim Wilkinson is head of Biodiversity Informatics at UNEP-WCMC where he works with software developers and scientists to create needs driven applications which look to improve the state of biodiversity around the world.

UNEP-WCMC is the specialist biodiversity arm of the United Nations Environment Programme. We work with international and intergovernmental organisations, national governments, research institutions, the private sector, NGOs and foundations. We believe passionately in the power and value of data for changing behaviours and informing policy in order to safeguard biodiversity and build a sustainable future. Our informatics work focuses on producing web and mobile applications that collect and communicate complex data for decision makers at all levels. For more information, visit www.unep-wcmc.org


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