Tag Archives: ESRI

Spatial Analysis to Prioritize and Protect Marine Areas

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Conservation International (CI) partnered with Blue Raster to analyze and map an enormous marine species dataset—an initiative that will help CI prioritize areas that should be targeted for biodiversity conservation.  Marine biodiversity faces growing threats from climate change, run-off pollution and overfishing.  Coral reefs, for example, contain more than 25 percent of all marine species, but 75 percent of the world’s coral reefs are now threatened by human activities.  To confront these threats, CI is working with governments and conservation organizations worldwide to establish marine protected areas (MPAs).

To analyze CI’s dataset of more than 11,000 marine species, Blue Raster indexed spatial data using the c-squares system and then aggregated c-square values to a global hexagon layer, which covered the planet in around 200,000 equal-area hexagons.  Each hexagon was analyzed for marine species richness and rarity.  In total the database contained over 230,850,000 rows.

Using ArcGIS Desktop with ArcPy and Esri’s Spatial Analyst Extension, Blue Raster produced a data analysis that allows CI to identify places in the ocean with the highest species richness and areas most threatened by human activities, as well as those that are most pristine.  CI can also use the analysis to map areas with the most endemic species.  These maps will help CI pinpoint locations with the greatest need for designation as a marine protected area.

WildFinder Advances Knowledge of Species Biodiversity

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To promote understanding of global species biodiversity and conservation, World Wildlife Fund partnered with Blue Raster to launch an updated version of WildFinder.  This online mapping application provides conservationists, educators, students and concerned global citizens with enhanced ability to study the global distribution of more than 26,000 species.

WildFinder gives users the ability to visualize and investigate the world’s most comprehensive dataset of the geographic distributions of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Scientists have used WildFinder to conduct research that otherwise would have required a time-consuming search of hundreds of references.  This interactive application provides the ability to search for wildlife by location, species name (common or scientific) and ecoregions.  Users can explore a variety of thematic ecoregion maps such as terrestrial biomes, species endemism and richness, as well as freshwater and terrestrial rarity, providing geographic context to user queries.

New features in this latest version of WildFinder include increased visualization and context for both species and ecoregions through photos from Flickr and Arkive, new thematic maps, details on ecoregions and updated threat status information for species. The application applies the technologies of ESRI ArcGIS Server, Oracle, and Adobe ColdFusion as well as the Flickr and ARKive APIs.

Preserving Rainforests with Project POTICO

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To preserve endangered rainforests in Indonesia, the World Resources Institute (WRI) has launched Project POTICO (Palm Oil, Timber, Carbon Offsets), a revolutionary approach to ecosystem management.  Working with spatial analysis tools developed by Blue Raster, Project POTICO aims to divert planned oil palm plantations away from virgin tropical forests to already degraded lands, a swap that will prevent deforestation, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and encourage sustainable agricultural development.

Using the Suitability Mapper, Project POTICO is mapping degraded lands in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, to identify areas with high potential for sustainable oil palm expansion.  This interactive web application produces a customized map of potentially suitable locations based on user inputs and a methodology developed by the WRI and its local partner Sekala.  The custom maps can be used by government officials for land-use planning and zoning decisions and by oil palm companies to prioritize areas for project-specific field assessments. To create these custom maps, the application uses Esri ArcGIS Server Flex API and Pixel Bender for geoprocessing directly in the browser.

Blue Raster also developed the Forest Cover Analyzer, which supports Project POTICO’s efforts to monitor changes to the forest cover.  Using this application, government agencies and nongovernmental organizations can compare current and historic satellite imagery of Indonesian forests, and determine if oil palm companies are using degraded lands and meeting the standards of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.  In addition to using Esri ArcGIS Server Flex API, the application uses the Flickr API, allowing users to explore over 190 field points and panoramic images collected to verify maps.

The beta versions of these two websites were presented at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil conference in Malaysia November 2011 and feedback collected from this event will be used to inform revisions to the public website to be launched in 2012.  For more information on the project please contact beth.gingold@wri.org.

Aqueduct Atlas Helps Project Water Risks

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As the world’s rapidly growing population places increasing stress on global water resources, companies and investors are paying closer attention to water use and water risk management.  To help  understand and manage  exposure to geographic water risks, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and its partners are working with Blue Raster to launch the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas.  Coca-Cola donated maps and data developed to help in understanding and managing exposure to water risks in facilities globally.  Through Aqueduct this information has been made accessible to the public in an interactive, easy-to-use platform, providing a comprehensive and credible metric for measuring geographic water risks.  The Aqueduct Atlas can create high resolution maps of water risks tailored to your unique risk exposure profile.

This interactive application, built using ArcGIS Server, helps companies to quantify and map water risks on a local scale and project future water use and availability.  The current mapviewer includes the Yellow River basin in China.  In the future, the Water Risk Atlas will analyze risk for a wide range of sectors and river basins including the Murray-Darling, Orange-Senqu, and Colorado River basins.

Using the Water Risk Atlas, users can generate detailed, multi-variable maps by adjusting the weight and priority of various factors, including risks related to water scarcity, deteriorating quality, increasing prices, poor water governance, or increasing competition for water resources.  The Atlas can be used to model what-if scenarios, identify risks and opportunities , and share water risk information.  To learn more, visit the water risk mapping platform at http://insights.wri.org/aqueduct/atlas.

WRI Tracks Nutrient Pollution in Coastal Waters

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When the World Resources Institute (WRI) wanted to draw attention to nutrient pollution of coastal waters, they turned to Blue Raster to develop an interactive website and GIS application to depict and track this growing problem.  The central feature of the WRI’s Eutrophication and Hypoxia: Nutrient Pollution in Coastal Waters website is an interactive map, which combines geographic, environmental, and time-lapse data.

Within the past 50 years, eutrophication—the over-enrichment of water by nutrients such as nitrogen phosphorus—has emerged as one of the leading causes of water quality impairment.  Eutrophication can result in hypoxia (or oxygen depletion), which can destroy aquatic life and create dead zones in coastal regions. “Until now, a lack of information and monitoring has been a major impediment to understanding the extent and impacts of ‘dead zones’ and eutrophication in coastal ecosystems,” said Mindy Selman, senior water quality analyst at WRI.  “This website is an important step forward because it compiles the current information into a central location to raise awareness and offer solutions for controlling nutrient pollution.”

Blue Raster developed the user-friendly application using ArcGIS Server and Flex API to create a comprehensive look at historical and recent eutrophic and hypoxic events around the world.  The interactive map allows users to investigate 762 coastal areas around the globe that have been affected by eutrophication and hypoxia. The data, which was compiled by analysts at WRI and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, includes 479 sites identified as experiencing hypoxia, 55 sites that once experienced hypoxia but are now improving, and 228 sites that experience other symptoms of eutrophication, including algal blooms, species loss, and impacts to coral reef assemblages.

Using Flickr, YouTube and Delicious, Blue Raster provided users with the ability to access and share other resources on eutrophication and hypoxia, including publications, photographs, and video.  The site also allows users to provide updates to the maps and databases based on their knowledge of local coastal water conditions. To learn more about nutrient pollution in coastal waters please visit http://www.wri.org/project/eutrophication/map.

Amnesty International – Eyes on Syria

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Blue Raster announces the launch of Eyes on Syria for Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organization.  Created using ArcGIS Server Flex API, Flickr, and YouTube, this application tracks human rights concerns within Syria, the harassment of pro-reform Syrians abroad, and activism of Amnesty International supporters around the world.  Eyes on Syria offers a comprehensive picture of the situation in and outside Syria using geolocated photography and video evidence with eyewitness testimonies as well as activist campaign materials.  The project was led by Amnesty International’s Science for Human Rights Program.

UDS Mapper wins first place in Esri UC Application Fair

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Blue Raster is pleased to announce UDS Mapper took first place in the Web-Based GIS Application category at the Esri International User Conference’s User Software Applications Fair.  The application was developed using Adobe Flex and Esri ArcGIS Server and is deployed on the Amazon Cloud (EC2).

UDS Mapper Wins 1st Place

Australia Megafauna

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Blue Raster has developed Australia Walkabout Through Time for the Carnegie Institution for Science using ArcGIS Server and Flex API.  This interactive web mapping application allows the public to view interpreted data regarding the extinction and survival of megafauna in Australia.  The website was developed towards middle and high school students to teach the science of paleontology in Australia and the use of geographic information systems as a research tool in helping to solve complex questions, such as What Happened to Australia’s Megafauna?  GIS enabled the scientists to see new patterns emerge.  For instance once their interpreted data was on a satellite photo of Australia, different climate and ecological zones were clearly visible on a continental scale.  For more information please visit http://www.australiamegafauna.org/.

Geo-Enabling International Development – Esri UC 2011

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Blue Raster’s Stephen Ansari presented Geo-Enabling International Development – Capacity is the Barrier to Transparency at the Esri International User Conference in San Diego.  Blue Raster partnered with the World Bank for BOOST, part of the Open Data Initiative.  The Kenya Open Data Initiative is the first government data portal of its kind in Sub Saharan Africa.  It allows the general public access to several large data sets, including the national census and statistics on government spending at the national and county level.  Please visit the Kenya BOOST portal at kenya.wb-boost.org.

BOOST

Geo-Enabling International Development – Blue Raster Esri UC 2011 Presentation

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World Resources Institute – Forest Atlas of the Democratic Republic of Congo

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The World Resources Institute partnered with Blue Raster to create an interactive map viewer that shows development in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  Designed using ESRI ArcGIS Server 10 and the Flex API 2.2, this forest atlas allows the viewer to examine in detail logging and mining concessions, protected areas, roads, and detailed change in the forests, which cover two-thirds of the country’s territory and serve as one of the planet’s major forest carbon sinks.  The user can view the information in both English and French by themes such as forest zoning, concession date, timber production, mining, vegetation, and forest cover change.  Further, the adjustable transparency of the map layers enables the user to view the base map data underneath.

The government of DRC faces challenges in developing comprehensive forest management, zoning processes, and management of logging, mining, and agriculutre.  Forest Atlas of the DRC provides easier access to current forest land allocation in the DRC and will help improve land use planning, monitoring, and resolution of conflicts over resources in areas of overlapping claims.  It will also help local NGOs and communities understand government actions and defend their access rights.

The DRC Forest Atlas map viewer is the first in a series of interactive maps focusing on forest developments and change.  Over the coming months, additional map viewers will be available for other central African countries and Indonesia.  For more information regarding the World Resources Institute Forest Atlas Project please visit http://www.wri.org/stories/2011/04/new-map-viewer-shows-development-forests-democratic-republic-congo.

Forest Atlas of the Democratic Republic of Congo