Tag: ArcGIS Pro

Advancing Sustainable Development in West Africa: A Geospatial Toolkit for Monitoring SDG Goals

In 2015, United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a shared blueprint for global peace and prosperity now and into the future. Within the core of this agenda are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which call all countries to action in a global partnership.

Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals outlines a plan to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss

As part of its initiatives in West Africa, the MIT Media Lab partnered with the Biospheric Sciences Lab at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Blue Raster to develop a desktop-based geospatial toolkit for calculating and reporting key indicators within Goal 15 of the SDGs. These key indicators are:

  • Forest area as a proportion of total land area
  • Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type.
  • Coverage by protected areas of important sites for mountain biodiversity.

Blue Raster developed these tools in a custom toolbox using ArcGIS Pro and the ArcGIS Python site package, ArcPy to calculate the key indicators for countries in the West African region namely: Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Togo, Benin, Guinea, and Botswana. The tool leverages remotely sensed imagery and standardized datasets to inform and provide decision making support to West African stakeholders as well as stakeholders within the academic community supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development agenda.

Blue Raster is long time partner of the MIT Media Lab and had previously partnered with the MIT Media Lab and Green Keeper Africa to develop the Lake Nokoué Environmental Observatory application, an online mapping that provides the public with current and historic information about water quality and invasive species in Lake Nokoué. The online observatory and decision support tool utilizes satellite, aerial and ground data to map water quality readings, as well as the location of water hyacinth and a fish farming practice known as “acadja” over time.

HSF Affiliates Sets Out on a Mission to Improve Mapping Capabilities and Customer Service

HSF Affiliates is a global organization that operates some of the most recognized real estate brands in the world, including Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Real Living Real Estate, and Prudential Real Estate. As a leading provider of real estate services, HSF Affiliates requires the ability to manage and analyze vast amounts of data to better serve its clients and customers in the areas where they are located.

Building a Roadmap to Success

To achieve this goal, HSF Affiliates turned to Blue Raster. As an award-winning geospatial technology company that specializes in data analysis and data visualization, our team was tasked with finding a solution to improve existing technologies designed to visualize data, so moving forward, team members could better understand the market they’re in.

One critical task involved in this project was identifying required changes for importing files with existing scripts and determining, assessing, and resolving needed script modifications. Additionally, our team reviewed and updated the geographies used for zip codes, cities, and counties within the United States, as well as available county postal code data throughout Europe and Southeast Asia.

USZipCodes_HSFAffiliates

Revolutionizing Data Analysis and Visualization for HSF Affiliates

In doing so, we were able to help HSF Affiliates update and improve their processes for analyzing and visualizing data. This means that HSF Affiliates can now better manage and improve data reliability for their GIS team and real estate offices worldwide by determining whether available organizational unit polygons and points can replicate the same level of production as produced with the United States’ data. They can also recognize the required script changes based on the organizational units' data quality. In addition to updates and improvements, we provided ad-hoc services at the request and direction of HSF Affiliates and their team to ensure that all needs were met.

Mission Accomplished: Empowering Global Data Management and Reliability with Blue Raster

Thanks to the expertise and customer service at Blue Raster, HSF Affiliates can now efficiently manage and improve data reliability for the various members of the GIS team and their real estate offices worldwide. Our team's extensive knowledge of the latest GIS technologies and the Esri ArcGIS platform, combined with our corporate culture of creativity, long-lasting relationships, and high technical standards, allowed us to deliver a cost-effective, successful project for HSF Affiliates. This is another great example of how teamwork and finding the right partners can help you achieve your goals.

Could your team benefit from data management and visualization capabilities? Contact Blue Raster today and let us help you achieve your data-driven goals!


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