Several mapping projects took place over the one month field lab. These projects explored different types of technology and their uses in mapping. Below are brief summaries of these projects.
Field Mapping
Two approaches to field surveys have been explored during the field lab. A field survey, led by Becca Bicksler, Alina Bill-Weilandt, and Ashrika Sharma, was conducted using Open Data Kit (ODK) to collect information on building vulnerability to floods in the Nong Hoi neighbourhood. This survey spanned across three weeks, starting with the survey design process where the team created and tested a list of survey questions. The actual field survey and data analysis took about 1.5 weeks to complete.
Click here for more details on Building Vulnerability Mapping with ODK
Another field survey on critical infrastructure mapping was also carried out in the same neighbourhood. Led by Sheila Amalia and Tri S. Pagianti from Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (HOT OSM), this survey was conducted using field papers and OsmAnd. Critical infrastructures that are important for disaster response were collected and uploaded to OSM over the span of two weeks.
Click here for more details on Critical Infrastructure Mapping in Nong Hoi.
Drones
The drone group kicked-off along with the un-conference in first week. After an introduction to drone mapping and flight planning, the group went out on a field excursion to fly drone missions in Sanpatong area situated about 45 minutes drive south of Chiang Mai city. A second mission was conducted in the Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai province in the third week. This mission was solely carried out by the participants that were trained in the first week by the team from Geoinformatics Center (GIC), Asian Institute of Technology. The purpose of these missions was to obtain high resolution (~3cm) aerial imagery (Orthophotos, Digital surface models and Digital Terrain Models) as they can provide cheap and effective way to provide support in relief efforts pre- and post- disasters.
Click here for more details on Mapping with Drones.
360° Camera
A small group of participants explored the use 360° cameras for street level surveys. After a short introduction session to 360° cameras by Rajitha Athukorala from AIT, the team collected 360-degree imagery at the Sanpatong area and Nong Hoi neighbourhood with a RICOH Theta S camera. The images were then georeferenced and uploaded it to the Mapillary platform. On Mapillary, the imagery was navigable, viewable and could also be integrated into the OpenStreetMap platform to aid the mapping process of flood-exposed communities in the urban areas of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Click here for more details on Mapping with 360° Camera.