Geospatial Technology Assists Haitian Relief Efforts

Author: John Forne
Date: 28 January 2010

Tags: Haiti, Ushahidi, satellite imagery, aid, earthquake, mapping

Aid organisations have been using geospatial technology to disseminate disaster relief and information following earthquake devastation in Haiti.

Project Ushahidi maps messages sent by people in Haiti using their mobile phones or the internet to inform about structural risks, lack of water and food, aftershocks, and missing persons.

In a large-scale crowdsourcing effort, about 10,000 Haitians have volunteered to translate messages from Creole into English and ask for more information if needed. Other volunteers and experts try to verify the information and put it into the map.

Aid organisations on the ground are using this information to meet specific needs reported by quake survivors.

In an effort to reduce misinformation, the founders of Ushahidi are also working on a verification system to independently confirm that information coming in is corroborated and accurate.

While the map has been useful in making information about the disaster more visible to those inside and outside of the affected area, good access to the internet is not widespread in Haiti. More traditional media, such as radio, is also being used to advertise the map to Haitians without internet access.

Aid organisations are also reliant on other technologies and information streams, such as satellite phones, with the map acting as a valuable data supplement.

For more information on Project Ushahidi and how location information is being conveyed via the internet in Haiti, see the following BBC articles:

• How does Haiti communicate after the earthquake?
• Social networks and the web offer a lifeline in Haiti

Satellite data providers have also responded quickly to aid organisations' need for recent images of Haiti.

Google updated its imagery on 13 January to reflect the devastation. This rapid turn-around was made possible by its new arrangement with GeoEye. Images are available as KML files for Google Earth, and can also be viewed using Google Maps.

DigitalGlobe has also been collecting satellite imagery of the earthquake zone under its Crisis Events Service. DigitalGlobe hope to have 23 collection opportunities over the second half of January, with three satellites in service.

DigitalGlobe is offering the data of Haiti for free until 28 January.

What do you think of the geospatial technology being used to help Haiti? Have I missed anything in this post?

John Forne

Analyst
New Zealand Geospatial Office

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