Participatory GIS in Empowering Rural Communities:Implementation and Field Trials of a PGIS Solution

Nagesh Kolagani, Palaniappan Ramu and Koshy VargheseIIT Madras

Simplifying Open Source GIS for Use by VillagersIn Map Preparation & Map Utilization; For Local Control & Low Cost

Villagers participate betterSchool children produce GIS maps

Youth gather GPS & attribute data View complex data in simple ways

1. Need for Participatory GIS

Case Study of a South Indian Village

2. PGIS Solutions

Implementation

Field Trials

3. Conclusions

Future Improvements

Training & Extension

Outline

1. Need for Participatory GIS

Case Study of a South Indian VillageProblem: Water CrisisSolution: PGIS-based Water Harvesting

2. PGIS Solutions

Implementation

Field Trials

3. Conclusions

Future Improvements

Training & Extension

Outline

Location Map of Project Villages in South India

Parigi villages (22) (phase II)

E. Palaguttapalli village (phase I)

IIT Madras

Up to 1970’s: Community-based Rain Water Harvesting

FOREST

STREAMS

RESERVOIRS

WELLS FARMS

Up to 1970’s: Sustainable Water Usage

Number of wells: 76● Open wells

During 1980’s and 1990’s: Excessive Water Usage

Number of wells: 198● Open wells● Tube wells

Since 2002: Water Crisis

Number of wells: 59● Open wells● Tube wells

Falling Ground Water Levels over Decades

1970's 1980's & 1990's post-2001

-200

-180

-160

-140

-120

-100

-80

-60

-40

-20

0Ground level

Hard rock

Water-intensive commercial cropsup to 2001

Problem: Water Crisis since 2002

Rain-fed subsistence cropssince 2002

Solution: Water Harvesting Structures

Blackboard Sketch of People's Suggestions

Field Visits to Proposed Locations

A Sample Plan for Proposed Structures

No location information for facilitating monitoring & visualization

GPS/GIS Map of People's Suggestions

For monitoring & visualization; Enforces participation & field visits

Social Benefit Analysis of Proposed Structures

For facilitating discussions among people

A Structure Well-planned and Constructed by Neighbours

Started working as a Successful Silt Trap within 1 Month

Well Co-operatives for Sharing Ground Water

Extending these Lessons to Other Villages

1. Need for Participatory GIS

Case Study of a South Indian Village

2. PGIS Solutions

Implementation

Field Trials

3. Conclusions

Future Improvements

Training & Extension

Outline

Google Map of Reservoir and Farms

Does not know their descriptive data; Does not show other needed features (e.g. wells)

Village Youth gathering such Data using GPS & Questionnaires

For point layers:(such as wells)‏

As GPS 'way points'

For line and polygon layers:(such as streams and farms)‏

As GPS tracks:Can not deviate from boundaryDifficult for streams, farms, etc due to presence of thorny bushes, etc.OK for roads, etc.

As GPS routes:User interface is difficult for use by a villager

As GPS 'way points':To be joined later using GIS

Collecting Spatial Data as GPS Waypoints

A Sample Questionnaire for Farms Layer

School Children Producing GIS Maps from Such Data

villageQGIS: Auto-connecting GPS points

Entering Questionnaire Data into Appropriate GIS layer

Using villageQGIS software: (e.g. 3 clicks)For each feature of each layer (of type line or polygon):

Constructing lines and polygons from GPS point data:- specify way points to join as a string e.g. “209-213, 218, 221-224”- visually verify correctness of boundary points & joined line/polygonConverting lines and polygons into GIS features:- select layer name from a list box e.g. “streams” or “farms”- fill resulting attribute form with data from questionnaire

Using QGIS software: (e.g. at least 17 clicks)For each feature of each layer (of type line or polygon):

- Select desired feature and select option to add new a feature- For each GPS point: (e.g. 209,210,211,212,213,218,221,222,224”)

- locate it on the screen, using find button or appropriate label option- draw a line connecting it to previous point

- fill resulting attribute form with data from questionnaire- Save

Comparison of villageQGIS and QGIS

A Sample Village Map

...

Querying Attributes of Mapped Features

Easy Interface to View Complex Data in Simple Ways

This will help villagers understand their problems & solutions and participate better

Default Views: Farms Classified based on Social Data

Multi-Criteria Classification e.g. Technical & Social Data

Interface for Local Experts to Build Custom Views

1. Need for Participatory GIS

Case Study of a South Indian Village

2. PGIS Solutions

Implementation

Field Trials

3. Conclusions

Future Improvements

Training & Extension

Outline

Experiments on Ease-of-Use in Map Preparation

● Participants:

6 sub-groups of 3 village students each

● 3 sub-groups use Quantum GIS software (Control group)

● 3 sub-groups use villageQGIS software (Test group)

● Task:

Produce GIS maps from given GPS and Questionnaire data sets

Experiments on Ease-of-Use in Map Preparation

1 2 30

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3QGISvillageQGIS

Ratio of times taken (with QGIS and

with villageQGIS)

Experiment no.

Experiments on Ease-of-Use in Map Preparation

1 2 30

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3QGISvillageQGIS

Ratio of times taken (with QGIS and

with villageQGIS)

Experiment no.

Desired spatial

accuracy

Iterative Development

1. Need for Participatory GIS

Case Study of a South Indian Village

2. PGIS Solutions

Implementation

Field Trials

3. Conclusions

Future Improvements

Training & Extension

Outline

Providing Indian Language Interface

Simplified User Interface (UI):

1. Text display in Indian languages:- static text (such as tooltip and button labels)-dynamic text (such as user entered data )

2. Attribute data as audio output

3. Help/instructions using audio and/or video

4. ‘Text-free UI’ (as far as possible)

For facilitating participation

E.g. User entered text in Indian languages

Porting to Handhelds for On-Site Map Preparation and Analysis

3. Samsung N100 Netbook

Examples:1. Samsung Galaxy Tablet

Rs. 28,000 /-0.565 kg10.1'' touch screen9 hours batteryAndroid 3.1 OS

Map preparation as One-step On-site process:1. Following map preparation steps can be combined:

a. Spatial data gathering using GPSb. Attribute data gathering using PDA/questionnairesb. Preparating maps using ‘Gram Panchyat QGIS’

2. This facilitates transparent verification and correction.3. Created/updated map features can immediately bereplicated to a central map server (e.g. open source UMN MapServer) through internet, facilitating social and official monitoring.

On-site Map analysis:1. On-site map analysis for better participatory planning, implementation and monitoring becomes possible. If internet connection is available, this can be an online process through web client; else an offline process using last available data.

Rs. 12,290 /-1.03 kg10.1'' screen5+ hours batteryUbuntu OS

2. Akaash TabletRs. 2,500 /-0.350 kg7'' screen2-3 hrs battery

Mobile SMS based Basic Map Updating and Querying

Map updating:1. Send updated attribute data as structured SMS to central server (e.g completed works)

Map querying:1. Send query as structured SMS to central server and receive basic attribute data (e.g. Basic measurement and expenditure details of such-and-such work) (‘pull’)2. Send SMS alerts about map updates, etc to registered users such as concerned beneficiaries, officers, etc (‘push’)

Browser based Data Entry, Viewing & Administration

Drill down up to individual vouchers

Open Source UMN Map Server & Adempiere ERP server Drill down to farms/sub-polts & households

Upload & download (push & pull) using mobile SMS,tablets (open source Android OS) & netbooks (Ubuntu OS)

Integrated DSS for Planning and Implementation

1. Need for Participatory GIS

Case Study of a South Indian Village

2. PGIS Solutions

Implementation

Field Trials

3. Conclusions

Future Improvements

Training & Extension

Outline

Day 1: GIS theory classes

Days 2, 3 & 4: Village based GPS mapping

Day 5: Evaluation & review

49

Extending through Training Workshops

Thank You!

Credits: To the local youth & To the farmers

Appendix

Run a script and specify location of imported GPS & Questionnaire files

ArcView 3.1 GIS-based Scripts for Automated Map Generation

1. Run ARCVIEW3.1\SETUP.EXE from CD

Default directory for installation is C:\ESRI.

2. Copy av_data directory from CD to C:\

3. Run c:\av_data\project\proj1.apr

4. Run ‘0_main’ script and specify location of imported GPS and PDA

files: ‘proj1.apr’ window‘Scripts’ icon‘0_main’ script‘Run’

button‘Select Mapsource File’=c:\av_data\gps_pda\mapsource.txt’Select

Attribute Files’=bw_points.txt;fm_polygons.txt;sm_lines.txt

Using ArcView 3.1 Scripts

Enter attribute data from each questionnaire table into an Excel file (e.g. c:\av_data\gps_pda\well_points.txt) and convert it into a tab-delimited text file

Preparing Maps using ArcView 3.1 GIS without Scripts1. For each point theme:

Based on its questionnaire table file:1. Create a new ArcView table2. For each record/feature:

Copy Name/Long/Lat of appropriate Waypoint from mapsource.txt into the new ArcView table

3. Create a new Event Theme using the new ArcView table4. Join new table with questionnaire table (after converting it into dBASE format)

2. For each line (or polygon) theme:Based on its questionnaire table file:1. Create a new Theme with shape = line (or polygon)2. For each record/feature: recursive

1. Create a new ArcView table2. Copy Long/Lat of appropriate Trackpoints from mapsource.txt into the new ArcView table3. Create Event Theme using the new ArcView Table4. Create new feature by joining these points recursive

3. Join Attribute table of new theme with questionnaire table file (after converting it into dBASE format)

Georeferencing Tool for Geo-referencing Scanned Maps

I. Copy ‘cygwin’ directory from pendrive (or CD) to ‘c:\’ directory

II. Run c:\cygwin\setup.exe

III. Set following parameters during the running of setup.exe

1. Installation type/Download source=Install from Local Directory

2. Root Install Directory=c:\cygwin:Leave default options “All Users” & “Unix / binary” selected

3. Local Package Directory = c:\cygwin

4. Select Packages:Click on “+” sign appearing before “Database default”Click on “Skip” appearing before “… postgresql …” it will change to “8.0.7-1”Click on “Skip” appearing before “… grass-cvs …” it will change to “6.1.cvs-8”Click on “Skip” appearing before “… grass …” it will change to “6.0.0-2”

IV. To enable Geo-referencing GUI tool:Copy c:\cygwin\grass60.nrm.sh to c:\cygwin\usr\local\bin\Copy c:\cygwin\Init.nrm.sh to c:\cygwin\usr\local\grass6.0.0\etc\Copy c:\cygwin\d.m..nrm.sh to c:\cygwin\usr\local\grass6.0.0\scripts\Copy c:\cygwin\d.m.nrm.tcl to c:\cygwin\usr\local\grass6.0.0\etc\dm\

Installing Scripts Based on GRASS 6.0.0 GIS for Geo-referencing

Run c:\cygwin\grass60.nrm.batWait for xterm & subsequently the GUI tool to appear

↓Copy ‘tif’ image to be georeferenced to c:\cygwin\home directory

(e.g. img.tif)↓

1. Click ‘Georef’ button2. Specify image name and coordinates of any 4 known points

(e.g. /home/img.tif and image_x, image_y, long and lat)3. Click ‘Georef’ button

↓Copy geo-referenced files from c:\cygwin\home

(e.g. outputImage. tif and outputImage.tfw)↓

Right-click on “Cygwin/X Server 0:0” on status barexitexit

Geo-Referencing Scanned Maps using GRASS GIS-based Scripts

Run c:\cygwin\grass60.bat(Return if it asks)

↓To use sample data:

If GUI window appears:set database=“/home”enterselect location=e_pgp_600_f mapset=ws_planEnter GRASS

If Console window appears:set parameters: location=e_pgp_600_f mapset=ws_plan database=/home/escenter

↓To create new data:

If GUI window appears: set database=“/home”enterCreate New LocationSet parameters: location=e_pgp_600_f mapset=ws_plan database=/homeescenteryy

coordinate system=ByDescription=…ydatum=nellipsoid=evrst30N-S-W-E boundary coordinates=(e.g.13:35:00N 13:30:00N 79:00:00E 79:05:00E)

E-W & N-S resolutions=0:00:0.1escenteryReturnescentery↓

If GUI warning apears: OKenterPATH=$PATH:/usr/local/grass6.1.cvs/lib

d.mon start=x0switch to consoleIf using sample data: d.rast contour_rastswitch to monitorswitch to console

exitright click Cygwin/X Server on status barexitexit

Starting GRASS 6.0.0 GIS

Run c:\cygwin\grass60.batSet parameters: location=<loc> mapset=<set> database=/home/<user_name>esc-enter

If this database/<loc>/<set> does not already exist:yycoordinate system=B (for Latitude-Longitude)yDescription=…ydatum=nellipsoid=evrst30

N-S-W-E boundary coordinates=(e.g.17:00:00N 16:55:00N 77:35:00E 77:40:00E) resolutions=(0:00:0.1 0:00:0.1)esc-enteryyesc-enter

↓PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/grass6.1.cvs/lib

Copy scanned map, <img>.tif to c:\cygwin\home\<user_name>\<loc>_data directoryr.in.gdal input=/home/<user_name>/<loc>_data/<img>.tif output=<img> location=<loc>_temp

g.mapset location=<loc>_temp mapset=PERMANENTr.composite red=<img>.red blue=<img>.blue green=<img>.green output=<img>

i.group group=map input=<img>i.target group=map location=<loc> mapset=<set>

↓d.mon start=x0switch to grass console windowi.pointsmapswitch to monitordouble click on <img>

↓For each ground control point whose location in <img> map and whose LongLat in field are known:

click on ‘Zoom’ option with cross-hairClick on ‘Box’click in top-left quadrant map on top-left corner of region to be magnifiedmove cursor & click on bottom right corne

click on desired ground control point in magnified map in bottom left quadrantswitch to consoleenter LongLat as space-separated values in decimal format (e.g. 77.60492 16.96120)enteryswitch to monitor

(repeat above steps for at least three ground control points e.g. the four corners of a 5’ x 5’ block in a 1:50k toposheet)click on ‘quit’click on ‘yes’switch to console

↓i.rectify -a group=map extension=_<ext> order=1g.mapset location=<loc> mapset=<set>

r.out.tiff -t input=<img>_<ext> output=<img>_<ext>exit (from Grass 6.0 GIS)exit from cygwin/X Server on status bar

copy c:\cygwin\home\<user_name>\<img>_<ext>.tif & .tfw files to c:\cygwin\home\<user_name>\<loc>_data

Using GRASS 6.0.0 for Geo-referencing Scanned Maps

Run c:\cygwin\grass60.batlocation=<loc> mapset=<set> database=/homeesc-enter

If the directory c:\cygwin\<database>\<loc>\<set> does not already exist:yycoordinate system=B (for Latitude-Longitude)yDescription=…ydatum=nellipsoid=evrst30N-S-W-E boundary coordinates=17:00:00N 16:55:00N 77:35:00E 77:40:00E resolution=0:00:0.1esc-enter

yenteresc-enteryPATH=$PATH:/usr/local/grass6.1.cvs/lib

↓Copy digitized map files, <map>.shp, dbf and other associated files, to c:\cygwin\home\<loc>_data

↓Prepare text file, <map>_points.txt and copy to c:\cygwin\home\<loc>_data:

min. 4 known points; one line per point; space separated map x & y and Long & Lat in decimal formatr.in.gdal –oe input=/home/<loc>_data/<img>.tif output=<img>

r.composite red=<img>.red blue=<img>.blue green=<img>.green output=<img>d.mon start=x0d.rast <img>_<ext>d.what.rast

Repeat: switch to monitorclick on known pointswitch to consolenote down Long Lat of known pointuse ArcView 3.1 and note down map x & y coords of known points

↓v.in.ogr –oe dsn=/home/<loc>_data output=<map> layer=<map>

v.transform input=<map> output=<map>_<ext> pointsfile=/home/<loc>_data/<map>_points.txtv.out.ogr -e input=<map>_<ext> type=(point, line or area) dsn=/home /<loc>_data olayer=<map>_<ext>

format=ESRI_Shapefileexit (from Grass 6.0 GIS)exit from cygwin/X Server on status bar

copy c:\cygwin\home\<map>_<ext>.shp, dbf and other associated files to desired directory

(e.g. loc=namdarpur4; set=set; map=namdarpur_topo_drain; img=namdarpur_etc_georef; ext=georef)

Using GRASS 6.0.0 for Transforming Coordinate Systems of Digitized Maps/Shape Files

Start new GRASS location↓

Import and view digitized contour vectors from ESRI shapefilev.in.ogr -o dsn=/home/e_pgp_toposheet output=c_vect layer=contours

d.mon start=x0 select=x0d.vect c_vect color=brown

↓Convert contour vector map into a contour raster map with elevation data

v.to.rast in=c_vect out=c_rast col=ELEVATIONd.rast map=c_rast

↓Generate DEM from contour raster map by interpolation

r.surf.contour -f input=c_rast output=surface_rast↓

View DEM interactively in 3-d using nviz toolnviz elevation=surface_rast

↓Divide watershed into sub-basins and compute accumulation raster map

r.terraflow elev=surface_rast fill=f1 swatershed=s1 acc=accumualtion_rast tci=t1 memory=850

Using GRASS 6.0.0 for 3-d animation & catchment estimation

Run c:\cygwin\grass60.batlocation=<loc> mapset=<set> database=/homeesc-enter

If the directory c:\cygwin\<database>\<loc>\<set> does not already exist:yycoordinate system=B (for Latitude-Longitude)yDescription=…ydatum=nellipsoid=evrst30N-S-W-E boundary coordinates=17:00:00N 16:55:00N 77:35:00E 77:40:00E resolution=0:00:0.1esc-enter

yenteresc-enteryPATH=$PATH:/usr/local/grass6.1.cvs/lib

↓Copy digitized map files, <map>.shp, dbf and other associated files, to c:\cygwin\home\<loc>_data

↓Prepare text file, <map>_points.txt and copy to c:\cygwin\home\<loc>_data:

min. 4 known points; one line per point; space separated map x & y and Long & Lat in decimal formatr.in.gdal –oe input=/home/<loc>_data/<img>.tif output=<img>

r.composite red=<img>.red blue=<img>.blue green=<img>.green output=<img>d.mon start=x0d.rast <img>_<ext>d.what.rast

Repeat: switch to monitorclick on known pointswitch to consolenote down Long Lat of known pointuse ArcView 3.1 and note down map x & y coords of known points

↓v.in.ogr –oe dsn=/home/<loc>_data output=<map> layer=<map>

v.transform input=<map> output=<map>_<ext> pointsfile=/home/<loc>_data/<map>_points.txtv.out.ogr -e input=<map>_<ext> type=(point, line or area) dsn=/home /<loc>_data olayer=<map>_<ext>

format=ESRI_Shapefileexit (from Grass 6.0 GIS)exit from cygwin/X Server on status bar

copy c:\cygwin\home\<map>_<ext>.shp, dbf and other associated files to desired directory

(e.g. loc=namdarpur4; set=set; map=namdarpur_topo_drain; img=namdarpur_etc_georef; ext=georef)

Using GRASS 6.0.0 for Transforming Coordinate Systems of Digitized Maps/Shape Files

Google Imagery as Base Map for Attribute Tagging

3-d Visualization

Catchment Estimation in Hilly Areas

Proposed Tablet User Interface