Abstract

Mobile GIS Lessons Learned from Humanitarian Demining
Track: Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Affairs
Authors: Matthew Dunbar

Landmines and other unexploded ordinance (UXO) affect the populations of over 80 countries around the world. Mapping the areas impacted by these lingering remnants of war is one of the key components of humanitarian demining. The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) developed an ArcPad-based mobile GIS system for demining professionals, which utilizes GPS and laser rangefinders for mapping. This talk will present the results of a formal field evaluation of this mobile GIS system conducted by researchers from the University of Kansas who observed and interviewed users of the system in Chile, Albania, Ecuador and Lebanon. Lessons learned from this study of a mobile GIS for humanitarian demining will be generalized for all users of mobile GIS working in field data collection activities. Emphasis will be placed on system design (hardware and software), user training and environmental factors.

Matthew Dunbar
University of Washington
Box 353412
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington 98195-3412
United States
Phone: 206-543-7685
Fax: 206-618-8135
E-mail: mddunbar@u.washington.edu