The summer of 2023 was marked by a spate of unprecedented natural disasters across the United States, drawing attention to the pivotal role of geospatial intelligence in disaster management. Geospatial technology, comprising tools such as Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and Remote Sensing, offers significant potential in mitigating disasters through geographic mapping and analysis.
Understanding Geospatial Intelligence
Geospatial intelligence involves capturing spatial information about objects, events, and phenomena indexed to their geographical location on earth or geotag. This data can be static, encompassing situations like a road’s position, earthquake occurrence, or malnutrition in a specific region. Alternatively, it can be dynamic, representing moving factors such as vehicles, pedestrians, or the spread of infectious diseases.
Intelligent maps can be created with geospatial technology to identify spatial patterns in extensive data volumes, aiding decision-making concerning the allocation of scarce resources based on importance and priority.
Significance of Geospatial Intelligence
Geospatial intelligence holds great value in numerous areas:
– Monitoring Tropical Cyclones: The National Hurricane Center uses geospatial intelligence to monitor cyclone locations, formations, and trajectories.
– Search & Rescue Effort: Following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria (February 2023), geospatial intelligence helped locate survivors and establish aid stations.
– Environmental Monitoring: Helps in predicting climate-related events like temperature changes, precipitation, snowpack, and polar ice.
– Military and Civilian Applications: Satellite images provide critical data in border management situations.
– Transportation and Logistics: GPS technology and geospatial data allow efficient global supply chain management.
– Urban Planning and Autonomous Vehicles: High-resolution imagery helps design safer communities and enables the development of autonomous vehicles.
Growth and Need for Geospatial Intelligence
Rising temperatures and urbanization amplify the demand for geospatial intelligence. The industry is projected to grow from $61 billion in 2020 to over $209 billion by 2030.
An increasingly data-driven agricultural sector also benefits from geospatial intelligence, which provides vital information about crop management, soil quality, irrigation, and pest control.
Indian Government’s Initiatives in Geospatial Technology
The Indian government introduced the “Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2021” to govern the acquisition and use of geospatial information alongside the National Geospatial Policy, 2022, which seeks to streamline geospatial intelligence utilization.
Challenges in Geospatial Intelligence
The potential scale and size of geospatial services and products demand in India remain untapped due to the lack of awareness among potential users and skilled manpower. Other challenges include the unavailability of high-resolution foundation data, lack of clarity on data sharing, collaboration, and absence of solutions tailored specifically for India.
The Way Forward
To overcome these challenges, a geo-portal should be established to make all public-funded data accessible through a data as a service model. Other steps include encouraging data sharing, collaboration, creating foundation data, introducing a bachelor’s programme in geospatial disciplines, and assigning regulatory responsibilities to national organizations like the Survey of India (SoI) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
