Participatory GIS for Rural Communities: Case Study of a South Indian Village

1. Participatory GIS in Empowering Rural Communities:
Case study of a South Indian Village
Nagesh Kolagani, Palaniappan Ramu and Koshy Varghese
IIT Madras

2. Simplifying Open Source GIS for Use by Villagers
In Map Preparation & Map Utilization; For Local Control & Low Cost
Youth gather GPS & attribute data View complex data in simple ways
School children produce GIS maps Villagers participate better

3. Outline
1. Need for Participatory GIS
Case Study of a South Indian Village
2. Software Development
Design and Implementation
Field Trials
Iterative Development
3. Conclusions

4. Outline
1. Need for Participatory GIS
Case Study of a South Indian Village
Problems
Solutions
2. Software Development
Design and Implementation
Field Trials
Iterative Development
3. Conclusions

5. Location Map of Project Villages in South India
Parigi villages (22) (phase II)
E. Palaguttapalli village (phase I)
IIT Madras

6. 3-d Visualization

7. Catchment Estimation in Hilly Areas

8. Up to 1970’s: Community-based Rain Water Harvesting
FOREST
STREAMS
WELLS
FARMS
RESERVOIRS

9. Up to 1970’s: Sustainable Water Usage
Number of wells: 76
● Open wells

10. During 1980’s and 1990’s: Excessive Water Usage
Number of wells: 198
● Open wells
● Tube wells

11. Since 2002: Water Crisis
Number of wells: 59
● Open wells
● Tube wells

12. Falling Ground Water Levels over Decades
Ground level 0
1970's 1980's & 1990's post-2001
-20
-40
-60
-80
-100
-120
-140
-160
-180
Hard rock
-200

13. Problem: Water Crisis since 2002
Water-intensive commercial crops
up to 2001
Rain-fed subsistence crops
since 2002

14. Solution: Water Harvesting Structures

15. Blackboard Sketch of People's Suggestions

16. Field Visits to Proposed Locations

17. A Sample Plan for Proposed Structures
No location information for facilitating monitoring & visualization

18. GPS/GIS Map of People's Suggestions
For monitoring & visualization; Enforces participation & field visits

19. Social Benefit Analysis of Proposed Structures
For facilitating discussions among people

20. A Structure Well-planned and Constructed by Neighbours

21. Started working as a Successful Silt Trap within 1 Month

22. Extending these Lessons to Other Villages

23. Outline
1. Need for Participatory GIS
Case Study of a South Indian Village
Problem: Water Crisis
Solution: PGIS-based Water Harvesting
2. Software Development
Design and Implementation
Field Trials
Iterative Development
3. Conclusions

24. Outline
1. Need for Participatory GIS
Case Study of a South Indian Village
2. Software Development
Design and Implementation
Field Trials
Iterative Development
3. Conclusions

25. Google Map of Reservoir and Farms
Does not know their descriptive data; Does not show other needed features (e.g. wells)

26. Village Youth gathering such Data using GPS & Questionnaires

27. Collecting Spatial Data as GPS Waypoints
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 boundary
Difficult 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

28. A Sample Questionnaire for Farms Layer

29. School Children Producing GIS Maps from Such Data

30. villageQGIS: Auto-connecting GPS points

31. Entering Questionnaire Data into Appropriate GIS layer

32. Comparison of villageQGIS and QGIS
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/polygon
Converting 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

33. A Sample Village Map

34. Querying Attributes of Mapped Features
...

35. Easy Interface to View Complex Data in Simple Ways
This will help villagers understand their problems & solutions and participate better

36. Default Views: Farms Classified based on Social Data

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

38. Interface for Local Experts to Build Custom Views

39. Outline
1. Need for Participatory GIS
Case Study of a South Indian Village
2. Software Development
Design and Implementation
Field Trials
Iterative Development
3. Conclusions

40. 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

41. Experiments on Ease-of-Use in Map Preparation
3
QGIS
2.5
villageQGIS
2
Ratio of times taken
(with QGIS and 1.5
with villageQGIS)
1
0.5
0
1 2 3
Experiment no.

42. Experiments on Ease-of-Use in Map Preparation
3 Desired
spatial QGIS
2.5
accuracy villageQGIS
2
Ratio of times taken
(with QGIS and 1.5
with villageQGIS)
1
0.5
0
1 2 3
Experiment no.

43. Outline
1. Need for Participatory GIS
Case Study of a South Indian Village
2. Software Development
Design and Implementation
Field Trials
Iterative Development
3. Conclusions

44. Iterative Development of GIS
For monitoring & visualization; Enforces participation & field visits

45. Providing Indian Language Interface
Simplified User Interface (UI): For facilitating participation
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)
E.g. User entered text in Indian languages

46. Porting to Handhelds for On-Site Map Preparation and Analysis
Map preparation as One-step On-site process: On-site Map analysis:
1. Following map preparation steps can be combined: 1. On-site map analysis for
a. Spatial data gathering using GPS better participatory planning,
b. Attribute data gathering using PDA/questionnaires implementation and
b. Preparating maps using ‘Gram Panchyat QGIS’ monitoring becomes possible.
2. This facilitates transparent verification and correction. If internet connection is
3. Created/updated map features can immediately be available, this can be an online
replicated to a central map server (e.g. open source UMN MapServer) process through web client;
through internet, facilitating social and official monitoring. else an offline process using
last available data.
Examples:
1. Samsung Galaxy Tablet 2. Akaash Tablet
Rs. 28,000 /- Rs. 2,500 /-
0.565 kg 0.350 kg
10.1'' touch screen 7'' screen
9 hours battery 2-3 hrs battery
Android 3.1 OS 3. Samsung N100 Netbook
Rs. 12,290 /-
1.03 kg
10.1'' screen
5+ hours battery
Ubuntu OS

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

48. Browser based Data Entry, Viewing & Administration
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) Drill down up to individual vouchers

49. Integrated DSS for Planning and Implementation

50. Outline
1. Need for Participatory GIS
Case Study of a South Indian Village
2. GIS Software Development:
Development
Field Trials
3. Conclusions

51. Extending through Training Workshops
Days 2, 3 & 4: Village based GPS mapping
Day 1: GIS theory classes Day 5: Evaluation & review
51

52. Thank You!
Credits: To the local youth & To the farmers

53. Appendix

54. Tutorial
Input data:
GPS and Questionnaire data about:
- a stream and a reservoir
- farms under that reservoir, etc
Task:
Create a GIS map:
- first using villageQGIS
- then using QGIS (or Map Windows GIS)
Compare the time taken and map accuracy

55. ArcView 3.1 GIS-based Scripts for Automated Map Generation
Run a script and specify location of imported GPS & Questionnaire files

56. Using ArcView 3.1 Scripts
Enter attribute data from each questionnaire table into an Excel file
(e.g. c:av_datagps_pdawell_points.txt) and convert it into a tab-
delimited text file
1. Run ARCVIEW3.1SETUP.EXE from CD
Default directory for installation is C:ESRI.
2. Copy av_data directory from CD to C:
3. Run c:av_dataprojectproj1.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_datagps_pdamapsource.txt’Select
Attribute Files’=bw_points.txt;fm_polygons.txt;sm_lines.txt

57. Preparing Maps using ArcView 3.1 GIS without Scripts
1. For each point theme:
Based on its questionnaire table file:
1. Create a new ArcView table
2. 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 table
4. 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 table
2. Copy Long/Lat of appropriate Trackpoints from mapsource.txt into the new
ArcView table
3. Create Event Theme using the new ArcView Table
4. 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)

58. Proposed Tablet User Interface