Geospatial Applications Breaking Boundaries
The past 15 years have seen unprecedented advances in the geospatial world, and the outlook today is more promising than ever.
Geospatial data has emerged as a crucial resource for decision-making, offering potential solutions to the challenges posed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Strong applications are emerging across many sectors.
Open geospatial data is a valuable resource for understanding climate patterns, extreme weather events and vulnerability.
This information helps in developing effective climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, enabling policymakers to put in place sound policies and measures to tackle the impacts of climate change.
Similarly, in the water and sanitation sector, geospatial data is instrumental in managing water resources, mapping watersheds, identifying flood-prone areas, assessing sanitation needs and improving public health outcomes.
Innpact Solutions, with support from the AIT Global Water & Sanitation Center and other partners such as InSol, has developed a geospatial tool for citywide inclusive sanitation (CWIS) planning that has been applied in over 25 cities across South Asia.
Our team is currently developing a geospatial decision support tool for water-sensitive planning aimed at climate change adaptation, built on Esri technologies. The tool is intended to help locate suitable green and blue infrastructure, supporting cities in becoming resilient to climate-related challenges such as floods, urban heat islands, groundwater depletion, loss of green cover and polluted water bodies.
What’s happening in India?
According to the India Geospatial Artha Report 2021, the Indian geospatial economy in 2021 was estimated at approximately USD 1.9 billion (INR 14,050 crore). The sector has promising growth potential, with a projected value of approximately USD 3.1 billion (INR 23,200 crore) by the end of 2025, at an anticipated growth rate of 13.39%.
The Government of India introduced the Geospatial Data Guidelines in 2021 and the National Geospatial Policy in 2022, which deregulated the geospatial sector and provide a clear roadmap of actions.
The government has also recognised the importance of GIS and advanced mapping technologies such as LiDAR (light detection and ranging) in infrastructure development and monitoring (for example, by advocating LiDAR use in all road and highway projects and in forest surveys), enabling accurate terrain surveying and mapping for improved planning, design and construction.
Various initiatives are under way, including mapping the entire Indian coastline to support coastal zone regulation, disaster management, infrastructure planning and monitoring of coastal change.
Geospatial mapping has played a crucial role in the Government of India’s Smart Cities Mission by providing precise spatial data for urban planning, infrastructure development and the implementation of smart solutions, and it has become a key operating function of the Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC).
Geospatial technology has also been driving inclusion and progress in national development projects such as SVAMITVA (property survey in rural areas), the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (a multimodal connectivity project uniting 16 ministries), and the JAM trinity (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile, a key enabler of India’s digital transformation).
Is data unavailability limiting the potential applications?
As a GIS professional, I have closely observed this evolving space. In most forums, a common question is asked: “How are we going to acquire this massive amount of data for advanced GIS analysis?”
This blog post aims to increase awareness and understanding of the open geospatial data platforms available across development sectors. It also seeks to shed light on next-generation AI applications in the geospatial field.
Given the number of large data platforms, I have focused on those with frequent use and wide application in the identified sectors, with particular emphasis on the Indian geospatial landscape.
Open Geospatial Initiatives
Globally, open geospatial data has already proven to be a game-changer. Initiatives such as OpenStreetMap, Microsoft Bing Spatial Data Services and the Esri Open Data Hub have transformed the way maps are created and maintained.
Here are some notable open geospatial data initiatives for various sectors:
General/Open Data Portals
1. OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative mapping project that provides open access to geospatial data. While primarily a crowdsourced mapping platform, OSM also incorporates AI techniques for tasks such as road network extraction, building footprint detection and land use classification. https://www.openstreetmap.org/
2. Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India: The Government of India’s OGD Platform provides access to a wide range of government datasets, including geospatial data. It allows users to explore and download open data across diverse domains, contributing to transparency and enabling data-driven decision-making. https://data.gov.in/
3. Esri Open Data Hub: Esri, a leading provider of geographic information system (GIS) software and solutions, supports an open GIS data policy. Through the Esri Open Data Hub, users can explore and download a wide range of geospatial datasets contributed by organisations worldwide. https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-open-data
4. Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL): The GHSL initiative, led by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, provides open geospatial data on human settlements worldwide. It includes data on population density, built-up areas and other socio-economic indicators, supporting urban planning and development. https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
5. OpenAddresses: OpenAddresses is a global collection of address data from various sources, providing data for geocoding and mapping. https://openaddresses.io/
6. Microsoft Bing Maps – Building Footprints: Bing Maps has generated high-quality global building footprints, using AI and computer vision to detect building footprints from satellite imagery. It has released millions of building footprints as open data, free to download. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/maps/building-footprints
7. Google Maps – Open Buildings: Google Maps, a prominent provider of mapping services, plays an important role in enhancing and promoting open geospatial data. Using its deep learning tools, Google has curated a large dataset of building footprints, which is a valuable resource for a range of social-good applications. https://sites.research.google/open-buildings/
Environment and Natural Resources:
1. USGS EarthExplorer: USGS EarthExplorer is a portal for accessing geospatial data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). It includes aerial imagery, satellite data such as Landsat imagery, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM), and more. https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/
2. Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem: An initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) that provides accurate and up-to-date information about the Earth’s environment. Users can access and download satellite data, including the widely used Sentinel data, from a central portal. (The Data Space Ecosystem replaced the former Copernicus Open Access Hub, or SciHub.) https://dataspace.copernicus.eu/
3. Natural Earth: Natural Earth offers high-quality geospatial data such as global coastlines, bathymetry, rivers and administrative boundaries, which can be freely used for mapping and other applications. https://www.naturalearthdata.com/
4. WorldClim: WorldClim offers high-resolution global climate data derived from weather station records and other sources. The data includes variables such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed. https://www.worldclim.org/
5. Global Forest Watch: An online platform that provides near real-time monitoring and analysis of global forests. The platform uses satellite data, remote sensing and crowdsourced information to track changes in forest cover, deforestation, forest fires and other forest-related data. https://www.globalforestwatch.org/
6. FAO GeoNetwork: Developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to provide access to geospatial information and data on agriculture, food security and rural development. It serves as a repository and catalogue of spatial datasets, maps and other geospatial resources. https://data.apps.fao.org/
7. NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS): EOSDIS provides access to a wide range of geospatial data on the Earth’s land, atmosphere, oceans and other natural processes. It includes satellite imagery, climate data and environmental information, supporting scientific research and applications worldwide. https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/eosdis
8. Bhuvan India: Bhuvan, launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s National Remote Sensing Centre, is a geospatial platform that provides satellite imagery and mapping services. Its Open Data initiative provides free access to datasets such as satellite imagery, thematic maps and geospatial layers related to infrastructure, agriculture, the environment and more. https://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in
Transportation:
1. OpenMobilityData (TransitFeeds) – discontinued: OpenMobilityData was a community-driven platform that hosted and shared public transport data in General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) format, with a repository of GTFS feeds from cities around the world. The TransitFeeds service has since been discontinued.
2. Transitland: Transitland is an open data platform that aggregates and standardises public transport data from sources worldwide. It provides a unified API for accessing transit data, including schedules, routes and stops. https://www.transit.land/
3. DataSpace.mobi: A unified data space portal for urban mobility in India that enables the sharing of standardised, high-quality urban transport datasets among stakeholders. The initiative is supported by the India Smart Cities Fellowship Programme. https://dataspace.mobi/
4. Indian cities’ GTFS data: The Open Government Data Platform India (https://data.gov.in/) offers a wide range of datasets, including public transport data. Cities such as Bangalore, Delhi, Kochi, Bhubaneswar and Jaipur have their own portals for accessing public transport data.
5. Uber Movement – discontinued: Uber Movement provided access to aggregated and anonymised data on travel times within specific cities, derived from over ten billion trips, to support urban planning worldwide. Uber has since discontinued the platform, and the data is no longer publicly available.
Health:
1. Global Health Observatory (GHO) – World Health Organization (WHO): GHO provides geospatial data on health indicators, including disease burden, healthcare resources and health infrastructure, at global and country levels. https://www.who.int/gho/en/
2. Healthsites.io: Healthsites.io is a global dataset of health facility locations, including hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. Its mission is to improve access to healthcare. https://healthsites.io/
3. Global Health Data Exchange: The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) provides geospatial data on global health, including disease prevalence, mortality rates and healthcare access. http://www.healthdata.org/
4. Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX): HDX offers geospatial datasets on health emergencies, disease outbreaks and humanitarian crises, and provides access to a range of health-related data layers. https://data.humdata.org/
5. National Health Portal (NHP) India: The NHP offers access to health-related datasets in India, including geospatial data on healthcare infrastructure, disease prevalence and health indicators at national and state levels. https://www.nhp.gov.in/
6. India Health Atlas: The India Health Atlas is an interactive mapping platform that provides geospatial data on health indicators, disease burden, healthcare facilities and health programmes across states and districts in India. https://www.indiahealthatlas.in/
Leveraging AI and Deep Learning Technologies
With advances in AI, the integration of AI with geospatial data is expanding rapidly, and many organisations and research institutions are exploring new ways to use AI for geospatial analysis and insight.
Here are some notable open-source AI-based geospatial applications and frameworks:
1. Microsoft AI for Earth: Through its AI-assisted mapping, Microsoft Bing Maps uses machine learning algorithms to extract insights from various data sources, including satellite imagery, street-level imagery and user-generated data. These algorithms can automatically detect and classify objects such as buildings, roads and vegetation to create detailed, up-to-date maps. Microsoft’s open environmental data is now provided through its Planetary Computer. https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com/catalog
2. The GeoAI-DSST (Deep Satellite Sensing Toolkit): An open-source project that combines deep learning techniques with satellite imagery analysis. It provides tools for satellite image pre-processing, feature extraction and classification. GeoAI-DSST allows users to apply AI models to tasks such as land cover mapping, object detection and change detection using satellite imagery.
3. H2O.ai: An open-source platform that offers machine learning and AI capabilities for data analysis. It provides a range of algorithms and tools for tasks such as classification, regression, clustering and anomaly detection. H2O.ai can be used for geospatial data analysis and applications, including remote sensing, environmental monitoring and spatial prediction.
4. Raster Vision: An open-source Python framework for deep learning on satellite and aerial imagery. It allows users to perform geospatial tasks using AI models, including object detection, semantic segmentation and land cover classification. Raster Vision provides an easy-to-use workflow for training and evaluating AI models on geospatial data.
5. TorchGeo – PyTorch: TorchGeo is a geospatial library built on PyTorch, a popular open-source deep learning framework that provides a flexible platform for AI development. It supports geospatial tasks such as image classification, land cover mapping and remote sensing data analysis. PyTorch’s community-driven nature and rich ecosystem of libraries and tools make it well suited to AI-based geospatial applications. https://pytorch.org/blog/geospatial-deep-learning-with-torchgeo/
Pathway for improved uses and adoptability across working groups
Open geospatial data is a powerful resource that enables governments, organisations and individuals to make informed decisions and drive innovation. However, there are significant gaps in capacity and knowledge across India and other South Asian countries when it comes to using geospatial data effectively.
Recently, I conducted a training session for government officials from Kerala on the use of GIS applications in liquid waste management (supported by the Water Sanitation and Hygiene Institute (WASH Institute) and funded by USAID).
The training participants echoed a similar sentiment: they acknowledged the power of GIS but said they were unable to use it effectively because of limited know-how.
To bridge these gaps, it is essential to prioritise the development of technical skills, institutional capacity and stakeholder collaboration. Governments, research institutions and international organisations should emphasise capacity-building initiatives and knowledge-sharing platforms so that the features and benefits of geospatial data are fully used in planning and practice.
By recognising the importance of geospatial data and investing in capacity building, India and other South Asian countries can unlock the transformative potential of open geospatial data.
It is vital to prioritise the integration of geospatial information into decision-making processes to achieve the SDGs and improve the quality of life for communities across the region.
