Providing Post-Tsunami GIS Support in Indonesia

Volunteers: Ray DeLeon, Paul McKnight, Jay Meehl, Heather Milton, and Dylan Shaw

In partnership with Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), five GISCorps volunteers were chosen to travel to Indonesia in March of 2005 to support the UN Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC).

GISCorps volunteers Jay Meehl, Paul McKnight, Heather Milton, Ray DeLeon, and Dylan Shaw

The volunteers—Ray DeLeon, Paul McKnight, Jay Meehl, Heather Milton, and Dylan Shaw—were tasked with processing and integrating data gathered by various entities after the catastrophic tsunami of December 26, 2004. They also collected primary infrastructure and damage data in the field using GPS technology and created maps.

Paul McNight, collecting GPS points.
Paul McKnight collecting GPS points at road damage locations

The volunteers also documented procedures for creation, processing, and maintenance of data and metadata and train the staff of Indoesia’s National Coordinator for Survey and Mapping Agency (BAKOSURTANAL) in those procedures. By the end of April, the volunteers had turned over a single cohesive geodatabase containing spatial data along with maps and documentation to BAKOSURTANAL to support their efforts to rebuild areas affected by the tsunami.

VVAF Indonesia Assignment
Conditions on Nias Island

Read first-hand accounts of this effort here:

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