Humanitarian Demining and the Cloud: Demining in Afghanistan and the Western Sahara

Abstract

Communities in war torn countries continue to face many life threatening situations long after the end of a war. These situations include the contamination of the environment by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). One of the main objectives of mine action is to address problems faced by communities owing to landmine contamination. Since the removal of all landmines worldwide is improbable, the humanitarian demining sector focusses on removing landmines from areas where communities are most affected. Due to the decrease in donor funding, there is continued pressure for more effective and efficient mine action through improved and appropriate data collection, analysis and the use of the latest technologies. Proper data management, sharing of data in the collaborative cloud and improved decision support systems to prioritize areas for demining, will result in more effective mine action. This chapter will discuss humanitarian demining as one of the components of mine action and will emphasize the importance of mapping an area for demining purposes. The importance of data management for decision support systems to prioritize areas for demining is covered with specific reference to data collection, manipulation, dissemination and data quality. The important role that the collaborative cloud plays in data dissemination and sharing is expanded upon. Use cases of the collaborative cloud and humanitarian mapping are noted and the role of data security is described. The latest decision support systems for humanitarian mapping are briefly discussed. The main shortcoming of these decision support systems is the lack of a spatial analysis component. The development of a decision support tool based on a Geographical Information System is illustrated by referring to case studies in Afghanistan and Western Sahara. The successful use of the GIS based decision support system has consequently lead to the development of a spatial multi-criteria analysis tool. The spatial multi-criteria analysis tool emphasizes the importance of sharing data in the collaborative cloud and the use of quality data. This tool contributed to humanitarian demining and mapping by assisting in better and faster decision making processes at a reduced cost.