Urbanization and human settlement data on the UN-HABITAT Open Data Portal

The UN-HABITAT OPEN DATA portal, https://data.unhabitat.org/, is an interesting and useful way to obtain data on urbanization and human settlement.  UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. It is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN System. The creation of sustainable human settlements requires the provision and application of accurate, up to date, timely and reliable data.

The portal’s Compilation of Urban Indicators Data allows the user to explore by SDG Goals, by specific themes such as land and environment, quality of life, governance, and others.  You can also explore all data in the library.

Because the site uses ArcGIS Hub technology, the site is responsive, and you can easily search for data of interest. You can also search for type of document, such as web mapping application or dashboard. I used the site to search for land cover data and was pleased at the variety (scales, locations) and volume of results. At the time of this writing, 132 countries, 77 indicators, and 1500 urban areas are covered in the portal. The chief challenge with this and similar sites is to effectively narrow what you are seeking.

The UN HABITAT open data portal.

–Joseph Kerski

Got UAS (Drone) Data?

This guest essay was authored by Dr Wing Cheung, Palomar College, California USA. Thank you Dr Cheung for writing this!

The obvious way to get UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) or drone data is to collect it yourself, but this may not be a viable option for everyone due to legal, liability, or resource limitations. And even for those with access to a drone, they may not have access to all the fancy sensors (e.g. near infrared, thermal infrared, LiDAR) that are needed to collect the data that may want to experiment with for their particular use cases.  In this post, I will suggest some ways for you to access drone data in case you want to tinker with it for your personal interest, introduce it in your classes, or experiment with it prior to investing in a drone or a new drone sensor.

There are many academic institutions which currently have a drone program. Have a look at our article [directionsmag.com] in Directions Magazine to see a sample of schools with a drone degree/certificate program. Be sure to explore the websites of these different drone programs, as many of them may share case studies, sample drone data, or even curriculum from their programs. An example of these programs is the UAS Operations Technician Program at Palomar College (http://uastep.org/ [uastep.org]), which offers tutorial videos and case studies in the resources section of its website, as well as ready-to-use curriculum materials. Another example of these programs is the National Center for Autonomous Technology at Northland Community and Technical College (https://ncatech.org/digital-resource-library/ [ncatech.org]), which offers a variety of tutorial videos, webinar recordings, and even an equipment rental program for those who may want to collect their own UAS data. 

Aside from academic institutions, you may also want to contact vendors of various sensor systems, or visit their websites to access sample drone data captured with their hardware. This was how I first obtained multispectral drone data and integrated it in my remote sensing course prior to acquiring a multispectral drone sensor. As an example, MicaSense [micasense.com], which specializes in UAS multispectral sensors, shares sample imagery from its sensors, such as its 10-band dual camera drone sensor here [micasense.com]. As another example, MAPIR [mapir.camera], which also specializes in UAS multispectral sensors, also has sample drone data collected with different drone platforms available on its website [mapir.camera].  If you are interested in Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), you can visit GeoCue Group’s [geocue.com] website, to see its case studies and download sample drone data from those real-world case studies [geocue.com].  

While UAS are increasingly accessible as a result of lower cost and greater ease of use, with some fairly capable drones (such as DJI’s Tello [store.dji.com]) costing less than $100, there may still be legal or safety considerations that prevent you from acquiring your own drone data. And data from higher-end multispectral and LiDAR sensors continue to be out of reach for many. However, with the tips that I have provided in this post, I have hopefully convinced you that you don’t necessarily need your own drone or your own sensor to start learning about and tinkering with drone data. 

Editor’s Note: For more posts on UAS/UAV/Drones and related data, see our posts on this blog, here. For UAS data from the USGS, see this page. For sample UAS data from Esri, see this page. You can also find sample UAS imagery by searching ArcGIS Online, such as this amazing 0.5 inch imagery near Sacramento. Duke University has served their campus UAV imagery as the default imagery layer in ArcGIS Online, which is clearly visible by going to http://www.arcgis.com, typing Duke University into the search box, changing the basemap to imagery, and zooming to the campus (or you can see it on this map as well). Keep an eye on the Spatial Reserves blog, because the field of UAS is in rapid change and there will be additional data in the future that we will inform the community about. –Joseph Kerski

UAS imagery.

A sample of UAS imagery, over Illinois, showing the detail possible from these tools.