Mapathon for Afghanistan and Pakistan

PLEASE NOTE: The mapathon has been rescheduled to Thursday (11/19) from 6:30-9pm so that it does not conflict with a student-organized sit-in happening on Wednesday from 1pm-midnight.

On Thu, 11/19, from 6:30-9pm, we’ll be hosting a mapathon to aid ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan following a large earthquake that occurred on Oct 26. We’ll use aerial imagery of the region to digitize (or digitally trace) features such as roads, dwellings, and hospitals. These features will then be immediately available to responders on the ground through OpenStreetMap, a global, open-source geographic dataset. It’s kind of like the Wikipedia of map data.

This event requires absolutely no prior knowledge of mapping technologies! It is a very easy way to help the affected regions recover. For anyone who’s curious about GIS and remote sensing, it will be a great introduction to what GISers do on a daily basis and the importance of these tasks. For those who are familiar with GIS, it’s a great way to sharpen your digitizing skills while learning more about how the information you routinely work with is generated.

Please sign up for an account with OpenStreetMap in advance – you’ll see a Sign Up button in the top right-hand corner of the OSM home page. To read more about the humanitarian side of OSM, click here.

We encourage you to sign up even if you have to arrive late or leave early.

Dinner will be provided!!

Click here to register for the mapathon

 

What: Mapathon for Afghanistan

Where: Spatial Analysis Lab – Sabin-Reed 104

When: Thursday, 11/19, 6:30-9:00PM

Why: (1) help those in need (2) learn about a really cool technology (3) FREE FOOD

Questions? please email SAL@smith.edu