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Module
4
Choose someone in your group to record aspects of the stories collected, including what
worked and what could be different. Photo Source: US Geological Service
9-12 December, 2013 Option (2) Questions to discuss
What are the benefits of spatial data?
?
Identify an environmental problem or concern. What kind of spatial data could you use
?
to help understand and communicate the issues involved?
What are some of the challenges you might encounter when using spatial data?
?
Spatial data and the Internet
The Internet has become a major source of data used for assessment and reporting. There is an
unprecedented amount of free environmental and socio-economic data on the Internet, and more and
more websites also allow the exploration of the data through online mapping and/or statistical analysis
(see Box 4 for some current examples of available sources). In addition, there are many online data and
map services available that are fairly simple to use with most Internet browser programs, and this has
become a very effective way to communicate images, maps and other types of datasets to potential
users without the need to acquire and run specialized computer software. The GEO Data Portal http://
geodata.grid.unep.ch/ (Hyperlinked_files_M4\GEO Data Portal - The Environmental Database (search
map graph download).mht), described later in this module in detail, has been specifically developed to
provide the most important global, regional and national data from authoritative international sources
to the assessment community, while offering at the same time various possibilities to look at the data
online by means of maps, graphs and tables.
3.2 Monitoring and data collection of environmental trends and conditions
Monitoring provides you with tangible information on a regular basis over an extended period of
time about past and present conditions of the environment. In addition to environmental information,
monitoring systems also collect social and economic information that is relevant for understanding
environmental issues.
32 Monitoring, Data and Indicators
