Appropriate technology for low cost geological mapping  Nichola Smith  James Passmore  Colm Jordan  Dr. Eugene O' Connor British Geological Survey, Kingsley Dunham Centre Keyworth Nottingham, NG12 5GG, U. K. nasm@bgs.ac.uk Abstract The objective of this project is to put in place an interactive web based system that will provide geological surveys and individuals with guidance on the technology options available that will enable them to implement cost-effective, appropriate and sustainable geoscience data acquisition. The country and climate specific information will be accessed through a web interface based around ArcIMS webGIS software. eXtensible Markup Language (XML) has been used to encode text documents to allow retrieval of information as requested by the user. The main focus of the project has been on the use of remote sensing technology, in particular, in determining which type of remotely sensed data is appropriate for each climate type, the techniques and processes involved in analysing the data to gain geological and geohazard information, and where to source the data. Introduction Gathering geological data and disseminating the data by traditional methods is a slow and expensive process. In order to re-address the deficiency of geological information world wide within a reasonable time frame and cost then more rapid approaches are needed. Geological Survey’s in the developing world, especially those in countries where minerals play and important role in the national economy are increasingly searching for cost-effective and rapid techniques to increase the efficiency of their geological data gathering. Various affordable, operational technologies such as remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), GPS and laser range finders can significantly contribute to improved efficiency. Several levels of technological sophistication are envisaged ranging from off-the-shelf satellite imagery to report generating software that will automatically retrieve specific client orientated information from a global database. The main focus of the project has been has been directed to the use of remote sensing to gain geological and geohazard information. Funded by the Department of International Development (DFID), London, this British Geological Survey (BGS) project aims to demonstrate that appropriate and affordable technologies such as those mentioned above, together with access to the internet can contribute to data sourcing efficiency in diverse geographic and climatic terrains.  Fig.1: The ArcIMS front end for the project
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