Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) – A suite of technologies for Local Level Planning
R. Siva Kumar, P.S. Acharya, D. Dutta, M. Prithviraj, Nisha Mendiratta, Bhoop Singh
Department of Science & Technology
Government of India, New Delhi
Improved Procedures
Improved procedures of data management involves “Needs Assessment’ of the end-users, preparation of a conceptual data model, survey of available data and compilation of metadata, identification of data gaps, and preparation of a detailed design of the GIS database. End-users of the database being the officials from Line Department and Zilla Panchayats at the districts, a detailed ‘Needs assessment’ study has been carried out to capture their data needs.
Based on the analysis of the outcomes of the Needs Assessment exercise, a list of data items – both spatial and non-spatial – has been identified. Comparing the data requirement with the data available with the survey agencies has helped identify the data gaps in terms of availability (both coverage or temporal) and spatial resolution and formed the basis of suggesting strategies for meeting the gaps. An assessment of the accuracy of the data collected, sources of data, data definition, expected accuracy, timeliness and their updating frequency has been made for compiling the metadata (“data about data”) for the databases.
On the outcomes of the needs assessment study, a conceptual design of the envisaged database, called a Conceptual Data Model has been prepared using Entity – Relationship (ER) modeling technique to provide a combined view of the district database. The detailed structure of the database and the associated files were worked out using the Data Model. Data (both spatial and tabular) have been collated or collected from different sources, converted to digital mode and put into the database files to construct the database. A set of about 67 maps and 190 tables constitute the core of a district database. Organising such a huge amount of data on the database and making the database usable to the Line Departments and panchayats require proper data organization and processing tools.
GRAM++ Package
A PC based user friendly, GIS software tool – GRAM (Geo Referenced Area Management) – designed and developed a few years ago to cater to the data management needs at the district NRDMS Centers has been upgraded to GRAM++ with additional features and capabilities on Windows 95/98NT platform. The modules in GRAM++ include Import/Export of different data formats, Map Editing, Vector Analysis, Raster Analysis, Network Analysis, Spatial Query Language support for combined attribute and map based queries, Digital Image Processing, Watershed Analysis, and Map Layouting. The package has interface with MS ACCESS for linking maps with collateral attribute data. GRAM++ has been put to organizing the GIS databases and a series of application studies.
A selected set of often – used functions of GRAM++ package has been developed as a collection of programe development libraries that the application developers can use and build GIS application with very small sized code written in Visual Basic, Visual C++ compilers. As per the current standard, these libraries have been created as ActiveX controls and named as GRAM++ tools.
Sectoral Decision Support Modules
Four sectoral decision support software modules have been developed in the identified sectors of water resources management, land use planning, energy management, and infrastructure development. The modules are capable of working on the databases to retrieve the relevant data sets, analyse, and provide information useful for local level planning. While the Land and Water Modules support data processing to generate information on watershed boundaries in a district, watershed-wise surface water availability, crop productivity, biomass yield, and soil erosion status, the Energy Module helps assess the energy demand and supply situations and identify deficit areas in a district/block requiring extra supply of energy. The Infrastructure Module provides tools are locating facilities like health centers, schools, fair price shops and allocating them optimally among villages/ settlements depending on the facilities’ capacity. Training kits on GIS and GRAM++ have been developed for training of staff and other end-users to promote the use of the newly developed tools in the task of local level planning.