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Documenting the road to peace: A GIS approach
Greg Lauer Trimble Navigation, Christchurch, New Zealand Faazil Deen Integrated Communication Systems, Colombo, Sri Lanka Shanmugam Ganeshkumar National Technical University, Singapore greg.lauer@trimble.co.nz
Trimble MediaMapper is desktop mapping software that links pictures, real-time video, and any other type of file to GIS map layers. It lets you create “interactive maps” that you can use in your GIS or on the Web. Interactive maps include layers for GPS tracks, waypoints, and locations of interest linked to multimedia files. By adding multimedia to our GIS we are able to:
We chose to document two field sites using Trimble MediaMapper. The first was the A9 road that runs between Jaffna and Vavuniya, a major provincial town. We logged the centerline of the road so that we could update the previously digitized data. More importantly, by adding multimedia data, we are able to graphically represent the condition of the road, allowing any interested party to ascertain the current state. We also enhanced the documentation of the road with information about the condition of various towns and villages situated along it. The second field site was the Muslim quarter in Jaffna, which has been extensively damaged by both LTTE and Sri Lankan troops. In the second field study area, our objective was to document the condition of the individual dwellings and the general condition of the amenities in the area. We took a digital photo of each dwelling and later added positional data so that we could build a database of dwellings. History Jaffna, the largest city in the north of Sri Lanka, is more than just a city for Sri Lanka’s Tamils: it is a symbol of statehood. Tamil leaders ruled the northern peninsula from Jaffna periodically from about the 11th century onwards, until the British took over in 1815. Although the Tamils lost control of the city, it has remained their cultural and political capital. In 1981 the Sinhalese police were accused of burning down an important library containing a collection of rare Tamil classics and manuscripts. Since then, animosity between the Tamils and Sinhalese has grown increasingly bitter. In 1987 a peace accord, overseen by Indian peacekeepers, gave control of the city to a new administration. In 1990, following India’s decision to withdraw its peacekeeping forces, the LTTE became the de facto administration. Upon taking control, the LTTE asked the Sinhalese and Muslims to leave. The Sinhalese accused the LTTE of “ethnically cleansing” the city. In 1996 the Sri Lankan Government recaptured Jaffna and imposed military rule. Successive strikes by LTTE forces captured the important town of Kilinochchi (1998) and the military base at Elephant Pass (2000), effectively cutting the supply route to Jaffna. The only access was by boat from the eastern port city of Trincomalee, or on flights arranged by the Sri Lankan Air Force. With LTTE forces closing in on Jaffna, the two parties signed a ceasefire agreement as part of a Norwegian initiative to end the civil war. Under the ceasefire agreement, the highway to Jaffna was opened for public traffic in April 2002. Foreigners wanting to visit Jaffna need permission from the Ministry of Defense in Colombo. Fortunately the government agent in Vavuniya helped us to obtain the necessary permits in less than a day. We traveled about 10 kilometers north of Vavuniya to the Sri Lankan Army checkpoint, where a thorough search was conducted before we were allowed to cross into LTTE-held territory. Once in LTTE territory, we passed through a customs checkpoint, and were then allowed to travel freely until we reached the northern limit of LTTE territory. Again, we passed through LTTE customs and a Sri Lankan Army checkpoint, and then proceeded 30 kilometers to the town of Jaffna. Methodology We collected data using a Trimble GeoExplorer 3 GPS receiver. Due to the sensitive nature of the area, we had to take care to openly display the GPS and digital camera equipment. While logging the A9 road from Vavuniya to Jaffna, the GPS receiver was kept in the vehicle’s glove box, with an external patch antenna magnetically attached to the roof. When we were walking the streets in Jaffna, the GPS receiver was in a pocket, with an external patch antenna running to a baseball cap on the head. The receiver logged GPS data automatically at 25-meter intervals while in the vehicle, and 5-second intervals while walking. We used a Sony DSC-P3 digital camera to take still images, sound recordings, and short movies. These files were stored on a 128 MB Sony Memory Stick. When we returned to the office, the data was downloaded to a desktop computer running Trimble GPS Pathfinder Office, a GPS/GIS data processing package. The data was edited and then differentially corrected using base data from Integrated Communication Systems in Colombo, giving an accuracy of 2–5 meters horizontally. The corrected data then was exported to a GML (.gml) file. The GML file format is essentially a text file that lists Latitude, Longitude, Elevation, Date and Time in a columnar format, as seen in Figure 1.  Figure 1: GML file format
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