Online GIS Tools¶
Web-based geospatial tools used in this training. All are free to use; no installation required.
Tools at a glance¶
| Tool | Best for | Resolution | Used on |
|---|---|---|---|
| eToolkit | Automated project reports | Multi-scale | Days 1–4 |
| WaPOR | Agriculture & irrigation | 20–100 m | Day 2 |
| Google Earth Web | Boundary drawing, imagery | Sub-metre | Day 1 |
| GeoLibre | Spatial file viewing & analysis | As loaded | Day 3 |
| EarthMap | Risk screening, population | National/basin | Day 4 |
| Strata | Extended risk analytics | National/basin | Day 4 |
| GeoJSON.io | Format conversion & editing | As loaded | Reference |
| GADM | Admin boundaries | Country → district | Days 3–4 |
| GeoBoundaries | Admin boundaries | Country → district | Days 1, 3 |
eToolkit¶
IsDB's browser-based geospatial platform. The primary tool for this training.
What it does: - Automated EO report generation for any user-defined area - Outputs: Land Use/Land Cover (LULC), precipitation, evapotranspiration, future climate projections, AI-powered sector recommendations - Theme, Phase, and Country filters tailor outputs to your project context - Export full analysis as a downloadable PDF report
Training credentials (shared): Username user1 · Password etoolkit@IsDB
Used in: Day 1 Exercise 1 · Day 2 Exercise 2 · Day 4 Case Study 1
FAO WaPOR¶
The FAO Water Productivity Open-access Portal — high-resolution water use and vegetation data for Africa and the Near East.
What it does: - Actual evapotranspiration (ETa), water productivity, biomass production, root zone soil moisture (RZSM) - Three spatial levels: L1 continental (250 m), L2 country (100 m), L3 irrigation scheme (20 m) - Temporal resolution: dekadal (10-day), monthly, annual - Time series explorer for trend analysis
Used in: Day 2 afternoon — Session 5
Google Earth Web¶
Free browser-based satellite imagery viewer.
What it does: - Satellite and aerial imagery worldwide - Search by location, navigate to project areas - Draw points, lines, and polygons — save as KML projects - Export KML files for use in eToolkit, GeoLibre, and other tools - No account needed for viewing; Google account needed to save projects
Used in: Day 1 Exercise 1A
GeoLibre¶
viewer.geolibre.app Tutorial site: geolibre.app
Web-based GIS viewer and spatial analysis tool.
What it does: - Open spatial files: KML, GeoJSON, GeoPackage, Shapefile (as ZIP) - Draw buffers around features - Overlay multiple layers - Display population, land cover, and other raster layers - Export map as PNG (via Print) - Compute statistics within a drawn area
Best for: Vector analysis — opening boundaries, drawing buffers, exploring layers at district scale. For heavy raster analysis on large datasets, QGIS is faster.
Used in: Day 3 afternoon — Session 8
EarthMap¶
Risk analysis, land cover, population, climate, and environmental indicators at national and basin scale.
What it does: - Climate risk layers: drought, flood, heat stress, precipitation variability - Population exposure analysis - National and basin-scale environmental context for project risk assessments - Country-level dashboards
Used in: Day 4 morning — Case Study 2
Strata¶
Extended analytical interface built on EarthMap data, with more indicator layers and exploration tools.
Used in: Day 4 morning
GeoJSON.io¶
Simple browser tool for drawing, editing, and converting spatial data.
What it does: - Draw points, lines, and polygons directly on a basemap - Edit GeoJSON, KML, and CSV files - Convert between spatial formats - Useful for quick boundary editing and format conversion
GADM / GeoBoundaries¶
Admin boundary sources — see Data Sources for full details.
- GADM: gadm.org — ~500,000 units, GeoJSON/Shapefile/KMZ/GeoPackage
- GeoBoundaries: geoboundaries.org/simplifiedDownloads.html — simplified downloads, GeoJSON