Jakarta, July 2019 – Within the framework of building MapBiomas Indonesia, spatial analysts from a group of civil society organizations were trained in Google Earth Engine (GEE) and cloud-based satellite image processing.
Cesar Diniz and Luis Cortinhas, two spatial and computer programming experts from SOLVED Brasil (a member organization of MapBiomas Brasil), were instructors who delivered a three day course at the Royal Kuningan Hotel. The trainees consisted of spatial analysts from HAKA Aceh, Hutan Kita Institute in South Sumatra, GENESIS Bengkulu, SAMPAN in West Kalimantan, Save our Borneo in Central Kalimantan, Green of Borneo in North Kalimantan, KOMIU in Central Sulawesi, Mnukwar in West Papua, JERAT Papua, WWI, and Yayasan Auriga Nusantara.
MapBiomas is a mapping platform showing landcover change dyanmics, which was developed by a network of civil society and other institutions in Brazil. Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a Google-designed application that stores and process spatial data, including satellite imagery, and it is a key tool in the MapBiomas process.
The MapBiomas Indonesia network, coordinated by Auriga Nusantara, brings together ten civil society groups from across Indonesia that use spatial data in their work. Since MapBiomas Indonesia will display data for across Indonesia, the civil society groups were selected to represent all of the major island areas in Indonesia.
For this introductory course, participants received training in Java script, the programming language used to operate GEE. For some of the participants, this was their first formal training in a computer programming language. With these skills, they will be able to operate GEE and have access to decades of satellite imagery stored in the system for further analysis.
