Maps for Mats

Mats will be heading off as thead of the suboffice in Bor, South Sudan soon. This is a good case for us to tune-in with the needs of the deep field.

Of course, he thinks he will get prime service from us. Dah.. The only thing he will get from us is a paper map, faxed every month. Like this one:



;-)

Visualization of COMPAS data in Google Maps

The Tripoli Post featured a story on WFP activities in Libya earlier this week. The story covers the supply route between Al Kufra, Libya and Abeche, Chad. We mocked up a small visualization of the story below:

Why Google Earth and why all the GIS stuff? Currently we display our COMPAS data (food stock) for the operation adjacent to a Google Map of the region:

However, we also realize that the visualization potential for such data is enormous and we look forward to exploring possibilities once we launch our DELIVER portal. In the mean time be sure to read the full story which has some very compelling segments:

When it comes to navigating through this hostile terrain, however, the drivers excel. ‎Many come from Kufra or Chad and their knowledge of the Sahara is unrivalled. ‎Abdelmenam Saleh Benali, Logistics Assistant at WFP Libya tells the story of when ‎he invited an expert from Egypt to monitor the drivers' abilities.

Somewhere along the ‎route from Benghazi to Kufra, long after the asphalt road has given way to sand, the ‎Egyptian lost his glasses. He didn't notice until his arrival in Kufra at midnight, at ‎which point he gave up all hope of being able to continue the journey fully-sighted. ‎

But a driver offered to pick them up and drove through the other-worldly darkness of ‎the desert at night to retrieve the stranded spectacles. He found the glasses without ‎deviating from his course once. These are men of the Sahara. They know the desert ‎like the back of their hand.

And, if you have time check out this video that shows segments of our operations in Libya: