03/28/2005

Welcome to ICRISAT's spatial gateway !!

This portal is operated by the GIS & Modeling units to facilitate access to our spatial data holdings, inform ICRISAT and partner scientists about new uploads and orient their requests for GIS support and training. Whether you need assistance for DGPS surveying, spatial statistics, digital image analysis or thematic mapping, please visit our policy section to help us serve you!

We plan to open an Internet Map Server soon. It will feature exclusive maps of ICRISAT study sites, starting with hundreds of fertilizer micro-dosing trial locations from West Africa [2002-2004]. More will follow as we retrieve information from ongoing projects and uncover data from past endeavors.

The research section will introduce you to our current work on spatial data assimilation with crop models to improve the productivity and sustainability of agricultural systems in the semi-arid and sub-humid tropics. If you are interested in applications of seasonal climate forecasting to enhance smallholder food security, or in assessing the carbon sequestration potential of selected soil and water conservation practices, this will be the place to go.

In 'About us' you will learn about singular partnership modes, based on decentralized operations from our India, Niger, and Zimbabwe units, and a shared facility embedded in our partner NARS in Mali. This is about reaching out to local communities, assimilating grass-root concerns and linking them to global change issues for sustainable capacity building: science with a human face!

A number of section links are not active yet. They will be progressively started as we develop the gateway. Please come back for weekly updates!