The USGS is the leading United States Government agency having expertise in geologic investigations, resource assessments, and the development, analysis, and distribution of geospatial databases, maps, and derivative products. USGS is also host to the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), which establishes and promotes standards for geospatial data documentation and public access systems. In addition, the USGS has decades of experience in developing country-scale GIS databases and in performing major geologic mapping and resource assessment programs within the Middle East, Eurasia, Asia and South America.

Objectives

The primary objectives of the USGS geospatial data activities are to:

1. develop an integrated GIS data framework for Afghanistan, which will provide the fundamental databases necessary for coal, oil, natural gas, mineral, and hydrologic resource assessments, as well as earthquake hazard assessments, but will also support most other activities related to reconstruction. This framework will initially consist of geologic and topographic map data, satellite imagery, accompanying databases, data documentation, and a system for the efficient archival, retrieval, and distribution of these data to the wider user community. These basic databases will then be updated and vastly improved by geologic and structural mapping at scales necessary for more accurate resource assessments.
2. help establish a national spatial data infrastructure (NSDI) of present and future utility to the Afghanistan government, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and educational institutions throughout Afghanistan. Through our careful design of a geospatial data framework and our capacity building, technology transfer, and training programs, the baseline data gathered for the individual resource assessments would be maintained by counterpart agencies in Afghanistan and would be available to the larger community for agriculture, food security, trade, health, natural hazard mitigation, ecosystem management, water resources and reconstruction issues.

The approach required to achieve the objectives consists of several tasks described below:

Collect and Compile Existing Geologic, Topographic and Remote Sensing Data.This task is composed of acquisition of existing hardcopy geologic and topographic maps (and the few digital maps), reports, unpublished field observations, and archival records of previously collected data. The map bases will be transformed into digital databases and immediately used by the resource assessment teams. Imagery and data from a variety of different satellites (Landsat, IKONOS, Hyperion, ASTER) will be required to update geologic and topographic maps, to aid in mineral and water resource assessments, and to support agricultural and urban reconstruction needs. Various satellite image data for the entire country will be obtained, processed, documented and distributed to the teams and the public.

Update and Production of New Geological Maps for Resource Assessments. Existing geologic maps are not sufficient to support the needs of modern energy, mineral, and water resource assessments. Utilizing satellite imagery and other base-layer data sets, higher-resolution and more accurate geologic maps of Afghanistan will be produced and the existing small-scale geologic maps of Afghanistan will be updated for resource assessments over very large regions. Additional specially processed satellite imagery will be used to map specific areas in detail that are of particular interest to the coal, oil, natural gas, water and mineral assessment teams. This task will provide some of the fundamental databases for the resource assessment teams, and as such, this task is the critical bridge between existing geologic knowledge and improved resource assessments in Afghanistan.

Data Integration and Management. The data and information compiled and produced in tasks A and B, above, will need to be integrated into a GIS database to ensure efficient access by U.S. government agencies, donor organizations and Afghan counterpart agencies. Assembling this database will also constitute a major step toward the formation and management of an integrated national spatial data infrastructure (NSDI). A geospatial data clearinghouse will be established in order to archive and distribute all geospatial data produced by the geologic and topographic mapping and by the natural resource assessments. The clearinghouse will minimize duplication of efforts, establish standards for production of the digital geographic information, and foster data sharing and exchange activities by making existing data sets known and accessible. By facilitating access to geographic information, the clearinghouse will become a national asset used by U.S. government agencies, private companies, development organizations, researchers, and the general public.

Training and Capacity Building. Strengthening the ability of Afghan specialists to use GIS and data management technologies will be a critical aspect of helping Afghanistan better manage its energy, mineral, and water resource data. USGS staff will train and provide technical assistance (through in-country and US-based visiting-scientist exchange programs) to Afghan counterpart organizations. The USGS will coordinate with other organizations to ensure relevance, to minimize duplication of effort, and to strengthen capacity building efforts.

Initial project activities

Four USGS geospatial experts visited Kabul in Spring 2004 to assess the quality and quantity of available geospatial data and information, determine the state of geospatial facilities and equipment, and to ascertain the level of expertise. Discussions were held with the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Industries/Mining Department/ Afghan Geological Survey/Groundwater Resources group; Geodesy and Cartography Department; Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Environment; Ministry of Rural Development; UNAIMS; and others. Proposed USGS activities focus on working with the Geodesy and Cartography Department and the Afghan Geological Survey to produce digital geographic, geologic, and remote sensing maps and images that support resources and hazard assessment, build geospatial databases, and make all geospatial data available in a web-based format. The remote sensing data will include LANDSAT and, where necessary, SPOT, IKONOS, and other types of imagery where available. Data from airborne geophysics and seismic surveys will also be added to these data packages. This will likely include gravity, magnetics, EM, AVIRIS, etc. as well as digital elevation model data.

Data collection
Website Development
Flagstaff meeting