Spatial Sciences Laboratory

Several international agencies have numerous agricultural and other economic development projects in Mali, Africa. USAID supports several projects aimed at improving the productivity of crops and their resistance to drought and pest infestation. New seed types are tested under various environmental conditions. The results obtained from these experimental plots were made available in the form of reports and hard copy maps. If these same results were made available in a digital information system such as a GIS, it would facilitate better sharing among the scientists in USAID and other agencies. The results from several sites can be easily integrated and yield can be contrasted with several environmental variables such as rainfall, temperature, soil type, soil moisture, etc.