Mapping Gaza before and after a crisis
By Matt Irwin
The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is mapping buildings and streets in the Gaza Strip using high-resolution satellite imagery taken just before the outbreak of the the June-August 2014 conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants. Over 2,000 Gazans — of which the UN estimates 70 percent were civilians — 66 Israeli soldiers, and 7 Israeli civilians were killed in the fighting. According to the UN, the conflict displaced a quarter of Gaza’s population and damaged or destroyed 100,000 homes.
Red dots show buildings added by HOT mappers in just one week
HOT’s maps will make damage assessments (PDF) more accurate and help allocate the $5.4 billion pledged toward reconstruction. But HOT’s work won’t just aid Gaza’s recovery from the 2014 conflict — it’s also proactive. The house-by-house data will provide humanitarians a baseline for assessing and responding to any future fighting.
HOT’s task manager divides big areas into smaller mapping tasks and lets experienced mappers verify data quality
If you want to help, create an OpenStreetMap account, follow Mapbox’s iD Editor tutorial, and head to HOT’s task manager to find an area in need of mapping.
