A GIS for desert locust forecasting and monitoring

Desert locust plagues can affect up to 20 per cent of the surface of the Earth. Data on locust breeding, environmental conditions and swarm movements in affected countries, are collected at the headquarters of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. GIS technology coupled with remote sensing inputs allows these data to be utilised for monitoring and forecasting purposes much more effectively than heretofore. Design requirements and the implementation strategy for such a GIS are examined, emphasizing the role of global digital map datasets such as the Digital Chart of the World, the importance of effective data integration and the need for an ergonomic user interface that facilitates both data capture and analysis.