Trainers: V. Soti, S. Auzoux and P. Degenne (CIRAD, UR 102/UMR TETIS).

Organizers: T. Brévault (CIRAD, UR 102) and K. Diarra (UCAD).

ISRA-IRD Bel-Air Centre, Dakar, Senegal, 4 to 8 November 2013.

Context

Research on crop pests is increasingly centring on landscapes (or mosaics of habitats), rather than crop plots, as the appropriate study scale for determining pest population dynamics and their interactions with their environment. This change in scale means using new tools and methods to acquire and manage spatialized data, from geographical positioning (GPS) to mapping (QGis, ArcGIS), through the design and management of geo-referenced databases (GIS).

Objectives

The aim of the course was to build the participants' spatialized data management and analysis skills. It was intended for researchers, engineers, PhD students and experienced technicians from the DIVECOSYS platform using a spatial approach in their research work (eg landscape ecology). It centred on mastery of the Quantum GIS (QGIS) freeware and comprised ten modules enabling mastery of the GIS tool, from gelocalized data acquisition to analysis, and thematic map generation. A module on collecting field data from a GPS (notably electronic field notes) and data post-processing was also organized.