Route Map

This is the map of the Routes.


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Strike 1

Below is the Map that I have developed for the Paths of the Village, or the roads.

First things first: This is the first GIS map of a location in Lebanon to ever be on the web. Credit due: Maroun Kassab

I have to thank 3 people for making this happen:

My wife Ira, my dad Ghassan, and my good friend Jean el Hajj.

This is only the first step. I will see how I can develop this further. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Note: By the way, there is an added line that should not be on the map. I have to get rid of it by hard coding the data. This is just assembelled data by hand beleive it or not.

I will show you how to do this pretty soon.

Keywords: Ain el Delb, Lebanon, Maroun Kassab, GIS Mapping


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Back from Lebanon

OK,

I am back from Lebanon. Just wanted to update you on the status of the project. This is what I did. I asked my wife to get me a garmin gps antenna and software for a Christmas gift, and I took them with me to the village. I drove around with a good friend of mine, who helped a lot in gathering information, Mr. Jean el Hajj, and we drove all around the village and gathered track information about all roads.

Now, I have all this data that I need to figure out what to do with. If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know. meanwhile, I am back to the USA, and guess what? A lot of work is awaiting me, so it will be a while before I site back and process this information.

Open Source Software

I have found an open source software to help in gathering this information. It works with a PDA. I have the Zire 72 Palm pilot, so it might work with it.

The only problem is that I cannot find the damn software anywhere on the internet!

I will have to look for alternatives.

Gathering GIS Data

I am planning to purchase a GPS system, and take it with me to Lebanon. This is probably the biggest expense I will have on this project. I am planing to be in Lebanon for Christmas, so when I get there, I will drive around the village, on all possible roads, and this way, I will have accurate data gathered on this end. I still need to find the software that would store this data for me in a usable format.

Gathering Information

The first step that i started with is gathering information. What initiated this though was the images that google provided of Ain el Delb. So the first step to take, was to get these aerial photos, in the closest zoom that google provides, and then stitch them together to get the highest resolution provided by these images. Below is a snapshot of the village's aerial photo that was stitched. These various images stitch seamlessly. You cannot tell where one ends and the other begins.

A plan for mapping the village

I am currently trying to come up with a plan to map out Ain el Delb, and have this information submitted to google, and/or other mapping services out there to include on their sites.

I am learning a lot from this experience and I have gathered a lot of information so far on how to do this on an individual level, with the least minimum expense possible. I am publishing this blog for 2 reasons

The first is to keep a record of the development of the project, and to get good resources, and feedback from all of the readers out there.

The second is for this information to serve as a guide line for others to follow, in case this project succeeds.

Check out the links for additional resources and information.

Maroun Kassab