Analysis and Visualisation of Geospatial Data for Decision Making: Preparing for, Responding to and Recovering from Disasters

Tanzanian cities face floods, landslides, rockfall, drought and other climate hazards, and the decisions taken before, during and after a disaster depend on knowing where the hazard is and who and what is exposed. This course equips government officials to analyse and visualise geospatial data for those decisions. Starting from the original downloads of the Climate Risk Database and free national and global datasets, participants inspect, clean, clip and buffer the data in QGIS, map exposure, critical facilities, roads and drainage, set priorities, make finished maps, collect and map field reports, map flood extent from satellite radar, summarise damage and share the results, and prepare ward warning messages. The worked case is the very strong El Niño forecast by the Tanzania Meteorological Authority for the 2026 Vuli rains, with Mwanza as the example city; the same methods apply to other cities and other hazards. Participants work through 13 step-by-step practical guides in QGIS, KoboToolbox, Excel and web forecast tools, with notes to apply every step to any Tanzanian city. The course ends with each participant compiling a decision brief for the disaster management committee, in this case a City El Niño Preparedness Brief.