Using UCCRTF’s geospatial SPADE tool to support Nature-based Solutions
April 2021
In 2018, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) launched the Spatial Data Analysis Explorer (SPADE), an interactive cloud-based platform that can host geospatial information.
Speaking at a UCCRTF side event at the recent Climate Adaptation Summit, spatial data specialist Bon Masangcay explained how the tool was being used to support the planning and implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in ADB developing member countries (DMCs).
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SPADE, which has spatial information for 21 project cities comprised of more than 1,000 layers of data sets, combines climate change data with socio-economic and geospatial data at the city level to empower project planners to make informed decisions about project design and implementation. It is an online platform that does not require the purchase of proprietary software. Anyone with a computer or mobile device with an internet connection can access the platform. And where available, it utilizes open source data which is now made accessible by global research institutions, thereby reducing the need to purchase climate data and high-resolution photos.
In response to this problem, the UCCRTF developed SPADE to include city-level data on climate variables and hazards for different climate change scenarios across several time horizons. SPADE can be used for project preparation, planning, and monitoring for ADB DMC cities. SPADE is helpful for planning a wide range of infrastructure types, including NbS, as it shows data layers including built-up areas, topography, existing water bodies, and vegetation types, as well as existing infrastructure networks. This helps project planners take a system-wide view that accounts for climate change.
AUTHOR
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UCCRTF Secretariat
“ Where once infrastructure planning approaches relied on historical datasets as the basis of decision making, the approach is shifting to include climate projections and modelling, to ensure that development is resilient to climate change. However, climate data requires powerful tools that can combine the data with geospatial and socio-economic datasets and visualize it at the city-level to support project planning”
- Bon Masangcay
GIS Specialist, Consultant