Application of density analysis for landmine risk mapping

One of the primary challenges of Mine Action Programs is organizing and analysing the vast amounts of landmine incidents and other information required to make informed policy decisions for implementing Mine Action Activities, such as victim assistance, landmine impact, landmine clearance, etc. With this in mind, this study aims at mapping the spatial distribution of landmine incidents via a combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) and spatial statistic tools. Geocoded landmine incident data was gathered within the framework of a Pilot Project for Landmine Impact Survey in Colombia. The study also gathered population data as well as geographic data such as geocoded settlements, municipalities´ boundaries and transportation network. To assess the spatial distribution of landmine incidents, and hence hazard probability, both global, using Ripley´s K statistics, and local analysis, using both, Nearest Neighbors Hierarchical and Kernel Density Estimation methods, were applied together with spatial analysis in the GIS environment. Furthermore, the risk of hazards is explored by these techniques, and the hot-spot areas are captured, as well as dual distribution relation between landmine incidents, and population or transport network have been assessed.