CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Region 2 on Monday started a week-long third level training for 24 data collectors on geotagging of building structures of primary sampling unit (PSU) samples at the provincial offices in Cagayan Valley region.
The data collectors — composed of statistical researchers for the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Batanes, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino — will start the actual geotagging of building structures of PSU samples for 2020 to 2021 on May 8.
“The activity aims to identify and mark building structures in the digitized maps and putting pertinent geographical information and attributes for use in the various statistical undertakings of the Philippine Statistics Authority,” said PSA-Cagayan Valley Regional Director Marilyn Estrada.
Estrada said the agency has pushed for a five-year rolling technology-aided map updating scheme in 2016 to prepare for the application of spatial analysis and intelligent visualization of information using dynamic digitized maps.
They later on conducted the field updating of maps and the secondary sampling units (SSU) validation of PSU samples from 2016 to 2019.
In Isabela, at least eight map data collectors, one map data screener and a supervisor have been involved in training.
PSA-Isabela Chief Statistical Specialist Julius Emperador has pledged to push for a smooth conduct of the geotagging of building structures.
Emperador said map data screeners were taught on how to extract grid maps from Google Earth, geo-reference the grid maps using ground control points (GCPs), load shape files into the tablets for use by the map data collectors during field operations, and download geo-tagged maps and building structures from the tablets to desktop computers for further processing.
A field practice was also set during the last day to test the tablets and geotagging applications to be used in the project.
The data collectors will visit Barangay Alibagu, a PSU sample, to practice geotagging of building structures in the said area.
The tablet-aided geotagging project will run for four months from May 8 to September 6 this year, and will cover a total of 667 enumeration areas regionwide. (PNA)
