GIS and Remote Sensing Applications in Rural District Road Network Evaluation: The Case of Nebilyer in Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Infrastructure developments have not yet picked up pace in the Nebilyer Rural District, Western Highland Province, Papua New Guinea, since the end of the colonial era due to a number of reasons. As a result of inadequate road connectivity, particularly in the remote rural areas of the district, many areas with high development potential remain isolated and majority of the rural population is deprived of minimum basic necessities like health care, education, etc. Roads play an important role in all aspects of development such as agriculture, health, education and small-scale businesses, among others. The absence of standard roads in the district leads to the stagnation of socio-economic development of the villagers, despite ample resource potentials. The study aims at demonstrating the potentiality of Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technologies in the development of road information system, which in turn helps planners and administrators to identify the problems associated with rural road development, and with monitoring and maintenance of the road infrastructure created in the area. The Google Earth Pro 2010, multi Landsat Satellite image of 30 m resolution, topographical map of scale 1:100,000, PNGRIS, and Geobook Data sets together with the existing geospatial road database and GPS field survey data sets, are the sources of data used to do analysis within the GIS and RS environment. In this study, road network and connectivity, distance and density analyses have been performed in ArcGIS and thematic maps were produced. Relevant environmental factors such as drainage patterns, slope, landform, soil texture and lithology were analysed and assessed with respect to road networks in GIS environment resulting in findings that could prove useful for road management in the study area.