REMOTE SENSING/GIS SOFTWARE UTILIZATION AND CHALLENGES – AN EXPLORATORY STUDY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The paper is an exploratory study of the use of Remote Sensing/GIS Software particularly by the researchers in tertiary
institutions and utilization challenges by the urban managers in Nigeria. Among the questions addressed in the paper are:
What are the broad areas of research and topics that are addressed? What type of remote sensing and GIS software are used?
What are the sources of satellite images used? What are the types of institutional affiliation and departments of the
researchers? What are the utilization challenges? The data used in the study is from an extensive published article search and the administration of 101 questionnaires to public servants. Descriptive statistics are used to analyze the data. The study shows among others that most of the researches are on analysis and applications. Most of the research topics are on land use/land cover. ESRI software products are the most used products. Top on the list of problems affecting use of
GIS/Remote Sensing applications is financial problem, followed by power supply (electricity) problem, lack of knowledge
about GIS/Remote Sensing applications, lack of incentives and motivation, and technical nature of the applications. Policy
implications of the findings are highlighted in the paper.