Digital Traces SitReps
A core output of FloodTraces is a set of Digital Traces Situation Reports — concise, policy-oriented documents that translate digital trace pipeline outputs into actionable displacement assessments for humanitarian decision-makers.
Each SitRep is designed to be:
- Timely — producible within days of a flood event, not weeks
- Spatially specific — displacement estimates disaggregated to administrative unit level
- Honest about limitations — clearly communicating data coverage gaps, demographic biases, and uncertainty
- Comparable — benchmarked against OCHA, IOM DTM or other reported figures where available.
Indonesia SitRep
Event: Multi-province flooding, early 2024
Analysis window: February–March 2024
Validation benchmark: IOM DTM displacement figures
The Indonesia SitRep applies a difference-in-differences analytical design using GPS mobility data. Treated units are admin2 areas within the flood-affected north-easter corridor; control units are comparable unflooded admin2 areas elsewhere in Indonesia. The case study centres on the West Sumatra floods and landslides of March 2024, which displaced thousands across several regencies.
Displacement is tracked at a daily resolution, producing a sequence of maps that show how the signal builds, peaks, and recedes over the event window — allowing the GPS-derived estimates to be read against the tempo of the disaster rather than as a single static figure.
Draft — Work in Progress
The current Indonesia SitRep is a work-in-progress draft. It has not been finalised, and the figures and analysis are subject to change. Please do not cite or circulate.
The Indonesia SitRep will be presented on Day 1 of the policy workshop.
Colombia SitRep
Event: Chocó and north-easter floods, November 2024
Analysis window: October–November 2024
Validation benchmark: OCHA reported displaced population (~28,500 people)
The Colombia SitRep applies a difference-in-differences analytical design using GPS mobility data. Treated units are admin2 areas within the flood-affected north-easter corridor; control units are comparable unflooded admin2 areas elsewhere in Colombia. Displacement is defined as an absence from the home location of three or more consecutive days, with sensitivity checks.
Key confounder events within the analysis window — including public holidays, agricultural cycles, and major population movements — are accounted for.
Draft — Rough analysis
The current Colombia SitRep is a work-in-progress draft. It has not been finalised, and the figures and analysis are subject to change. Please do not cite or circulate.
The Colombia SitRep will be presented on Day 1 of the policy workshop.
Pakistan SitRep
Event: Monsoon floods, August–October 2022
Status: Hackathon case study — participant-produced SitRep
Pakistan’s 2022 floods were among the most severe climate disasters in recent history, affecting over 33 million people and displacing millions across Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Pakistan case provides the analytical foundation for the hackathon — with the goal that participating teams produce a Digital Traces SitRep for Pakistan, adding a third country example to sit alongside Colombia and Indonesia.
Unlike the Colombia and Indonesia SitReps — which use the FloodTraces GPS pipeline — the Pakistan hackathon draws on Meta Data for Good mobility and population datasets alongside IOM DTM rounds 1–6 from the 2022 response. Teams will engage with questions of cross-source validation, signal comparability, and how digital trace findings can be communicated to operational audiences. A successful output would be a SitRep that follows the same structure as the Colombia and Indonesia reports, adapted to the data sources and humanitarian context of Pakistan.
Full data documentation will be circulated to hackathon participants at the pre-event meeting.
What a SitRep Contains
Each Digital Traces SitRep follows a common structure:
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Event summary | Flood dates, affected geography, OCHA/IOM headline figures |
| Data sources | GPS provider, coverage statistics, known gaps |
| Displacement signal | Estimated displaced population by admin unit and time period |
| Validation | Comparison with OCHA/IOM benchmark; agreement and divergence |
| Limitations | Demographic biases, device penetration, confounder risks |
| Analytical notes | DiD design, displacement threshold, sensitivity checks |
A note on benchmarks
SitRep validation is always conducted against displaced figures reported by OCHA, IOM or alternative Digital Trace derived estimates — not the broader “affected” population count, which includes people whose property or livelihoods were impacted without displacement. These figures differ substantially and the distinction is analytically critical.
Data Factsheets
Alongside the SitReps, FloodTraces produces Data Factsheets — short reference documents that explain the non-traditional, digital trace data sources behind the displacement estimates. They are written for policy and operational audiences who may be unfamiliar with these data, setting out what each indicator measures, how it is accessed, and its main limitations.
The first factsheet covers the digital trace indicators used across the SitReps, grouped into:
- Mobility indicators — GPS / mobile-device data, web and search activity, and Meta Data for Good population and movement
- Contextual indicators — earth observation layers for population (WorldPop), rainfall (NASA GPM IMERG) and flood extent (NASA LANCE / MODIS)
It complements the Data sources and Limitations rows of each SitRep, giving a fuller account of provenance, access — including cost and availability — and how the indicators should be interpreted.
Draft — not published or finished
The Digital Trace Data Factsheet is a work-in-progress draft. Descriptions and figures are subject to change. Please do not cite or circulate.
The Data Factsheet will be presented on Day 1 of the policy workshop.