Navigation

Navigation#

The GEEST plugin interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. In this section, the streamlined workflow ensures an efficient transition from setup to core spatial analysis. For detailed instructions on each step, refer to the sections below.

Accessing the Plugin#

After installing the plugin, its interface should automatically appear:

Plugin Interface

Locate the Toolbar Icon
Find the plugin’s icon in the QGIS toolbar.

Open the Plugin
Click on the plugin’s toolbar icon to open its main window.

Project Setup#

Once the plugin window is open, press the right arrow buttons highlighted in red to navigate through the pages:

First Page Next Second Page Next

Welcome to GEEST Page: This is the introductory page of the plugin, providing an overview of its purpose and functionality. It serves as the starting point to familiarize users with the plugin’s capabilities and its relevance to geospatial analysis.
About Page: This page offers detailed information about the plugin, including its contributors, development background, and licensing. It highlights the open-source nature of the tool and acknowledges the organizations or individuals involved in its creation.

Setting Up the ORS Key#

To use the GEEST plugin effectively, you need to configure the Open Route Service (ORS) API key, as ORS is the backbone for processing Accessibility factors. The ORS platform is used for spatial analysis workflows, and obtaining an API key is a simple and free process. Below are the steps:

Step 1: Get Your API Key#

Open your browser and go to the ORS API Key Signup Page.

Register for an account or log in if you already have one.

Once logged in, generate an API key by following the on-screen instructions.

Step 2: Paste the API Key#

Note: If you already entered your ORS API key under the Installing GEEST instructions in Step 5: Verify the Installation and Configure the Tool, the key will automatically appear here. In this case, you can skip this step and proceed to the next one.

Copy the API key from the ORS website.

Open the GEEST ORS Setup window in the plugin.

Paste the API key into the text box provided (as shown in the screenshot below).

ORS key

Step 3: Verify the Key#

After pasting the API key, click the Check my key… button.

If the key is valid, a green checkmark will appear, indicating the API key has been successfully set up.

This step is crucial to unlock the full functionality of the plugin, including advanced spatial analysis workflows.

Tips for Setting Up the ORS Key

💡 Tip: Ensure you paste the exact API key without any extra spaces or characters.
⚠️ Warning: Avoid sharing your API key publicly to keep it secure.
🔄 If You Encounter Issues: Double-check your internet connection and ensure your API key is valid.

GEEST Project Selection#

In this step, you need to select a project folder to begin your work. The plugin provides you with two options:

Geest Project

Option 1: Open an Existing Project:
Select this option if you already have a project folder created previously. Choosing this will load the project along with all its associated files. Once loaded, press the right arrow button to proceed to the data input and processing interface for further analysis.

Open Geest Project

Option 2: Create a New Project:
Choose this option to start a new project. The plugin will guide you through creating a new folder that will store the GEEST project files and working analysis results for spatial processing.

New Geest Project

How to Create a New Folder

Click on Create or select a project directory (highlighted in red).

Navigate to the desired location on your system where you want to store the project.

Create a new folder and ensure it is empty.

Select the newly created folder and confirm your choice.

Important Considerations

⚠️ Warning: Ensure the folder is empty. Using a folder with other files may lead to errors or accidental overwrites.
💡 Tip: Use a descriptive name for the folder, incorporating details such as the name of the country or region you want to analyze and a timestamp. The timestamp could reflect either the time of the analysis process or the date of the input datasets. This will help you easily identify the folder for future reference and maintain better organization.
🔒 Reminder: Ensure the folder is stored in a location with adequate storage space for analysis outputs. The contents of the selected folder will be managed by the plugin, ensuring proper organization of project-related files.

Additional Steps After Creating the Folder#

Select a Layer:

Click on the three dots button to choose a layer containing your Admin0 areas (country or region boundaries). The input layer must be in either SHP or GPKG format. Once selected, use the dropdown menu to specify the column that contains the names of the areas. Ensure the column is correctly populated to avoid errors during analysis.

Set the Analysis Cell Size:

Enter a value between 100m and 1000m:

Smaller values (e.g., 100m) will provide more detailed results but require longer processing times.

Larger values (e.g., 1000m) will reduce processing time but result in coarser outputs.

Note: The tool processes the study area by iterating through each polygon and generating a grid cell raster based on the selected cell size (ranging from 100m to 1000m). For each polygon, the following steps are performed:

The tool uses the raster bounding box associated with the polygon to generate the grid.

Areas marked as marine (C) pixels are excluded by assigning them a “NoData” value.

Land cells are assigned appropriate values to create a complete raster mask for the study area.

The resulting raster layers are stored in a dedicated directory, with files named according to the polygon’s name and part number (for multipart polygons).

Considering these operations, processing time may vary significantly, ranging from a few minutes to several tens of minutes, depending on the selected cell size and the size of the region being analyzed. To enhance the user experience, a progress bar displays the estimated remaining time until completion.

💡 Tip: For larger regions or countries, it is recommended to start with a larger cell size for initial testing to ensure faster processing times. Once the initial results are satisfactory, refine the analysis by reducing the cell size to achieve greater detail. This approach will help you unlock the full potential of the tool and ensure accurate and detailed outputs.

Coordinate System Configuration:
- If your boundary layer uses a valid projected CRS (e.g., UTM or EPSG:3857), select the checkbox Use Coordinate System of your boundary layer. This ensures that spatial calculations, such as distances and areas, are accurate and aligned with your layer’s CRS.

⚠️ Note: This option is automatically disabled if the map units of your boundary layer are in degrees (e.g., EPSG:4326). Spatial analysis requires projected coordinate systems with units in meters for precision.
💡 Tip: If your data uses geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude in degrees), reproject it to a projected CRS before proceeding with the analysis.

Pre-Processing#

Once you have completed all required inputs on the GEEST Project Creation screen, follow these steps to proceed:

1. Verify the Project Folder Path#

Ensure that the folder path displayed at the bottom of the interface is correct. This path indicates where the GEEST plugin will store analysis outputs and working files.

Example Path:
C:/Work/GEEST/Analysis/Country/01152025

Important Notes:

The folder must be empty, containing no other files unrelated to the analysis.
Choose a descriptive name for the folder, as it will store critical project data.

2. Click the Right Arrow Button#

Locate the right arrow button at the bottom-right corner of the interface (highlighted in red in the image).

Clicking this button confirms all settings and transitions to the Processing Data Interface, where you can initiate the analysis.

Key Considerations

⚠️ Warning: Double-check your settings and input data before clicking the arrow. Any incorrect configuration could lead to errors during the processing stage.
💡 Tip: Ensure that the analysis cell size and boundary layer are correctly configured to avoid unexpected results.

3. Overview of Next Steps#

After pressing the right arrow, the plugin will begin processing the input boundary layer by dividing it into a grid based on the specified cell size. During this step, the project folder will automatically populate with the generated outputs, including the study area split into grids, polygons, gridded areas, bounding boxes and other relevant data.

Once this pre-processing step is completed, you will seamlessly transition to the Processing Data Interface, where you can proceed with the core analysis workflows:

The tool will generate outputs based on the inputs and configuration you’ve provided.
View progress bars for analysis steps.
Results will be saved in the selected project folder for further use.

Geest data processing

This marks the completion of the project setup and transition to the core analysis workflow.

Processing Data Interface#

The data processing interface serves as the central hub for managing, configuring, and processing inputs across multiple dimensions and factors within the project. This interface is designed to streamline workflows and provide users with a clear overview of the processing status. Below is a guide to understanding the key components of this interface: