Documentation

Geovatra Documentation

Everything you need to know about using the Geovatra platform

Introduction

Overview

Geovatra is an AI-powered geospatial analysis platform that allows you to perform complex GIS operations simply by describing what you want in natural language. No GIS expertise required.

AI Assistant

Ask questions and run analysis using plain English

Layer Management

Upload, manage, and visualize vector and raster layers

Satellite Data

Fetch Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, DEM, and more on demand

Hydrology

Watershed delineation and stream network extraction

Quick Start

Beginner

Get up and running with Geovatra in minutes:

1

Create an Account

Sign up at Geovatra and verify your email address to activate your account.

2

Create a Project

From the dashboard, create a new project to organize your geospatial data and analysis.

3

Add Data

Upload a shapefile or GeoTIFF, draw features on the map, or ask the AI to fetch satellite data for your area.

4

Ask the AI

Open the Geovatra Assistant and describe what you want to analyze. For example: "Buffer the roads layer by 500 meters" or "Fetch the NDVI for this area".

5

Explore Results

New layers appear automatically on the map. Use the layer panel to manage visibility, style, and ordering.

Platform Interface

Interface

The Geovatra interface consists of four main areas:

Component Location Description
Map Canvas Center Interactive OpenLayers map for visualizing and drawing spatial data
Layer Panel Left sidebar Manage layer visibility, ordering, styling, and properties
AI Assistant Bottom/floating Natural language interface for executing geospatial operations
Toolbar Top Drawing tools, navigation controls, and upload options

Upload Vector Data

Data

Geovatra supports uploading vector data in the following formats:

  • Shapefile (.shp + .dbf + .shx) — upload as a ZIP file containing all components
  • GeoJSON (.geojson, .json) — single file upload
  • KML/KMZ — Google Earth format
Coordinate System: All uploaded data is automatically reprojected to WGS84 (EPSG:4326) for display on the map.

Upload Raster Data

Data

Raster files are uploaded and stored in Cloudflare R2 for efficient streaming:

  • GeoTIFF (.tif, .tiff) — single or multi-band rasters

After upload, you can customize the color ramp and value ranges directly from the layer panel. Available color ramps include:

Purple → Pink Blue → Cyan → Yellow Heatmap NDVI (Red → Green) Terrain Grays Water (White → Blue) Flood Map Land Cover

Draw Features

Data

Use the drawing toolbar to create features directly on the map:

Tool Description Use Case
Point Place a point on the map Mark locations, pour points for watershed
Line Draw a polyline Transects, routes, boundaries
Polygon Draw a polygon area Area of interest, clip mask
Circle Draw a circle with radius Buffer zones, search areas
Rectangle Draw a bounding box Area of interest for satellite fetch
Tip: Drawn features (D-prefix layers) can be used as masks, AOIs, or pour points in AI-driven analysis operations.

Using the AI Assistant

AI

The Geovatra Assistant understands natural language and can execute hundreds of geospatial operations. Simply type what you want to do:

Direct Actions — The AI immediately executes simple operations:
  • "Buffer layer S12 by 1 kilometer"
  • "Rename layer S5 to 'Roads'"
  • "Fetch the DEM for this area D3"
  • "Dissolve layer S12 by country name"
Multi-Step Analysis — For complex questions, the AI plans the steps first and shows you the plan before executing:
  • "Where are the areas with high NDVI?"
  • "Which cities are above 1000 meters elevation?"
  • "Delineate the watershed for this pour point"

Example Queries

AI

Vector Operations

"Buffer the roads layer S12 by 500 meters"
"Clip layer S5 using the polygon D3"
"Dissolve the districts layer by region name"
"Calculate the area in km² for each polygon in S8"
"Filter cities with population greater than 100000"
"Merge layers S3, S5, and S7 into one"

Satellite Data

"Fetch the NDVI for my drawn area D2"
"Get the DEM for layer S12"
"Show me the land cover for Yemen"
"Fetch the flood map for this area from last week"
"Get a true color satellite image for D5"
"Show historical water occurrence for this region"

Hydrology

"Delineate the watershed for pour point D4"
"Extract the stream network for this area"
"Generate flow accumulation from the DEM R3"

Complex Analysis

"Add elevation values from R5 to my cities layer S12"
"Which regions are within 5km of rivers and have low elevation?"
"Where are the high vegetation areas in this district?"

Vector Operations

Geoprocessing

Geovatra supports the following PostGIS-powered vector operations:

Buffer

Create buffer zones around features

Clip

Clip layer by a polygon mask

Intersect

Keep only overlapping geometries

Union

Merge two layers into one

Difference

Subtract one layer from another

Dissolve

Merge features by attribute value

Centroid

Generate centroids of polygons

Convex Hull

Generate convex hull around features

Simplify

Reduce geometry complexity

Spatial Join

Join attributes based on location

Merge Layers

Combine multiple layers into one

Filter

Filter by attribute or location

Raster Operations

Geoprocessing

GDAL-powered raster analysis tools:

Operation Description Output
Clip Raster Clip raster by vector mask Raster layer
Raster to Vector Convert raster pixels to polygons Vector layer
Hillshade Generate hillshade from DEM Raster layer
NDVI from Raster Calculate NDVI from multi-band raster Raster layer
Raster Statistics Full statistics for all bands Chat summary
Sample Raster Get pixel values at coordinates Chat summary
Zonal Statistics Sample raster at point layer locations New attribute column

Hydrology Tools

GRASS GIS

Geovatra integrates GRASS GIS 8.4 for professional hydrological modeling:

Processing Time: Hydrology operations may take 20–60 seconds depending on the area size and resolution. A progress panel will show you real-time status during processing.

Watershed Delineation

Automatically delineates watershed boundaries, stream networks, and flow accumulation from a DEM. Requires an AOI and optionally a pour point.

"Delineate the watershed for pour point D4 using DEM R3"

The watershed tool produces three output layers:

  • Watershed Boundary — polygon vector layer
  • Stream Network — line vector layer
  • Flow Accumulation — raster layer

Satellite Analysis

Planetary Computer

Geovatra connects to Microsoft Planetary Computer to fetch satellite data on demand for any area of interest:

Dataset Source Resolution Use Case
NDVI Sentinel-2 10m Vegetation health
EVI Sentinel-2 10m Dense vegetation areas
SAVI Sentinel-2 10m Arid/semi-arid vegetation
True Color Sentinel-2 10m Visual reference imagery
DEM Copernicus DEM 30m Elevation, terrain analysis
Flood Map Sentinel-1 SAR 10m Flood detection (works through clouds)
Water Occurrence JRC GSW 30m Historical water presence 1984–present
Land Cover ESA WorldCover 10m Land use classification

Credits System

Account

Geovatra uses a credit-based system for AI-powered operations. Credits are consumed when you interact with the AI assistant.

Free Credits: New users receive free credits upon registration to explore the platform.

Basic map operations such as layer styling, visibility toggling, and zoom do not consume credits. Credits are consumed for AI chatbot interactions and satellite data fetching.

Frequently Asked Questions

Help
What coordinate systems are supported?
Geovatra automatically reprojects all uploaded data to WGS84 (EPSG:4326) for display. Internally, operations use appropriate CRS for accuracy — geographic operations use EPSG:4326 and metric operations use EPSG:3857.
What is the maximum file size for uploads?
Vector files (shapefiles, GeoJSON) support up to 50MB per upload. Raster files (GeoTIFF) support up to 500MB. For larger datasets, please contact us.
How accurate are the satellite-derived indices like NDVI?
Geovatra uses official Sentinel-2 Level-2A products (atmospherically corrected) from Microsoft Planetary Computer. Results are scientifically valid but should be validated by qualified professionals for critical applications.
Can I export my analysis results?
Yes. Vector layers can be exported as GeoJSON or Shapefile. Raster layers can be downloaded as GeoTIFF. Use the layer panel context menu or ask the AI assistant to export a layer.
Is my data secure?
Yes. All data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest. Your project data is isolated per user — other users cannot access your layers or projects. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
Why is my satellite data request returning no results?
This usually happens when no cloud-free imagery is available for your area within the specified date range. Try extending the date range or increasing the cloud cover threshold. The default is 20% cloud cover and last 30 days.
Still need help? Contact our support team at info@geovatra.com