Upload and Analyzing Plots
Last updated
Last updated
This page explains the basics of using TradeAware to Upload and Analyze plots.
You will already need an account to do these actions. If you do not have an account, follow our guide here.
If at any time you have challenges or questions when using TradeAware, you can contact support.
You have multiple options to navigate to an area of interest.
You can use your mouse to zoom in and out using the scroll.
You move the view by holding the left click and moving the mouse.
You can also use the plus and minus tools in the bottom right corner of the map to zoom in and out.
By selecting “Find my location” , the map will zoom to your estimated location.
You can search for locations using the search box in the top right corner of the page. As you type, suggestions will be made.
Selecting a suggestion will zoom the map to the area.
Following the onboarding flow, you have two options for uploading plots: drawing them individually or performing a bulk upload.
Click the corners of the plot you want to mark. To finish drawing, connect the last point drawn to the first point drawn. You will then be prompted to add the plot name and the crop grown there. Note: the maximum plot size you can upload is 10,000 hectares. If your plot is larger than this, either divide it into smaller areas or contact TradeAware support for assistance.
By double clicking on the plot drawn, you can also tweak the boundaries of the plot you have added by moving the points of it. Finally, you can either “Save” the plot, in which case it will appear in the list of plots or “Cancel”
If you have any issues, refer to our guide on uploads here.
When you upload plots of land to TradeAware, it automatically checks these for overlap with the EU Global Forest Cover Map which which estimates natural forest as of December 2020. This provides three information points:
Risk - High (where there is any overlap with the plot and this map) and low (where there is no overlap with the plot and this map)
Disturbance Percentage - How much the plot and map overlap, if at all. We use the term disturbance rather than deforestation as the EU Global Map of Forest Cover is intended to show natural forest as of December 2020 rather than areas of deforestation following the cut off. An overlap would suggest you should be cautious buying commodities produced on this land as the presence of natural forest in an area of production suggests deforestation may have occurred.
Visual Overlap - A green layer which shows specifically for the plot where the overlap with the EU Global Map of Forest Cover is. This can be toggled on and off by selecting "Show Legend" at bottom left of the map.
However, there may be valid reasons for the presence of natural forest in a plot as of December 2020 especially if it is still standing as of today, which this layer does not show. The accuracy of the EU Global Forest Cover map also varies according to various factors such as geography, commodity grown and the farming practice. Additional information on known issues can be found here.
If you do a bulk upload, the time to complete the analysis depends on the size of your upload. If it's not ready right away, feel free to check back later or contact us for assistance.
Where plots of land added to the system overlap with this layer, you will see a risk status of “High” and the percentage of overlap with the layer. You will also see the option to contact us for our TradeAware Precision analysis.
Where plots of land added to the system do not overlap with this layer, you will see a risk status of “Low”. You will also see the option to contact us for our TradeAware Precision analysis.
As the EU Global Forest Cover Map does not perfectly capture the requirement of EUDR to check for conversion from natural forest to agriculture, we have created TradeAware Precision analysis. This has been built to be completely definitionally aligned with EUDR so that rather than looking at natural forest or tree cover loss alone, it looks at changes in the land usage. This enables it to ignore tree cover loss events that are not relevant, primarily agricultural management.
To use TradeAware Precision analysis, you will need an account with this enabled. If you do not have this enabled, contact your Customer Success Manager.
Where this option is enabled, after you upload a plot, you still see the option against TradeAware Precision to "Start Analysis".
After you press "Start Analysis", the status will change to Processing. Our Precision Analysis Pipeline runs once daily at midday CET, so at this point you can exit the application and come back when the processing is complete.
Once this is complete, you see three information points:
Risk - Both at the level of the TradeAware Precision analysis and based on both types of analysis. Where there is no overlap with the TradeAware Precision analysis and the plot, risk both for TradeAware Precision and at the level of the plot will show as low. At the plot level, this is the case even where the EU Global Forest Cover shows overlap, as the TradeAware Precision is more closely aligned to the EUDR deforestation definition and has higher accuracy.
High
High
High
High
Low
High
Low
Low
Low
Low
High
Low
Deforestation Percentage - How much the plot and the TradeAware Precision analysis overlap, if at all. An overlap would suggest you should be cautious buying commodities produced on this land due to the presence of detected deforestation.
Visual Overlap - A red layer which shows specifically for the plot where the overlap with TradeAware Precision analysis is. This can be toggled on and off by selecting "Show Legend" at bottom left of the map.
The below example shows where the EU Global Forest Cover Map shows overlap with the plot (green layer) but the TradeAware Precision analysis does not. In this specific case, the EU Global Forest Cover map incorrectly identified palm plantation that predated the December 2020 cut off as natural forest. The TradeAware Precision analysis was able to distinguish this.
The example below shows both where the EU Global Forest Cover Map (green layer) and where TradeAware Precision analysis (red layer) show overlap with the plot. In this specific example, the deforestation on the plot has not been detected by the EU Global Forest Cover Map but has been detected by TradeAware Precision analysis.
In the bottom left of the map, you will see the option to "Show Legend". Selecting this will open the legend.
Hovering over a specific layer in the legend shows information about the layer.
You can also use this to turn layers on and off by using the selctor next to the layer name.
If you already have plots, selecting a plot in the list navigates the map to that plot, highlights it in the list and on the map. You can also directly select plots on the map and they will be highlighted on the map and in the list.
By selecting the ellipsis next to your plot in the list, you can select to “Edit plot details” or “Delete” Plot.
If you select “Edit plot details” you can change the name of your plot and the commodity grown on it.
If you double click the plot in edit mode, you can edit the boundaries of the plot by dragging the points of the plot.
If you select “Delete”, you will see a prompt asking you to confirm the deletion.
If you confirm the deletion, the plot will no longer appear in the list and the view will zoom back out.
Select the drawing tool in the top right corner of the map. This will take you into drawing mode.
Selecting the upload button at the top of the list of plots takes you to the bulk uploader. This functions the same way as during the initial onboarding flow as can be seen above.
To see plots of land uploaded, select the Plots of Land Icon at the top of the left hand bar in the application. This will open the table.
To see plots of land select the “Plots of Land” Icon at the top of the left hand bar in the application. This will open the table. If you haven’t added any plots you will see “Start by adding a plot of land”.
