Overview
In this article, you’ll learn how to define your Area of Interest (AOI) when creating an experiment in DORA. Setting the AOI narrows the focus of your analysis by limiting the features and learning points to a specific geographic boundary.
Note: DORA 2.0 is not yet available. The changes described below will be released in an upcoming update.
What’s Improved
To simplify setup and reduce manual configuration, the resolution sliders have been removed.
Now, DORA automatically determines the appropriate resolution later in the workflow, based on your selected rasters.
This allows you to move through setup quickly while ensuring resolution aligns with your input data.
What is an AOI?
An AOI (Area of Interest) is a defined geographic boundary where DORA will analyze input features and generate predictions. It works like a box drawn around the part of your project you want to explore.
AOIs are created from shapefiles (.shp) and must be square or rectangular in format, aligned to the cardinal directions (north-south, east-west). Each AOI must include four associated shapefile components (.shp, .shx, .dbf, .prj).
Why This Step Matters
Geoscience Perspective
Using an AOI helps geoscientists focus exploration efforts on a specific area, aligning analysis with geological boundaries, known targets, or zones of interest. It reduces the inclusion of unrelated terrain that could dilute prediction relevance.
AI Perspective
The AOI acts as a spatial filter to ensure that only relevant features and learning points are used to train and apply the model. This improves the precision, speed, and clarity of the results, and avoids introducing noisy or irrelevant data.
💡 Think Strategically About Your AOI
Before selecting or uploading an AOI, consider what you're trying to achieve:
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Step by Step Instructions
Open Select Area of Interest (AOI)
From the experiment setup panel, click Step 1: Select Area of Interest (AOI).
Select an AOI File
Select the appropriate file from the dropdown.
(Optional) To add a new AOI file within the DORA interface, click Upload AOI at the bottom of the dropdown. The file may take a few minutes to process before it appears in the dropdown.
Apply AOI
Click Apply AOI to confirm your selection and proceed.
This step takes approximately up to 2 minutes to complete.
Tips & Considerations
When choosing or uploading an AOI, size and shape are only part of the decision — data coverage is critical.
Learning point coverage: Ensure learning points are reasonably distributed across the AOI. If they cluster in one area (for example, concentrated in the center), the model may not train effectively across the full boundary.
Raster coverage: Confirm that your input rasters cover most or all of the AOI. Large gaps or missing values can reduce prediction reliability.
Match scale to data: A larger AOI captures more regional context, but only if your data supports it. A very large boundary with limited learning points or raster coverage will weaken results. Conversely, a smaller AOI may increase focus but reduce broader geological context.
The goal is to align your AOI size with where you have strong raster and learning point coverage.