Just re-emphasizing an important clarification from the organizers that some people might have missed 👇

There seems to be some confusion around what counts as “using latitude/longitude” in this challenge.

The rule is not just about excluding the raw lat/lon columns — it also applies to any features derived from them.

👉 Not allowed:

• Distance between points
• Nearest neighbors / spatial proximity
• Clustering based on coordinates
• Grid cells / spatial bins
• Any engineered feature that encodes geographic position

Even if you don’t explicitly include lat/lon in your model, these features still reintroduce spatial information, which goes against the intent of the competition.

👉 Allowed:

• Using lat/lon strictly to extract external data like TerraClimate variables

👉 Not allowed:

• Using lat/lon (directly or indirectly) as model features

A simple rule of thumb:

Using lat/lon to extract TerraClimate values = ✅ Allowed Using lat/lon to create model features (including distances) = ❌ Not allowed

The goal here is to ensure models rely on the provided environmental/climate data, not on geographic shortcuts.

Let’s keep things fair and aligned with the spirit of the competition 👍

Discussion that clarified this:

🌍 Challenge Chat: Action Required - Data Rules ... - 666 Views