…from StatesmanJournal.com…
“”One of the unique things of this project is there are probability-based models out there for fingerprint analysis,” Dutton said. “The difference of what we’re doing is applying a geographical information system to perform the spatial analysis.”
“Spatial analysis is the study of distribution of features in a fingerprint, Dutton said.”
CDC’s map of weekly influenza activity estimates in the United States, as reported by state and territorial epidemiologists. Activity levels indicate geographic spread of both seasonal and 2009 influenza A [H1N1] viruses).
European Geosciences Union
General Assembly 2010
Vienna, Austria, 02 – 07 May 2010
The EGU General Assembly 2010 will bring together geoscientists from all over the world into one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. Especially for young scientists the EGU appeals to provide a forum to present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geosciences. The EGU is looking forward to cordially welcome you in Vienna!
Integrative geospatial science for disaster risk management – Multi source applications and concepts
This session aims at attracting interdisciplinary research from diverse fields related to geospatial problems in disaster risk management. The cyclic concept of disaster management serves as background and outline in order to allow comprehensive discussions on related aspects, ranging from emergency response via risk analysis including hazard and vulnerability assessment to mitigation and early warning.
…from the Redlands Daily Facts…
“Sept. 11 skeptics challenged former governor and U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey after his Friday night speech at Environmental Systems Research Institute.
“Kerrey, a former member of the 9/11 Commission, spoke about health care and education to kick off the new Town & Gown Cultural Series, a collaboration between ESRI and the University of Redlands.
“Audience members gasped and groaned during the Sept. 11 questions, but Kerrey stayed calm and addressed concerns about the commission, which investigated the circumstances of and response to the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.”
…an interview with Randy Olson at Smithsonian.com…
“Your second film, Sizzle, about global warming, received some mixed reviews, right?
“Well, the reviews were not mixed in the entertainment world, but the reviews were mixed in the science world. It’s important to point out the distinction. We show the movie to broad audiences. Everybody laughs and has a good time with it. But there was a significant number in the science crowd, particularly science bloggers, who were infuriated by the movie. They felt that the proper type of movie to make is an Al Gore type of movie that is packed full of information. My feeling is that that is simply reflective of scientists’ lack of understanding of the way in which to use film. Film is not a particularly effective educational medium. It is an incredibly powerful motivational medium. It’s a great way to reach inside of people’s hearts and their guts and everything else. But it’s not a good medium to pack full of information.”
Still waiting for TEDMED to post “official” video of Bill Davenhall’s talk, but I did find this very brief interview with Bill courtesy of BlankCheck.
Thursday 5 Nov 2009 4:00 p.m.to 5:00 p.m.
Vint Cerf, Google, Vice President & Chief Internet Evangelist
George E. Pake Auditorium, PARC,
3333 Coyote Hill Rd, Palo Alto, California, USA
http://www.parc.com/util/map.html
This presentation is FREE and open to the public. There is free parking, and the venue is handicapped accessible. No registration is required. Seating is on a first come first served basis.
We are wearing our information window on our hips or carrying it in our purses. Our mobiles have become not only sources of information but mechanisms of control. They are also becoming instruments of truth and freedom. We are all roaming reporters. They are becoming part of the information ecosystem warning us of hazards, helping us to be more healthy. We can see them used heavily for access to geographically-indexed information. They can also form a technical eco-system of devices that cooperate to perform tasks for us. Of course, they are also useful as telephones and social interaction enablers.
Presenter
Vinton G. Cerf is vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google. He is responsible for identifying new enabling technologies and applications on the Internet and other platforms for the company.
Mobility Series
This talk is part of a series focusing on novel applications of mobile technologies. With the recent emergence of highly interactive smartphones, mobile media players, netbooks, and e-readers, we are now seeing an explosion in new paradigms of mobile information generation, delivery and use. In the coming series of presentations, you will see a range of applications that exploit some of the unique aspects of having computing devices with you everywhere, all the time.
Cartifact, Inc. and Greening Point, Inc. today announced the launch of a new public educational resource, RisingOceanLevels.com. The site provides an interactive map showing how various climate change scenarios could change our coastline through sea levels rising. The site features high quality, visually attractive interactive maps accompanied by educational information about climate change science and links to further reading. The initial release provides maps for the San Francisco Bay area and a detailed focus map of the Santa Cruz to Salinas portion of the Monterey Bay.
Cartifact developed RisingOceanLevels.com to help the public visualize the impact of possible climate change scenarios on the location and nature of future shorelines. A scope-like lens is available to view aerial imagery of the real-world roads and buildings that, depending on local topography, could potentially be inundated by the rising global ocean levels, waves, storm surge and flooding. Greening Point collaborated in the effort, providing conceptualization, environmental information and design assistance.
Cartifact President Graham Marriott said “We strive to make visually compelling maps that help people understand complex geographic data. Sea level changes resulting from global warming are an important public issue. We’re pleased to provide a new public resource to help people understand the risks associated with various climate change scenarios.”
Both companies emphasize that they are not making a prediction that sea levels will rise to a specific level. According to Greening Point CTO Michael Tilson, “we want people to learn about possible climate change scenarios, the science behind them, and the potential outcome of each. Some scenarios are fairly likely and have significant impacts. More extreme scenarios are unlikely in the near term, and yet there is a small but worrisome risk that these could occur with severe economic, social and environmental impacts. We hope to make a positive contribution to public dialogue on these issues.”
[Source: joint Cartifact / Greening Point news release]
Bruce Rowland is interviewed by Nick Chrisman for his 2006 ESRI Press book “Charting the Unknown: How Computer Mapping at Harvard Became GIS.”
Bruce Rowland was a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design from 1973 to 1975, and is now business manager in the Implementation Services Department at ESRI.
International Journal of Health Geographics 2009, 8:57
Daniel P Johnson, Jeffrey S Wilson, George C Luber
Extreme heat events are the number one cause of weather-related fatalities in the United States. The current system of alert for extreme heat events does not take into account intra-urban spatial variation in risk. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a potential method to improve spatial delineation of risk from extreme heat events in urban environments by integrating sociodemographic risk factors with estimates of land surface temperature derived from thermal remote sensing data.
Comparison of logistic regression models indicates that supplementing known sociodemographic risk factors with remote sensing estimates of land surface temperature improves the delineation of intra-urban variations in risk from extreme heat events.
Thermal remote sensing data can be utilized to improve understanding of intra-urban variations in risk from extreme heat. The refinement of current risk assessment systems could increase the likelihood of survival during extreme heat events and assist emergency personnel in the delivery of vital resources during such disasters.
Read the article [PDF]
GIS and Science 