Day: November 1, 2010

A Spatial Analysis of Risks and Resources for Reentry Youth in Los Angeles County

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, Vol 1, No 1 (2010)

Laura S Abrams, Bridget Freisthler

“Most research on youth reentering the community following incarceration has focused on individual-level risks for negative outcomes; in doing so, researchers have largely overlooked the potential importance of the neighborhood contexts to which youth return. To address this research gap, we explore the associations between the level of neighborhood risks and resources and the rates of youth reentering the community following incarceration. Using spatial analysis to examine archival data from 272 postal codes for Los Angeles County, California, we find positive associations between rates of youth reentry and neighborhood characteristics of unemployment, poverty, and racial/ethnic minority concentration. Analysis also shows reentry rates are positively associated with neighborhood risks, including density of off-premise alcohol outlets and level of community violence. Examining resources individually, we show that the density of designated youth services is positively associated with reentry rates, whereas the density of education and mental health and substance abuse services is negatively associated with reentry rates. However, when neighborhood risks and resources are considered simultaneously, none of the resources is significantly associated with rates of youth reentry. The study findings highlight the relevance of neighborhood context in youth reentry research and suggest several directions for future study.”

Learn How APIs and Web Technologies Can Improve Your GIS

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

New Book from Esri Press, Web GIS: Principles and Applications, Provides Comprehensive Overview

Web GIS: Principles and Applications, the latest offering from Esri Press, is an important resource for geographic information system (GIS) students and professionals who want to learn state-of-the-art concepts, architectures, and techniques for working with Web-based GIS applications.

The book presents both the origins and recent developments in this rapidly evolving platform. New Web concepts and technologies addressed include geospatial Web services such as REST Web services; geobrowsers; cloud computing; geoportals; mashups; mobile GIS; Gov 2.0; business intelligence; online virtual reality; volunteered geographic information (VGI); geotagging; geotargeting; the sensor Web; Semantic Web; and ArcGIS APIs for JavaScript, Flex, and Silverlight. The book is designed for GIS users of all skill levels. It can be used as a reference guide or for classroom instruction.

“Government personnel can learn how to use Web GIS to improve public services and enhance collaboration across agencies,” according to coauthor Pinde Fu. “Private businesses can learn how Web GIS can create new business models and reshape existing ones; researchers can find new uses for Web GIS that will meet the challenges of the future.”

Fu is a senior GIS application developer and project lead at Esri. He chairs the Education Committee of the Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Systems (CPGIS) and serves as a member of the CPGIS Advanced GeoInformation Science Training Committee. In 2008, he was named honorary director of the ArcGIS Education and Application Research Center at Henan University in China.

Coauthor Jiulin Sun is academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the State Key Lab of Resources and Environmental Information Systems in China and the Scientific Database and Information Engineering Science Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Web GIS: Principles and Applications (ISBN: 978-1-58948-245-6, 312 pages, $55.95) is available at online retailers worldwide, at esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, visit esri.com/esripressorders for complete ordering options or visit esri.com/distributors to contact your local Esri distributor. Interested retailers can contact Esri Press book distributor Ingram Publisher Services.

[Source: Esri press release]

Experiences and Recommendations in Deploying a Real-time, Water Quality Monitoring System

/ Matt Artz

Measurement Science and Technology, Volume 21, Number 12, December 2010

B O’Flynn, F Regan, A Lawlor, J Wallace, J Torres, and C O’Mathuna

“Monitoring of water quality at a river basin level to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) using conventional sampling and laboratory-based techniques poses a significant financial burden. Wireless sensing systems offer the potential to reduce these costs considerably, as well as provide more useful, continuous monitoring capabilities by giving an accurate idea of the changing environmental and water quality in real time. It is unlikely that the traditional spot/grab sampling will provide a reasonable estimate of the true maximum and/or mean concentration for a particular physicochemical variable in a water body with marked temporal variability. When persistent fluctuations occur, it is likely only to be detected through continuous measurements, which have the capability of detecting sporadic peaks of concentration. Thus, in situ sensors capable of continuous sampling of parameters required under the WFD would therefore provide more up-to-date information, cut monitoring costs and provide better coverage representing long-term trends in fluctuations of pollutant concentrations. DEPLOY is a technology demonstration project, which began planning and station selection and design in August 2008 aiming to show how state-of-the-art technology could be implemented for cost-effective, continuous and real-time monitoring of a river catchment. The DEPLOY project is seen as an important building block in the realization of a wide area autonomous network of sensors capable of monitoring the spatial and temporal distribution of important water quality and environmental target parameters. The demonstration sites chosen are based in the River Lee, which flows through Ireland’s second largest city, Cork, and were designed to include monitoring stations in five zones considered typical of significant river systems-–these monitor water quality parameters such as pH, temperature, depth, conductivity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen. Over one million data points have been collected since the multi-sensor system was deployed in May 2009. Extreme meteorological events have occurred during the period of deployment and the collection of real-time water quality data as well as the knowledge, experience and recommendations for future deployments are discussed.”