Day: August 11, 2011

Hot-Spot Analysis Identifies Potential WIC Recipients

/ Matt Artz
Hot-Spot Analysis: Density of Families Living in Poverty

Hot-Spot Analysis: Density of Families Living in Poverty

GIS Helps California Agencies Locate Regions with Unmet Need

California Department of Public Health’s Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health (MCAH) programs are working together to use GIS technology from Esri to identify geographic locations with people who are eligible for but not receiving WIC services.

“Portrayal of counts and percentages of WIC-eligible women who were not receiving services told us only part of the story,” said Thomas Stopka, an epidemiologist from California Department of Public Health. “We were interested in locating regions with higher densities of unmet need and statistically significant clusters of need on the state, county, and local levels.”

Results of these efforts are used to guide resource allocation decisions, target outreach efforts, assess program outcomes, and help direct public health policy. The information has been used to inform funding decisions at the state, county, and local levels. The work has also provided information to local WIC directors to help determine whether new or expanded clinic services were needed.

For more information on GIS technology for public health, visit esri.com/health.

[Source: Esri press release]

A Review of Remote Sensing of Forest Biomass and Biofuel: Options for Small-Area Applications

/ Matt Artz

GIScience & Remote SensingGIScience & Remote Sensing, Volume 48, Number 2 / April-June 2011

Colin J. Gleason and Jungho Im

“Forests have served as a primary reservoir of terrestrial carbon and have long been investigated in the global climate change context. In addition, increased exposure in the public domain of climate change issues has caused greater interest in the role of forests in the global energy balance. Researchers have been investigating the use of forests as carbon sequestration systems, as well as using forest products for conversion into biofuels. Remote sensing has been widely utilized as a cost-effective tool to provide forest baseline data (e.g., biomass) for effective and efficient forest management. Forest biomass is one of the forest parameters that is widely investigated using remote sensing because biomass is directly related to the productivity of forests and provides valuable information that is necessary for understanding ecosystem functions and carbon cycling. In this paper, we review remote sensing of forest biomass, focusing on recent advances and applications (published after 2000). We also explore the challenges of using forest biomass as biofuel, a topic that is often neglected in remote sensing papers.”

Surveillance and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases using Spatial and Temporal Clustering Methods

/ Matt Artz

Integrated Series in Information Systems, 1, Volume 27, Infectious Disease Informatics and Biosurveillance, Part 2, Pages 207-234

Ta-Chien Chan and Chwan-Chuen King

“n the control of infectious diseases, epidemiologic information and useful clustering algorithms can be integrated to garner key indicators from huge amounts of daily surveillance information for the need of early intervention. This chapter first introduces the temporal, spatial and spatio-temporal clustering algorithms commonly used in surveillance systems–the key concepts behind the algorithms and the criteria for appropriate use. This description is followed by an introduction to different statistical methods that can be used to analyze the clustering patterns which occur in different epidemics and epidemic stages. Research methods such as flexible analysis of irregular spatial and temporal clusters, adjustment of personal risk factors, and Bayesian approaches to disease mapping and better prediction all will be needed to understand the epidemiologic characteristics of infectious diseases in the future.”