Statistical analysis systems, on the other hand, analyze aspatial data. A GIS blends these into a more powerful analytical tool. The system can be applied to a variety of problems. For example, a GIS can be.
We also want to compare this information to data about family size, the availability of health personnel, traditional water supply sources lakes, rivers, ponds , and improved water supply facilities. A GIS is required because the health service facility, immunization, demographic, health personnel, hydrological system, and improved water supply facility databases have different geographically-defined information. The GIS can also define very specific correlations. For example, by combining areas where the immunization coverage rate is low, the number of young children per family is high and the access to improved water supply sources is difficult, the analyst or researcher can define areas and populations at greater or lesser risk.
Traditional database analysis systems are only adequate for analysis of attributes belonging to the same entities. This is similar to overlaying transparent maps for each database on top of each other. The maps produced by the GIS show the correlation among the different databases. An additional comparative advantage of a GIS is its ability to use data from, and interface with, other sophisticated statistical databases. GIS is a fairly new analytical and planning tool for both the North and the South.
Its proponents highlight its capacity to produce a comprehensive and timely analysis of complex databases and its potential to improve data collection, analysis and presentation processes. The visual impact of GIS-produced maps on decision-making and management is a tangible benefit that is often underestimated. Although the sectors concerned with agriculture, natural resources, urban and regional planning, and tourism in developing countries have been using GIS for many years, the health sector has only recently begun to work with this tool.
The papers collected in these proceedings represent examples of some of the first attempts to identify and explore opportunities to apply GIS for health in developing countries. During an internal review of progress in this field conducted in , we were struck by the fact that despite rapid and productive adoption of this tool by sectors such as agriculture, natural resources, demography, urban and regional planning, and so on, the health sector had not yet begun to explore the potential utility of GIS for either health research or for health programing.
Within the KwaZulu region, 52 malaria control areas have been established. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the Republic. Different contour maps were produced using the date of introduction of the disease into the dwelling as the dependent variable. In this regard, it should be noted that much of the research in spatial analysis methods dates back to the s and early s, followed by a relative dearth of research until the GIS-inspired revival of the late s and s. These objectives were predicated on the question of whether GIS has a role in the struggle for health development. It should be noted that the geographic analysis system can contribute to the extension of the database; for example, by combining the areas where the immunization rate is low and the access to clean water is difficult, the analyst defines zones and populations at greater risk. Knowledge of the new information offered by spatial and temporal analysis will increase the potential for public health action.
A review of the literature at that time revealed only one publication that described a developing-country health application of GIS. Thus, although GIS itself is not new to most developing countries, its extension into the health sector for interdisciplinary health research and health development provides a new and exciting focus. At this same point in time, both commercial and public domain GIS software are becoming increasingly simplified, affordable, and available on PC computer platforms.
We felt that the moment had come to encourage some experiments in the use of GIS in a variety of developing country settings to generate some experiences from which decisions could be taken on the potential utility of GIS to either health research or health development. It was always intended that at a critical juncture in this effort we would convene an international workshop of the principal investigators to share their experiences, problems, needs, and visions for the future.
This moment came in September , when the first international workshop on the use of GIS in health in developing countries was convened by IDRC in Colombo, with superb facilities and organization provided by the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. From these modest beginnings, this workshop attracted much attention, testifying to the rapid uptake of this tool now underway in the South.
Forty-five participants from The objectives of the Workshop were to: The expected outcomes were: These objectives were predicated on the question of whether GIS has a role in the struggle for health development. We have learned to be wary of technology driven exercises. GIS is usually introduced as a turn-key operation.
To be successful, GIS applications in developing countries are being developed, modified, and controlled by people in the South who are in the best position to understand the contexts social, economic, and political in which they are implemented and the technical possibilities. Therefore, the program was in essence dedicated to exploring the state of the art of the GIS - Health nexus, and included general review papers, specific project application papers, extensive discussion sessions, software demonstrations, digitizing and data analysis workshops, question and answer resource sessions, and a needs assessment.
The various sessions were facilitated by 20 dedicated computers with a full range of GIS software, and large screen projection facilities for interactive demonstrations. A selection of the papers presented in Colombo have been edited and collated in these Proceedings.
They are organized from the general to the specific. This is followed by a variety of case study papers focusing on tropical disease management in general, specific vector borne diseases in particular, other environment related health problems, and finally, health system applications. In addition to these Proceedings there were a number of other beneficial outcomes of the Colombo Workshop.
Most important was the fact that considerable networking occurred and continues today. IDRC recognizes that, at the beginning of any new research endeavour, there are often a number of researchers working in complete isolation. At the time of the Workshop, there were only five publications on GIS health applications in developing countries, yet dozens of researchers were already skilled and active in the field. The workshop provided a powerful opportunity for collaboration, mutual support, and trouble shooting to begin in a way that will serve to accelerate progress significantly.
The Workshop highlighted several areas of need. GIS is weak in temporal analysis, particularly spatial-temporal patterns which would be important for incidence modelling; there is a need and an opportunity to improve multisectoral approaches via GIS; there is a need for better interfaces with GIS. With regard to the latter, IDRC has identified this as a focus. Grateful thanks are conveyed to them for the efficient and excellent arrangements of participant travel, conference agenda, and logistics.
In addition, the various social activities arranged by the group made this 6-day workshop one of the most efficient scientific meetings ever carried out in a developing country during our tenure with IDRC. Special mention in this respect must be made of Dr Renu Goonewardena and Dr Rajitha Wickremasinghe, and of the overall guidance of Professor Kamini Mendis, together with their dedicated secretaries who worked tirelessly. Diane Dupuis of the Health Sciences Division, IDRC, worked through the immense task of maintaining close contact with all conference participants — no easy task — and ensuring the receipt of computer files and manuscripts.
Special thanks should also be passed on to Betty Alce, who took on the at times frustrating task of typing and formatting the manuscripts for publication. Her competence and patience are much appreciated by all. The term geographical information systems GIS has come to mean, variously, an industry, a product, a technology, and a science. As such, the term invokes different perceptions dependent on whether the viewpoint is that of the software developer, the system marketer, the data provider, the application specialist, or the academic researcher, among others.
A newcomer to the field is likely to be bewildered by the multiple uses of the same term or, seen alternatively, different definitions of the same term. In the latter case, GIS is viewed as the science of geographical or spatial information which possesses its own set of research questions see Rhind et al. The current state and future trends of each of these views of GIS is presented and the relationship between the two views is discussed. Not unlike these and other information systems, the commercial world of GIS is viewed as an ill-defined combination of hardware, software, data, and consulting.
Many of the companies in the hardware, data, and consultant sectors are major players in the much wider information systems industry, although there are specialized niches within these sectors which deal primarily with the spatial data handling industries e. However, the core of the industry, that which represents the purest primary GIS business Dangermond , is the multitude of GIS software vendors.
Even here, however, many companies now. As an industry, then, GIS is best viewed as a loose consortium of interests that has come into existence almost entirely within the last decade, and on the back of tremendous advances in computer processing and hardware technology. As a software product, the term GIS has often been loosely interpreted or, less graciously, manipulated, so that cartographic and mapping packages are commonly marketed as GIS.
These packages generally lack both the analytical functionality and the well-developed links to RDBMS of GIS and, if vector-based, rely on simple data structures which ignore topology Maguire The lack of a rigorous definition of what constitutes GIS software has also led to confusion with image processing and CAD. Generally speaking, image processing packages specialize in the manipulation and display of raster data. Although they share much basic functionality with raster data handling in GIS, such packages also have sophisticated forms of analysis which go beyond those present in GIS.
Image processing packages, however, typically have very limited capabilities in vector data handling and poorly developed links to RDBMS. CAD packages, not unlike computer cartography software, generally lack topology and also have weak relationships with RDBMS, although they are strong in 3-D data handling since they allow, unlike GIS, multiple surface values for the same x-y planar location Maguire Finally, a recent trend in GIS software has been the production by GIS vendors of specialized software or software modules for use in specific application areas.
This trend towards exploiting vertically integrated markets is partly a reflection of the maturing of GIS as an industry. Progressive application areas such as forestry or municipal affairs , now use GIS across a broad range of inventory, analysis, and management functions and, consequently, across many different departments within the same organizations. However, this trend also reflects the fact that users are increasingly looking for tailor-made and streamlined solutions to their work which sidestep the need to learn a full-blown GIS. As smaller GIS vendors have responded to this demand in certain sectors, so competitive forces have forced the major GIS vendors to respond likewise.
In terms of the perception of what constitutes GIS, however, users of these specialized systems will undoubtedly have a restricted view and one which is interpreted solely in their own application context. One result of this trend has been a further proliferation of alternative names for GIS: The widespread use of GIS has much to do with the acceptance of the map as a means of communication, in addition to developments in graphical computing. These developments have enabled the map medium to be presented, manipulated, and analyzed in a new form and with unparalleled flexibility.
GIS, allows us to approach spatial data handling with much improved efficiency in implementing traditional methodologies and techniques. Nowhere is this more evident than in the quintessentially GIS operation of map overlay. Although a relatively simple notion to comprehend and a formal analysis technique which dates back at least to McHarg , this ability to link information together across numerous thematic layers for the same location and at great speed is an incredibly powerful tool. Whereas traditional RDBMS capabilities merely retrieve information records based on key fields, map overlay represents a major extension in that new data records, representing derived spatial features, may be created and populated with information drawn from different themes.
Other traditional methodologies which benefit from the data structures employed in GIS are buffer operations particularly in raster processing and network analysis vector processing. However, despite the obvious power of GIS to manipulate and integrate data and to perform certain kinds of spatial analysis, many agencies use GIS merely for inventory management Rhind ; Dangermond It seems that the relative novelty and power of working in a graphical environment for the management of information, and the satisfaction of being able to produce maps of that information at will, has perhaps obscured the vision of users from the real potential of suitably developed GIS for in-depth spatial analysis.
In turn, the willingness of agencies to purchase GIS purely on the basis of this automation of current spatial data handling and spatial data inventory, has led to few incentives for commercial GIS software vendors to incorporate spatial and temporal analytic functionality into their systems. Given the present sophistication of statistical packages for analyzing non-spatial data, it is not surprising that the existing state of GIS analytical capability is often compared to the state of statistical packages in the early s Rhind et al.
This viewpoint places GIS firmly in the role of an enabling technology. Although there is little doubt that GIS fulfils this role to a large degree, it conveys the impression that GIS merely provides a toolbox for operationalizing some form of analysis focused around a substantive issue. The implication is that analysts needs to be all-knowing with regard to their substantive field and that issues surrounding the enabling techniques play a very secondary role.
In this sense, GIS has a lot in common with statistics use: Although this role is undoubtedly useful, this view tends to stifle the development of techniques to help the user detect and interpret patterns more objectively. It can be argued, then, that GIS should in fact be the science of geographical information, and should concern itself with fundamental research issues of using digital geographical data. In the same way that we accept the discipline of Statistics for its fundamental research, and recognize how development at the research level feeds into the statistical software technology that is used by countless analysts, so there should be little problem accepting a similar situation for GIS.
Indeed, were it not for the heavy computational demands of graphical geographical data which delayed the development of GIS software relative to that of statistical software, we may well have seen Geography become to GIS software what Statistics has become to the software industry it supports. Instead, and somewhat paradoxically, geography went through an essentially a spatial quantitative revolution, often at the expense of those parts of the discipline, notably cartography, which were interested in issues of handling digital spatial data.
In the academic setting of today, it is difficult to see the diverse discipline of Geography focus itself purely as the science of geographical information. Meanwhile, the rapid and ubiquitous growth of GIS technology, partly based on the appeal of a highly graphical computing environment and the popularity of the map as media, makes potential misuse and abuse a significantly large problem. The need for a science of geographical information, then, is very real Goodchild , and perhaps merits a discipline in its own right. As a science, there is no shortage of basic research questions which underlie GIS and transcend the particulars of the technology and its applications see Rhind et al.
These include such questions as data capture, data accuracy, data volume, and generalization, all of which are crucial to any form of digital representation. There also exists a need to develop appropriate data structures and data models for the handling of 3-D and temporal data within GIS, and legitimate and substantial research questions surrounding the use of expert systems and artificial intelligence. To these issues, we could add the need to develop database management systems and query languages which are geared towards spatial data, and the particular concern surrounding the issue of error propagation and error management within GIS.
Finally, there is the extremely important question of the relationship between spatial analysis and GIS. We need to address the problems of integrating existing spatial analytical methods into GIS, and of developing new methods of spatial analysis which specifically take advantage of the data structures within GIS. The importance of these issues becomes apparent if we consider the impact that scientific ideas such as the TIN data structure or the quadtree have had on the technological development of GIS.
A review of each of these areas is clearly beyond the limits of this paper, but the reader is referred to the excellent two-volume publication by Maguire et al. For the purposes of this paper, the issue of spatial analysis and GIS will be examined more closely. The justification for this focus lies in the fact that, ultimately, the real value of GIS will be in solving complex problems using sound and rigorous methods which are firmly rooted in spatial statistical theory.
It is significant that the issue of spatial analysis and its relationship to GIS is a key research issue for both the U. Regional Research Laboratory initiative Masser Fotheringham and Rogerson have recently produced an edited volume which focuses on spatial analysis and GIS.
In a review chapter, Bailey makes a useful distinction between spatial summarization of data, and spatial analysis of data. The former is meant to include functions for the selective retrieval of spatial information and the computation, tabulation or mapping of statistical summaries of that information. Meanwhile, the term spatial analysis is reserved for methods which either investigate patterns in spatial data and seek to find relationships between such patterns and the spatial and perhaps temporal variation of other attributes, or for methods of spatial or spatio—temporal modelling.
The second of these would include network analysis, location-allocation models, site selection, and transportation models, all of which are considered by Bailey to be quite well developed within many GIS. The former type of spatial analysis, however, which Bailey refers to as statistical spatial analysis or simply spatial statistics, is currently poorly represented in the technology of GIS.
This type of analysis would include such areas as nearest neighbour methods and K-functions, Kernel and Bayesian smoothing methods, spatial autocorrelation, spatial econometric modelling, and spatial general linear models. The level of integration of these types of methods with GIS has barely gone beyond the use of GIS to select input data and display model results. At the software level, this same integration generally involves only loose coupling between GIS and spatial statistical packages in the form of ASCII data transfer or specially programmed interfaces.
Bailey is somewhat pessimistic about the prospects of fully integrating statistical spatial analysis into GIS. He advocates a form of loose coupling, based on open-systems computing environments wherein the GIS package and the statistical analysis package would be accessed simultaneously but independently on the same GUI. The key problem would then be the data transfer mechanism between the packages. This underlines the necessity of developing a science of geographical information. Efforts would be better directed to addressing these fundamental problems, rather than accepting them as given.
For those who use the technology for spat al inventory management and mapping, GIS are perceived as an industry built up on a well-defined technology. This perception is also common to those who are attempting to familiarize themselves with the technology.
Simply put, GIS are societal tools for use in many diverse application areas. A second view perceives GIS as the science of geographical information, with the technology well defined. These two views should not be seen as competing alternatives, but rather as coexisting in the same way that the discipline of Statistics coexists with the statistical software industry. When discussing the future of GIS, we should include both views, and draw attention to the fact that the future of the technology depends partly upon the science, and the future of the science depends partly upon the technology.
As a technology, the future of GIS hardware seems easy to predict. There appears to be every indication that the rate of growth in computer processing power is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Indeed, with parallel processing technology, this rate of growth may increase substantially, particularly for applications which can take advantage of it. This is definitely the case in GIS: These systems are already more accurate than the typical base mapping scales of most countries, and will redefine many of the methods of data capture and accepted levels of accuracy.
Finally, GIS will be profoundly affected by the inevitable trend towards multimedia and networking. The ability to display text, maps, data, photographs, video, and sound for locations from a myriad of networked sources will give new definitions to what we typically think of as a spatial database. Beyond hardware, there is also little doubt that GIS in the future will show increasing specialization.
GIS application areas have very different requirements in terms of level of functionality, speed of response, and quantity of data handled. For instance, the GIS requirements of an emergency dispatch system, for which time is of the essence, have little in common with the management of cadastral land parcels, for which data volume may be the main concern.
As specialized products emerge, the possibility exists that GIS as a distinct and discernible field will disappear. Countering this trend, however, will be a unifying concern with standards, including the problems of data definition, function definition, data accuracy, and data exchange. As principal suppliers of digital data for GIS, public agencies have a major role to play in these areas; their capacity and willingness to do so is a critical question for the future.
The one caveat in this regard, however, may be the propensity for governments to use the excuse of data standards to justify treating spatial data as a commodity, thereby demanding heavy payment and restrictive usage agreements. The GIS industry may expand significantly, particularly at the low-end, with what would essentially become graphical interfaces to spatial databases. GIS may actually become as commonplace in the desktop computing world as word-processing, spreadsheets or database packages.
Moreover, they would feature the same embedding and linking technologies e. Again, but for different reasons, the availability of GIS in such a format may actually dilute the identity of the field as users simply accept such capabilities as commonplace and come to expect them as an inherent part of any desktop software suite.
As a science, a number of possible scenarios also exist for GIS. GIS must increasingly become a discipline in its own right, although not necessarily under that banner. The issues for spatial data analysis have been widely documented see Openshaw a; Goodchild et al. Already, GIS has many of the features of a separate discipline in journals, conferences, research institutes, and degree programs, albeit embryonic and often under the umbrella of a parent discipline, such as Geography.
The extent to which this could develop further is open to question, particularly given the range of parent disciplines from which academics interested in this new science would be drawn, including computer science, ecology, geography, geology, economics, and environmental science. Also, in the present academic climate of encouraging interdisciplinary work in areas which cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries, such as health and the environment, it is unlikely that such a new discipline would be recognized.
However, if GIS as science is to continue to garner academic recognition and funding, it is perhaps vital that the science be able to demonstrate the importance and usefulness of its research to GIS applications see Goodchild et al. This will involve a critical assessment by researchers of spatial analysis methods and their relevance to the powerful computing and GIS environment of the s. In this regard, it should be noted that much of the research in spatial analysis methods dates back to the s and early s, followed by a relative dearth of research until the GIS-inspired revival of the late s and s.
As Openshaw b argues, many methods from the early research were developed within a completely different computing environment. It may be that new methods, which capitalize on the raw computing power available today and into the future, should now be the focus of attention. Another scenario for GIS as a science, could be that traditional disciplines will struggle with the issues of spatial data handling and analysis somewhat independently. In this scenario, GIS as science may become little more than a very loose and informal consortium of academic interests, much like the field of remote sensing.
The dangers of research duplication and dilution would be very real, and a lack of critical mass in the form of academic institutions to spearhead the adoption of methods into GIS would result. This scenario, then, may be a recipe for the field of GIS being led too rapidly by technology and with science not being given the chance to catch up, a familiar theme to the field of remote sensing. The field of GIS may be at a critical juncture in its development. On the one hand, an extremely wide awareness exists of the technology, and the numbers and range of adopters are rapidly growing.
Continued improvements in hardware and the increasingly competitive nature of the GIS software industry seem destined to fuel this growth far into the future. There is also a growing contingent of mature GIS application areas which possess well-developed spatial databases and a body of experienced users. On the other hand, a belief exists that the typical use of GIS has not progressed far beyond the use of mapping, query, and spatial data inventory management, and that the potential analytic power of the technology to help solve complex societal and environmental problems has yet to be realized.
For this to happen, there is a need for fundamental research into the science of geographic information, a need for more widespread and enhanced education in this science, and a willingness on the part of the GIS industry to nurture this science and be ready to adopt and promote the analytical techniques it produces. A review of statistical spatial analysis in geographical informtion systems, in spatial analysis and GIS Fotheringham, S.
Taylor and Francis, London, UK. The commercial setting of GIS, in geographical information systems. Spatial analysis and GIS. Integrating GIS and spatial data analysis: International Journal of Geographical Information System.
Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Free Preview. © GIS for Health and the Environment. Development in the Asia-Pacific Region. GIS for Health and the Environment: Development in the Asia-Pacific Region ( Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography) [Poh C. Lai, Ann S.H. Mak] on .
An overview and definition of GIS, in geographical information systems. The regional research laboratory initiative. The research plan of the National Centre for geographic information and analysis. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems , 3, — Developing appropriate spatial analysis methods for GIS, in geographical information systems. A spatial analysis research agenda, in handling geographical information Masser, I. A GIS research agenda. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems , 2, 23— Epilogue in geographical information systems. A GIS can be defined as a computer-assisted information management system of geo-referenced data.
This system integrates the acquisition, storage, analysis, and display of geographic data. Generally speaking, the objectives of a GIS are the management acquisition, storage, maintenance , analysis statistical, spatial modelling , and display graphics, mapping of geographic data. Even if a few general concepts are presented, the GIS discussed here will be seen from a health perspective. Thus, GIS will be considered as a tool to assist in health research, in health education, and in the planning, monitoring, and evaluation of health programs. A GIS can be a useful tool for health researchers and planners because, as expressed by Scholten and Lepper ,.
Health and ill-health are affected by a variety of life-style and environmental factors, including where people live. Characteristics of these locations including socio-demographic and environmental exposure offer a valuable source for epidemiological research studies on health and the environment. Health and ill-health always have a spatial dimension therefore.
More than a century ago, epidemiologists and other medical scientists began to explore the potential of maps for understanding the spatial dynamics of disease. A study carried out by John Snow is often cited to show that the importance of spatial dynamics in the understanding of disease, and the use of maps to describe and analyze it, is not so recent. Dr Snow made the hypothesis that cholera might be spread by infected water supplies more than a century ago,. Scholten and Lepper use the example of AIDS, stressing the importance of the spatial distribution of the disease, which they say has been too often overlooked.
They cite Kabel Mapping can play an important role in both areas as it is an excellent means of communication.
In order to be of use to resource planners, predictions of AIDS should include a spatial component. The database is central to the GIS, and contains two main types of data. There are in fact two databases more or less closely integrated, depending on the system: The information contained in the spatial database is held in the form of digital coordinates, which describe the spatial features. These can be points for example, hospitals , lines for example, roads or polygons for example, administrative districts. Normally, the different sets of data will be held as separate layers, which can be combined in a number of different ways for analysis or map production.
The attribute database is of a more conventional type; it contains data describing characteristics or qualities of the spatial features: Thus, we could have health districts polygons and health care centres points in the spatial database, and characteristics of these features in the attribute data base, for instance persons having access to clean water, number of births, number of one year-old children fully immunized, number of health personnel, and so on.
One important source of locational data is existing paper maps, for example, road maps or administrative boundaries maps. The digitizing system that is part of most GIS allows one to take these paper maps and convert them into digital form this is not necessarily done by the GIS end user; it is often produced by another party. A complete GIS offers tools to convert raw remotely sensed imagery into maps. Thus, an enormous quantity of environmental data pertinent to health can be integrated into a health-oriented GIS like digitizing, this task is not necessarily done by the GIS end user.
GIS have interfaces that permit the importation of data from numerous database or worksheet programs. Image collection devices, such as scanners, cameras, or tape players, can also transfer images from paper or photographic materials maps or aerial photographs, for example into the GIS database. The cartographic display system is the map producing tool. It allows the user to extract necessary elements from the database, such as spatial features and attributes, and to rapidly produce map outputs on the screen or other devices, such as high speed electro-static plotters or simpler pen-plotters, laser printers, or graphic files in popular formats.
The database management system is used for the creation, maintenance, and accessing of the GIS database. The system incorporates the traditional relational database management system RDBMS functions, as well as a variety of other utilities to manage the geographic data. The traditional database management system makes it possible to pose complex queries, and to produce statistical summaries and tabular reports of attribute data.
It also provides the user with the ability to make map analyses, often combining elements from many layers. For a problem like this, the map analysis does not have any actual spatial component, and a traditional DBMS can function quite well. It can provide very useful results, but a GIS must have another set of tools to give it the ability to analyze data based on their spatial characteristics.
This set of tools corresponds to the geographic analysis system. A variety of analytical tools are available within GIS, extending the capabilities of traditional DBMS to include the ability to analyze data based on their spatial characteristics. Eastman gives an example of the ability of GIS to analyze data based on their spatial characteristics:. Perhaps the simplest example of this is to consider what happens when we are concerned with the joint occurrence of features with different geographies. For example, find all areas of residential land on bedrock types associated with radon gas.
This is a problem that a traditional DBMS simply cannot solve — for the reason that bedrock types and landuse divisions simply do not share the same geography. Traditional data base query is fine so long as we are talking about attributes belonging to the same individuals. But when the entities are different it simply cannot cope. For this we need a GIS.
The example given in the preceding paragraph can be developed here: We want also to have on that map the hydrographic system lakes, ponds, and rivers of the area and the location of clean water sources and sanitation utilities. We need a GIS, because the immunization data, the water and sanitation data, and the hydrographic system data have different geographies. The analytical tools available within GIS are necessary to make possible the integration of data having different geographies. It should be noted that the geographic analysis system can contribute to the extension of the database; for example, by combining the areas where the immunization rate is low and the access to clean water is difficult, the analyst defines zones and populations at greater risk.
In this way, new knowledge of relationships between features is added in the database. The overlay process is among the most fundamental aspects of a GIS, but other processes are important and can be very useful in health research and planning. Of particular benefit to the investigation of illness at or near pollution and other hazardous sites is the ability to create buffer zones around the lines or points which represent those locations.
The user can specify the size of the buffer and then intersect or merge this information with disease incidence data to determine how many counts of the illness fall within the buffer Twigg The association between proximity to nuclear power stations and the prevalence of childhood leukemia in northern England Openshaw et al. Buffer zones analysis can have useful applications in health services analysis and planning; for example, it gives a quick and easy answer to the question: Within a 10—15 km radius?
For example, a GIS was used to study the difference in population per bed ratios between blacks and whites, and the implications of open access to hospital services formerly reserved for whites in Natal, South Africa. Of the estimated hospital catchment areas half have more than black people per general and referral bed, and half of these have more than black people per bed.
One-third of the catchment areas estimated for whites have ratios above people per bed and one half of these are also above persons per bed. The GIS analysis shows that open access to beds previously reserved for whites will make no difference to rural blacks, and almost none to urban blacks, because there were relatively few such beds, and they were concentrated in the cities. For the same reasons, the opening of private hospital beds would not alleviate the apparent bed shortages in priority areas.
As health is largely determined by environmental factors including the sociocultural and physical environment, which vary greatly in space , it always has an important environmental and spatial dimension. The spatial modelling capacities offered by GIS can help one understand the spatial variation in the incidence of disease, and its covariation with environmental factors and the health care system.
GIS in health-related activities can play a role at three levels:. By helping to understand the distribution and diffusion of disease and its relationship to environmental factors climate, water quality, sanitation, land use, agricultural, and other economic activities, rural-urban milieu, immunization rate, and so on , it is of value to etiology, epidemiology, and medical science in general. As mapping is an excellent means of communication, GIS can be used, as Kabel suggests, to help prepare educational material.
In an article on participatory evaluation, Fuerstein describes different methods for monitoring and evaluating community health projects, including mapping. Small or large maps may be drawn or painted by groups or individuals to represent the context in which they are living … These maps, showing location of houses by number and type, public and private buildings, water sources, sanitation, bridges, roads, social centres, neighbourhood boundaries, health centres, etc. Maps can help discussion, analysis, decision-making, management and evaluation.
Fuerstein suggests that these maps be posted in a public place and updated as changes occur, providing a permanent record. GIS thus produce material which is both useful and conducive to public participation in community health projects. GIS can contribute to community development in general, by helping people understand their environment.
Effects in the health domain are obvious. It is evident that many questions concerning the provision of health care are related to space. Some of the main areas of study under the discipline include designs and applications in GIS, computer mapping, and computer cartography. The page also offers a link to a newspaper database and a link to a journal entitled Asian Geographer. Some of the areas of study include physical geography, co cartography, urban regional analysis, evaluation of dangers of the natural environment environmental hazards , and many others.
The main disciplines within the field are divided into five areas: The site also offers a breakdown of the eight semester program and what the students will be studying during each of those semesters. Spanish only; major available in Geography, with concentrations in Natural Resource Conservation and the Central America area.
Spanish only; major in Natural Resource Management, concentrating on protection and study of natural resources. Masaryk University , Brno. University of West Bohemia , Plzen. Faculty, history of department, programs, information about Czech Republic. Purkyne , Usti n. Still under construction the web site but you can check out course offerings and current projects Estonia University of Tartu, Faculty of Biology and Geography.
Finland University of Helsinki, Deparment of Geography. University of Oulu, Department of Geography. English available; Regional Studies; Environmental Policy. University of Turku, Department of Geography. Universite Louis Pasteur, Department of Geography. Germany Ghana University of Ghana , Legon. Department of Geography and Resource Development.
Faculty list, list of compulsory and optional courses and credits. Homepage detailing course descriptions is under construction. English available; Hungarian Cartographic resources. Includes technical course listings and detailed outlines. Access to on-line maps of various themes relating to Israel including soil type and settlements. University of Haifa - Department of Geography.
Patrick's College, Maynooth, Department of Geography. General information; research interests; faculty list. Undergraduate and postgraduate programs; GIS homepage. University College Cork, Department of Geography. University College Dublin, Department of Geography. Italy University of Bologna, Institute of Geography. Italian only; Applied Geography; Economic Geography; international programs.
University of Brescia, Department of Social Studies. English available; Economic Geography curriculum. Japan Geographical Survey Institute, Tsukuba. Some English available; Bulletin of G. Kuwait Kuwait University- Department of Geography. Man-environment relationships, Physical and Human Studies. Some of the areas of study include regional planning, geography of Kuwait, Aerial Photo Analysis, Hydrogeography, etc.
Geographic techniques and field studies as well as cartography will be implemented by the university soon. The site does not go into detail about the degree program, academic staff, students, or anything specific. Lithuania Vilnius University , Vilnius. Department of General Geography and Cartography. Malaysia Universiti Kebangsaan- Department of Geography. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. GIS for Health and the Environment: Set up a giveaway. Feedback If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
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