Geographic Information Systems

This study is concerned with understanding of the formation of ore deposits (precious and base metals) and contributes to the exploration and discovery of new occurrences using artificial neural networks. From the different digital data sets available in BRGM's GIS ...

We aimed to summarize and map the existing global population-based data on active trachoma and trichiasis. Detailed distribution maps of various infectious diseases have proved a valuable tool in their control. Such maps play an important role in assessing the magnitude of the problem, defining priority areas for control, monitoring changes, and advocacy. Until now, information on trachoma prevalence at within country levels has not been systematically collated, analysed and reported. We gathered the last 18 years' worth of reported data on active trachoma in children aged less than 10 years, and the last 25 years of reported trichiasis in adults aged 15 years and over from 139 population-based surveys in 33 countries. We collated these data into one database using the "district" (second administrative level) as the standard unit of reporting. We used Geographical Information Systems as a database and cartographic tool to generate a global map of the prevalence of trac...

This article reflects upon the impact that technology and innovation has had on urban development. From NASA's Landstat program, to Google maps and GPS, technlogy has had a significant impact on urban planning and land use law. The article begins with a discussion of the impact of the elevator and steel technologies on urban architecture and density, and then moves to changes in transportation such as the automobile and the development of public transportation systems. Green buildings, GIS, satellite data, online mapping, personal computers, the Internet and cell phones are all examined.

The concentration of people in densely populated urban areas, especially in developing countries, calls for the use of monitoring systems like remote sensing. Such systems along with spatial analysis techniques like digital image processing and geographical information system (GIS) can be used for the monitoring and planning purposes as these enable the reporting of overall sprawl at a detailed level.In the present work, urban sprawl of the Ajmer city (situated in Rajasthan State of India) has been studied at a mid scale level, over a period of 25 years (1977–2002), to extract the information related to sprawl, area of impervious surfaces and their spatial and temporal variability. Statistical classification approaches have been used for the classification of the remotely sensed images obtained from various sensors viz. Landsat MSS, TM, ETM+ and IRS LISS-III. Urban sprawl and its spatial and temporal characteristics have been derived from the classified satellite images. The Shannon's entropy and landscape metrics (patchiness and map density) have been computed in terms of spatial phenomenon, in order to quantify the urban form (impervious area). Further, multivariate statistical techniques have been used to establish the relationship between the urban sprawl and its causative factors. Results reveal that land development (160.8%) in Ajmer is more than three times the population growth (50.1%). Shannon's entropy and landscape metrics has revealed the spatial distribution of the urban sprawl over a period of last 25 years.

The increasing demand for up-to-date 3-D geographic information systems (GIS) in planning, transportation, and utility management applications poses significant challenges to the Geomatics community. Of all the challenges in acquiring, building, maintaining, and using GIS, none is more central than that of dala acquisition. Obtaining the required spatial and attribute data by conventional methods such as aerial photogrammetry and terrestrial surveying is expensive, slow, or inaccurate. These methods are, therefore, not well suited for rapid updating. Fortunately, however, the development of land-based mobile mapping systems (MMS) has opened a new avenue to meet these challenges. Land-based MMS are capable of providing fast, efficient, cost-effective and complete data acquisition. As such, they are an innovative technology for creating and updating 3-D GIS databases both quickly and inexpensively. Basically, MMS are based on integrated navigation systems, mainly the integration of GP...

Objective: To understand potential utilization of clinical services at a rural integrated health care system by generating optimal groups of telemedicine locations from electronic health record (EHR) data using geographic information systems (GISs). Methods: This retrospective study extracted nonidentifiable grouped data of patients over a 2-year period from the EHR, including geomasked locations. Spatially optimal groupings were created using available telemedicine sites by calculating patients’ average travel distance (ATD) to the closest clinic site. Results: A total of 4027 visits by 2049 unique patients were analyzed. The best travel distances for site groupings of 3, 4, 5, or 6 site locations were ranked based on increasing ATD. Each one-site increase in the number of available telemedicine sites decreased minimum ATD by about 8%. For a given group size, the best groupings were very similar in minimum travel distance. There were significant differences in predicted patient loa...

Background Mortality estimates can measure and monitor the impacts of conflict on a population, guide humanitarian efforts, and help to better understand the public health impacts of conflict. Vital statistics registration and surveillance systems are rarely functional in conflict settings, posing a challenge of estimating mortality using retrospective population-based surveys. Results We present a two-stage cluster sampling method for application in population-based mortality surveys. The sampling method utilizes gridded population data and a geographic information system (GIS) to select clusters in the first sampling stage and Google Earth TM imagery and sampling grids to select households in the second sampling stage. The sampling method is implemented in a household mortality study in Iraq in 2011. Factors affecting feasibility and methodological quality are described. Conclusion Sampling is a challenge in retrospective population-based mortality studies and alternatives that im...

Objectives: This study assessed the geographic distribution of dentists in Kentucky, determined socioeconomic correlates of practice location, estimated the future availability of dental providers, and made policy recommendations that could improve access to oral health care in Kentucky and other rural states.Methods: Dentists' addresses were mapped using a geographic information system. Poisson regression modeling and geospatial analyses were conducted using SAS v9.1 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA) and ArcGIS v9.2 (Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc., Redlands, CA, USA), respectively. Data on the number of dentists (n = 2,391) per county (n = 120) were used for the regression models. Explanatory variables included: per capita income, 2006 intercensal population estimates, percent adults with six or more teeth removed, percent population uninsured, physician-to-population ratios, and region type. A simulation model was used to project dentist-to-population ratios to the year 2016.Results: The dental workforce analysis revealed disparities in the distribution of dentists between rural, urban, and Appalachian Kentucky counties. Dentists were more likely to be found practicing in areas with higher income and higher physician-to-population ratios. Compounding this geographic maldistribution, our projections suggest that the number of dentists per unit population will decrease over time in the near future, likely widening this disparity in rural and underserved areas.Conclusions: These results show present and widening workforce disparities in rural and socioeconomically depressed counties in Kentucky. Understanding the geographic distribution of dentists and the socioeconomic correlates of their practice locations may inform workforce development and reimbursement policies for the goal of improving access to oral health care in these areas.

Changes in stride frequency and length with speed are key parameters in animal locomotion research. They are commonly measured in a laboratory on a treadmill or by filming trained captive animals. Here, we show that a clustering approach can be used to extract these variables from data collected by a tracking collar containing a GPS module and tri-axis accelerometers and gyroscopes. The method enables stride parameters to be measured during free-ranging locomotion in natural habitats. As it does not require labelled data, it is particularly suitable for use with difficult to observe animals. The method was tested on large data sets collected from collars on free-ranging lions and African wild dogs and validated using a domestic dog.

The current investigation was carried out in selected vineyards in Plovdiv region, South Bulgaria. The GIS database was created including factors influenced on nematode distribution in the soil. The plant-parasitic nematodes from family Longidoridae associated with grapevine and soil type of the region were described. The impact of longidorids as virus vectors and some ecological aspects of their occurrence in vineyards in South Bulgaria are discussed.

The advanced traveler information system (ATIS) is a type of intelligent transportation system application areas that implements emerging computer, communication, and information technologies to provide vital information to the users of a system regarding traffic regulation, route and location guidance, hazardous situations and safety advisory, and warning messages. ATIS requires a large amount of data for processing, analysis, and storage for effective dissemination of traveler information to users. A geographical information system (GIS) allows large data to be effectively processed, stored, analyzed, logically associated, and graphical displayed. Thus, GIS-based ATIS provides a convenient and powerful tool for storage and graphical representation of information, which can be useful users. Further, by availing the powerful GIS functionalities, a user can conceive a problem and allow the appropriate software to assist him in the decision-making process regarding optimum route selec...

This study developed a method to determine whether the distribution of individual player performances can be modelled to explain match outcome in team sports, using Australian Rules football as an example. Player-recorded values (converted to a percentage of team total) in 11 commonly reported performance indicators were obtained for all regular season matches played during the 2014 Australian Football League season, with team totals also recorded. Multiple features relating to heuristically determined percentiles for each performance indicator were then extracted for each team and match, along with the outcome (win/loss). A generalised estimating equation model comprising eight key features was developed, explaining match outcome at a median accuracy of 63.9% under 10-fold cross-validation. Lower 75th, 90th and 95th percentile values for team goals and higher 25th and 50th percentile values for disposals were linked with winning. Lower 95th and higher 25th percentile values for Ins...

An analysis of fatal crashes involving pedestrians in Delhi, India, from 2006 to 2009 that used a geographic information system showed clusters of crashes at certain locations. An evaluation of the characteristics of the built environment around the high crash location clusters was necessary. This paper presents an analysis of the built environment factors that influenced the safety of pedestrians. Locations surveyed included roads around the fatal crash clusters of pedestrians. Factors that influenced the number of fatal crashes of pedestrians were analyzed with negative binomial regression. Types of locations were categorized into locations with a flyover and without a flyover. Results showed that an increase in traffic volume by 1% would increase pedestrian fatal crashes by 1.6% at locations with a flyover and by 0.9% at locations without a flyover. Arterial roads with more traffic volume, more road lanes, and higher speed tended to have more fatal crashes. Locations where median...