Comments on “GIS and Pandemic Planning”
Having read this article, it became clear that GIS is very important in medical service and pandemic planning. Geographic information systems can provide doctors and scientists with the pandemic spread of disease by modeling geographical conditions in the given area and thus giving the idea of the impact of the disease on the group of people living in this area.
GIS helps scientists simulate how an epidemic could evolve and model the potential impact of interventions such as social distancing. For example, one might create a routine in ESRI’s ModelBuilder™ to overlay maps of the distribution of affected populations (calculated using spatial statistics tools within ArcGIS or another program such as SAS or R), then intersect those polygons with other criteria such as infrastructure components impacting the health of the public (ESRI 14).
The public healthcare community is likely to use GIS software and researches. Pandemic situations require fast reaction and rapid prioritization, and, of course, efficient distribution of medicine. As GIS software is compatible with many other software programs, it is quite easy for epidemiologists to defeat the disease within the limits of smaller areas. GIS provides them with geographical conditions of the area, allowing them to plan which types of medicine should be taken and how to reduce the spread of the virus including such outer factors as climate conditions, wind directions, if there are some mountains, or any other kind of upland surrounding the area, etc. also GIS provides scientists with “routing, travel directions, closest facility, and service area analyses” (ESRI 17).
Also, one of the most important parts of any GIS is data. Without it, any research can be held. It includes road data, demographic data, etc. So, to plan at-risk populations the research should be based “based on the most recent epidemiological profiles and demographic data. They use GIS to identify geographic gaps in prevention, care, and treatment services” (ESRI 21).
So GIS is a very useful direction to follow in pandemic response, as combining both geographical and social conditions, it is much easier to prevent the spread of any virus.
Solving two geographical problems
The statement of the first problem is to find the length of a 2 cm segment on a map of RF 1:50,000 on the ground. Based on the RF indication, where 1 cm includes 50,000 Km on the ground, we should multiply 50,000 on 2, and here we get that 2 cm on the map will be 100,000 Km on the ground.
The statement of the second problem is to find the RF on the map where 5 cm equals 50 km on the ground. If 5 cm equals 50 Km, we should divide both parts by 5, and here we get that RF of this map is 1:10.
Use of GIS in future work. Secondary sources of information in assembling a GIS database system.
GIS technologies are very useful in many branches of work, specializations, and orientations. As was mentioned above, GIS is very useful in the healthcare field. GIS itself appeared because of medical issues. It doesn’t matter, which specialization or profession to choose, it is rather clear that GIS will be in use in any field. For doctors, it is useful because knowledge of geographical, demographical, and topographical conditions is necessary for choosing the right way of how to prevent some diseases or infections. In sociological studies, GIS is useful to learn how a group of people accommodated to living in this or that area, which facilities they have, and what nuisances they suffer from. And in geographical studies, GIS is of high necessity, as geography doesn’t imply only some earth layers, nature, hills, etc, but
GIS data represents real objects (such as roads, land use, elevation) with digital data. Real objects can be divided into two abstractions: discrete objects (a house) and continuous fields (such as rainfall amount, or elevation). Traditionally, there are two broad methods used to store data in a GIS for both abstractions: raster and vector. A new hybrid method of storing data is point clouds, which combine three-dimensional points with RGB information at each point, returning a “3D color image” (Longley 130).
One of the most famous GIS is Google Maps®. Here it is quite easy to see cartographical, raster, vector, and any other non-spatial information. Google Maps® are used for many purposes such as finding the way, looking at the geographical position of any place, etc.
There are a lot of methods of how to fill the GIS database with information. The first is “digitized or scanned information from paper printed or PET film maps” (Longley 135). Scanned information can be used as raster data and digitized as vector data. Another source is survey data. It can be obtained either by holding surveys yourself, or by taking ready databases from existing data sites, or digital data collection systems using the modern technique of Coordinate Geometry (COGO). “Also, some data from a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), for example, like Global Positioning System (GPS), can also be directly entered into a GIS database. Remotely sensed data also plays an important role in data collection and consists of sensors attached to a platform. Sensors include cameras, digital scanners, and LIDAR, while platforms usually consist of aircraft and satellites” (Longley 140).
Today, aerial photographs make the majority of obtained digital data. These systems allow the information to be obtained in two, or even in the dimensions, which is very useful in work. Satellite remote sensing is another source to get information. They use
different sensor packages to passively measure the reflectance from parts of the electromagnetic spectrum or radio waves that were sent out from an active sensor such as radar. Remote sensing collects raster data that can be further processed using different bands to identify objects and classes of interest, such as land cover (Longley 153).
After the data is captured, one should consider the accuracy of the data to be captured. It can be relative as well as absolute accuracy. This is important because it influences the interpretation of data captured. Besides, it influences the cost of the process of capturing the data itself.
Attributive information is also captured and put into the GIS database as an addition to collected and existing GIS data. Vector data, for example, implies the presence of some additional data and facts about the objects entered into the system.
The data, after being entered into a GIS, usually require to be edited. This is necessary to remove some errors, mistakes, or further processing. For example, for vector data, it means that the information “must be entered topologically correct before it can be used for some advanced purposes or analysis” (Longley 105). In a road network, for example, the lines “must be connected with nodes at intersections. Errors and mistakes such as undershoot and overshoot must also be retrieved and removed” (Longley 117). For scanned maps, “blemishes on the source map may need to be removed from the resulting raster” (Longley 101). For example, “a fleck of dirt might connect two lines that should not be connected” (Longley 102).
Types of spatial or GIS analysis
Spatial analysis of GIS is very wide-ranged. Each of the types has its facilities. The first type is data modeling. It implies that all the obtained data is performed in two or three dimensions. It uses some photographs and scans of the area to make the map. It is usually used at airports, TV stations, and high schools, as data modeling is commonly used for weather forecasts, etc.
The next is topological modeling. “Recognized and analyzed existing spatial relations within digitally stored information, allow performing complex spatial modeling. Topological relationships between geometric entities traditionally include adjacency, containment, and proximity” (Longley 142).
The network is a very ecologically intended type of modeling. It presents the network of rivers, roads, railways, etc. This type is usually used in different types of modeling and planning such as transportation, hydrology, and infrastructure. Cartographic modeling is a process when several layers of the same limited area are produced, processed, and analyzed (Longley 114).
The map overlay is “a new output vector dataset which is created by combinations of several spatial datasets” (Longley 123). Visually, it looks similar to combining several maps of the same region.
Automated cartography is the next type. “Both GIS and digital cartography are used to encode spatial relations into structured formal representations. It is equivalent to the case of visualization” (Ormsby 63).
Geostatistics “is a point-pattern analysis that produces field predictions from data points. It is a way of looking at the statistical properties of those special data. It is different from general applications of statistics because it employs the use of graph theory and matrix algebra to reduce the number of parameters in the data. Only the second-order properties of the GIS data are analyzed” (Longley 113).
“Address geocoding implies that spatial locations with X and Y coordinates are interpolated from addresses of streets and any other spatially referenced information, such as address locations, postcodes, and parcel lots” (Omsby 96).
A reference theme is required to geocode individual addresses, such as a road centerline file with address ranges. The individual address locations have historically been interpolated, or estimated, by examining address ranges along a road segment. These are usually provided in the form of a table or database (Longley 56).
“Reverse geocoding is the process polarized to address geocoding” (Longley 75). So it implies taking back physical addresses, postcodes, parcel lots, and address location of any location point on the map.
Hands-on experience with ArcCatalog and ArcMap. The hands-on part of the final project.
ArcCatalog is another name of ArcGIS software developed by ESRI.
At the desktop GIS level, ArcGIS can include ArcReader, which allows one to view and query maps created with the other Arc products; ArcView, which allows one to view spatial data, create layered maps, and perform basic spatial analysis; ArcEditor which, in addition to the functionality of ArcView, includes more advanced tools for manipulation of shapefiles and geodatabases; or ArcInfo which includes capabilities for data manipulation, editing, and analysis (Ormsby 65).
Concerning hands-on experience, I can state that this software program is very useful in geographical studies. It allows combining different types of maps, making them suitable for your purposes and researches. Also, ArcGIS implies all the types of spatial analysis that make it suitable for people of other professions. It is a very comfortable software suite with many functions. Easy access to captured data makes the work easier.
ArcGIS is “built based on geodatabase which uses an object-relational database approach for storing spatial data. It means that this geodatabase is a kind of container for holding all the spatial features with attributes and existing datasets” (Omsby 72).
The hands-on part of the final project was very useful. For example, deeper knowledge of types of special analysis was received. In the future, it will help to use all these types of analysis in work. Each type is essential and without it, the full picture of this or that work cannot be received.
Also, a lot of information was received about the integration of GIS with other branches of professions and specializations. Geographical information systems turned to be used not only in geography, though in many other fields. And it turns, that GIS is of great importance there. This automatically creates new and better working places for specialists who are acquainted with GIS software programs and can create qualified works and researches.
GIS is very important in industry as it can provide them with the information where to build their manufacture and factories and plants, to find more economically profitable places for this by analyzing the area where it is planned to begin building.
GIS analyses not only some topographical features, or geographical, but also it implies weather factors, demographical factors, and many others which help to create a full picture of the given area.
Also, GIS is very important for medical issues as it can also help in developing special medicine for the special region. Besides, due to GIS researches and projects, the area of spreading of some terrible viruses can be localized to a small area and therefore it can be destroyed there with fewer human losses.
GIS is a system that is of universal use. GIS can be implied and integrated with many fields what makes it very essential nowadays. The world is globalized, and GIS globalizes data received from different sources creating easy access to it. It makes GIS irreplaceable in the contemporary world where easy access to information and correctly made orders are keys to success. GIS is the future.
Works Cited
ESRI. Geographic Information Systems and Pandemic Influenza Planning and Response. New York, NY: ESRI. 2009. Print
Longley, Phillip. A., et al. Geographic Information Systems and Science. n.p: John Wiley &Sonns Ltd. 2002. Print.
Ormsby, Thomas, et al. Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop: The Basics of ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo Updated for ArcGIS 9 (Getting to Know series). n.p. 2004. Print.