Address Geocoding Services in Geospatial-based Epidemiological Analysis: A Comparative Reliability for Domestic Disease Mapping

Abstract

Geographical information system (GIS) has been used for geospatial epidemiology. Through the process, it begins with geocoding, i.e. assigning geographic coordinates to an address on a map. This process is a bridge between spatial information and its attribute data. Fortunately, some open geocoding services are available. The paper aims to examine the mapping reliability of some online geocoding services to map the spread of tuberculosis (TB) in Sarawak, Malaysia towards practical implementation in the domestic health department. The features examined the common platforms, namely QGIS, Google Map, and ArcGIS Online, were selected and explored in terms of the following variables; positional quality, speed, cost, and coverage. Based on our exploratory experiment, ArcGIS Online offers relevant mapping features for the local geocoding services of the TB locations compared to the other two platforms. But the chosen geocoding methods or services may depend on the nature of the project, cost restrictions, and the experience of an analyst. Comparison of the positional accuracy with manual reference methods (e.g GPS measurement and manual digitizing) could be further studied.

Six classes named entity recognition for mapping location of Indonesia natural disasters from twitter data

“…The accuracy results are QGIS getting 53% accuracy, Google Maps achieving 100% results and ArcGIS achieving 97% results. But in speed comparison, the ArcGIS process is the fastest because it has an average speed of fewer than 5 s, while Google Maps and QGIS are more than 30 s (Monir et al ., 2021).…”

“…ArcGIS Maps is used to find the coordinates of addresses that have been found by NER and is also used to display maps and visualize natural disaster points. The ArcGIS process is faster than Google Maps and quantum geographic information system (QGIS) applications because it has an average speed of fewer than five seconds (Monir et al ., 2021). ArcGIS has the fastest speed among its competitors, so it is very suitable for use in finding natural disaster hotspots because it can speed up authorities' response to disasters that occur.…”