Web GIS in practice VI: a demo playlist of geo-mashups for public health neogeographers

Boulos, Maged N. Kamel; Scotch, Matthew; Cheung, Kei Hoi; Burden, David

doi:10.1186/1476-072x-7-38

Cited by 48 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Additionally, a variety of hardware (GPS) and software (mashups) devices work in conjunction with Google Earth. 30 GPS, for example, may be used to collect data points and to display and share them on Google Earth. Photography may also be displayed, shared, and geo-referenced on Google Earth, using Web sites like Flickr or Picasa.…”

Section: Geoweb Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizen Mapping and Environmental Justice: Internet Applications for Research and Advocacy

Jordan

Stallins

Stokes

et al. 2011

Environmental Justice

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This article provides a review of the terms and practices associated with the democratization of cartography, and illustrates their potential to contribute to the environmental justice movement. The Internet has revolutionized how maps are made and communicated. Citizen mapping involves multiple individuals collaborating on the collection and synthesis of spatial data via Web-based software. Google Earth allows users to combine and communicate cartographic information without extensive geospatial training. These developments have freed geography from its stereotype of being a study of place names to a discipline that can engage the public in the collection, analysis, and most important, the comprehension of the power of maps to promote environmental and social justice. We illustrate this potential through a case study in Tallahassee, Florida, where a biomass facility was proposed for a low to moderate income, and minority neighborhood. A permit was granted for the facility without consideration of the input of residents and without critical examination of the disconnect between the regional and local scales on which pollutants are monitored and without considering the actual exposure and impacts to community residents mediated by sociodemographics, environmental, and health status, the hallmarks of environmental injustice. To communicate the fundamental issues in this debate, as well as to illustrate the democratizing turn in geospatial sciences, Google Earth was deployed to integrate global positioning systems (GPS) data, photographs, video, and sociodemographic data. Screenshots from this mapping activity are presented as a means to inform scholars of the potential for Web-based geospatial tools in environmental justice activism. We close with a discussion of how the use of maps requires critical thought and analysis to avoid their misuse.

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Section: Geoweb Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizen Mapping and Environmental Justice: Internet Applications for Research and Advocacy

Jordan

Stallins

Stokes

et al. 2011

Environmental Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The field where Google Earth™ has seen the most extensive use thus far is in the environmental sciences. However, also within the health sciences and public health-related projects in particular, the use of Google Earth™ is growing, as witnessed by the increasing number of articles published in the peer-reviewed literature (Sundvall et al, 2007;Boulos et al, 2008;East et al, 2008;Freifeld et al, 2008;Gao et al, 2008;Lefer et al, 2008;Lozano-Fuentes et al, 2008;Yi et al, 2008;Kamadjeu, 2009). One of the earliest references made to the potential of virtual globe technology for disease mapping was highlighted by Malone in 2005(Malone, 2005.…”

Section: Google Earth™ and The Scientific Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A list of links to a selection of projects has been summarized in Table 1 (Butler, 2006a). This example demonstrates the potential of the so-called "mashups" in Google Earth™, a term originally used to describe the mixing together of musical tracks, but now referring to websites that weave data from different sources into a new service (Boulos et al, 2008). A link to the project web-page and the KML file can be found in Table 1.…”

Section: Web-based Health Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual globes and geospatial health: the potential of new tools in the management and control of vector-borne diseases

et al. 2009

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Abstract. The rapidly growing field of three-dimensional software modeling of the Earth holds promise for applications in the geospatial health sciences. Easy-to-use, intuitive virtual globe technologies such as Google Earth™ enable scientists around the world to share their data and research results in a visually attractive and readily understandable fashion without the need for highly sophisticated geographical information systems (GIS) or much technical assistance. This paper discusses the utility of the rapid and simultaneous visualization of how the agents of parasitic diseases are distributed, as well as that of their vectors and/or intermediate hosts together with other spatially-explicit information. The resulting better understanding of the epidemiology of infectious diseases, and the multidimensional environment in which they occur, are highlighted. In particular, the value of Google Earth™, and its web-based pendant Google Maps™, are reviewed from a public health view point, combining results from literature searches and experiences gained thus far from a multidisciplinary project aimed at optimizing schistosomiasis control and transmission surveillance in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the basic analytical capabilities of virtual globe applications are limited, we conclude that they have considerable potential in the support and promotion of the geospatial health sciences as a userfriendly, straightforward GIS tool for the improvement of data collation, visualization and exploration. The potential of these systems for data sharing and broad dissemination of scientific research and results is emphasized.

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“…The intrinsic geographic component in epidemiological data has led to several projects and applications that use geospatial web services to explore, share, and visualize such data sets on the spatial dimension [16-19]. Web as an integration platform is having a great success, for instance, Kamel Boulos et al reported on the application of recent services APIs and modern technologies to build interactive health mashups [20,21]. Nevertheless, none of the previous works has focused on the Representational State Transfer (REST) architectural style.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of spatial density maps based on geoprocessing web services: application to tuberculosis incidence in Barcelona, Spain

et al. 2011

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BackgroundHealth professionals and authorities strive to cope with heterogeneous data, services, and statistical models to support decision making on public health. Sophisticated analysis and distributed processing capabilities over geocoded epidemiological data are seen as driving factors to speed up control and decision making in these health risk situations. In this context, recent Web technologies and standards-based web services deployed on geospatial information infrastructures have rapidly become an efficient way to access, share, process, and visualize geocoded health-related information.MethodsData used on this study is based on Tuberculosis (TB) cases registered in Barcelona city during 2009. Residential addresses are geocoded and loaded into a spatial database that acts as a backend database. The web-based application architecture and geoprocessing web services are designed according to the Representational State Transfer (REST) principles. These web processing services produce spatial density maps against the backend database.ResultsThe results are focused on the use of the proposed web-based application to the analysis of TB cases in Barcelona. The application produces spatial density maps to ease the monitoring and decision making process by health professionals. We also include a discussion of how spatial density maps may be useful for health practitioners in such contexts.ConclusionsIn this paper, we developed web-based client application and a set of geoprocessing web services to support specific health-spatial requirements. Spatial density maps of TB incidence were generated to help health professionals in analysis and decision-making tasks. The combined use of geographic information tools, map viewers, and geoprocessing services leads to interesting possibilities in handling health data in a spatial manner. In particular, the use of spatial density maps has been effective to identify the most affected areas and its spatial impact. This study is an attempt to demonstrate how web processing services together with web-based mapping capabilities suit the needs of health practitioners in epidemiological analysis scenarios.

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Web GIS in practice VI: a demo playlist of geo-mashups for public health neogeographers

Cited by 48 publications

References 19 publications

Citizen Mapping and Environmental Justice: Internet Applications for Research and Advocacy

Citizen Mapping and Environmental Justice: Internet Applications for Research and Advocacy

Virtual globes and geospatial health: the potential of new tools in the management and control of vector-borne diseases

Development of spatial density maps based on geoprocessing web services: application to tuberculosis incidence in Barcelona, Spain

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