Research in Geographic Information Science

GIS plays an important role in crime mapping and law enforcement. This study looks at the spatial distribution of various crimes occurred in Nepean, Ottawa between January 2005 and March 2006 using a crime analysis program called CrimeStat. The effects of baseline population adjustment on the interpretation of spatial correlation were also explored in this study. The crime data was sourced from the Ottawa Police Department, whereas the dissemination area point data were derived from Statistics Canada. Nearest Neighbour Analysis The nearest neighbour index was first used to measure the…read more

This study examines the relations between a child’s social skills and a set of variables related to the child and to their neighbourhood using Geographically weighted regression (GWR). GWR is a local statistical technique that extends from traditional regression framework. It tests statistical models of the relationship between two variables—dependent and independent variables—over space. When compared to global models such as OLS, GWR performs better for spatially heterogeneous data such as the social skills score because of its capability in accommodating spatial correlations. Three variables were used to conduct this…read more

In this lab, I explored how the landscape around Edmonton, Alberta has changed from 1966 to 1976. This analysis was conducted in two parts: (1) visualizing land use distribution and mapping changes over the 10-year period using Geographic Information System, and (2) quantifying and measuring land use patterns through a set of landscape metrics calculated by FRAGSTATS. FRAGSTATS is a set of spatial statistics for landscape ecology that facilitates the evaluation of landscape processes. Class and landscape level metrics were utilized in this analysis. Edmonton had witnessed rapid urbanization which…read more

Statistics is heavily embedded GIS. Statistics enables us to summarize, explore, predict, and look for relations in spatial data. Regression is a common statistical approach used in GIS. It is the measurement of the strength of the relationship between one dependent variable and a series of other changing variables. Ordinary Least Squares provides a global model that applies a single mathematical function to all observed data points. In other words, it estimates the strength of the relationship between the dependent variable and the explanatory variables averaged over the whole study…read more

This week we looked at a practical example of GIS application in the City of Calgary fire department. GIS is used in risk analysis, response mapping, operational decision making, station planning, apparatus deployment, and station relocation planning. One thing that I found intriguing was the examination of the multiple exposures of fires due to the close proximity of properties and narrow roadways. With the density map they produced, they are able to identify locations of concerns at a regional level down to the actual structures at risk, as well as…read more

GIS is widely adopted nowadays in the realm of crime analysis due to the emergence of a sub-discipline within criminology, known as environmental criminology. Environmental criminology studies the geographical distribution of offences, of victimization and offender residence. Since most crime follows a geographic pattern, GIS is a valuable tool to identify problem areas, produce maps for officers to use in the field, keep track of particular offenders, and assist in solving crimes. Three theories were examined in detail in this lecture: Routine Activity Theory. This theory follows the equation of likely offender…read more

GIS is useful in the field of health geography in 4 ways: Spatial epidemiology Environmental hazards Modelling Health Services Identifying health inequalities Spatial epidemiology is concerned with describing and understanding spatial variation in disease risks. It is based on the geographically uneven distribution of population, movement of people, diverse individual characteristics, and community compositions. This concept underlies GIS application in health geography as it explains where health problems are found. Spatial epidemiology is usually presented and examined with disease mapping, cluster detection, spatial exposure assessment, and the assessment of the…read more

Health geography is the expansion of the discipline of medical geography. It places a huge emphasis on the role of place rather than space. That is, it looks at the unique characteristics of particular places beyond the general spatial variations in health care provisions. Hence, health geography addresses issues regarding the access to and the location of and utilization of health facilities, the use of quantitative techniques for spatial analysis in health care planning, or the socio-political determinants of health and access to health care. There are five strands of…read more

Landscape ecology is the study of the two-way interactions between spatial pattern and ecological processes occur on landscapes. Landscape-scale analyses are often used to inform policy implementation. Two types of spatial autocorrelation are highly related to landscape ecology. If the patterns develop as a result of a response to an environmental factor–such as soil, slope position, water bodies–it is referred to as a first-order process. The study of the first-order process is where GIS comes into play. If the patterns develop as a result of interactions between the objects/events themselves–such…read more

Geography is crucial to conducting GIS analysis in the fields of landscape ecology, crime analysis, and health geography. Phenomena are often dependent upon the spatial nature of the data. Hence, spatial information must be included in the equation among other social, economic, and political factors to obtain all-encompassing and accurate results. The importance of geography, and thus spatial data, can be explained by the concept of spatial autocorrelation. It states that objects that are close together spatially have similar characteristics. Geostatistical methods such as kriging allow us to take geography…read more