Studio di un sistema informativo territoriale per la pianificazione delle aree costiere

L’obiettivo del presente lavoro è rappresentato dalla messa a punto di un prototipo di sistema informativo territoriale che consenta di verificare come il territorio costiero si può evolvere in funzione di diverse scelte di pianificazione territoriale. L’area in studio è rappresentata da una porzione settentrionale della costa della Gallura (Sardegna). Il prototipo consente di effettuare delle analisi di valutazione di diversi possibili scenari di pianificazione territoriale, le aree che si ricavano possono essere sfruttabili per diverse tipologie di attività o essere classificate come soggette a protezione totale o parziale.The aim of this paper is to develop a GIS application for coastal territorial planning. The study area is in the northern part of Gallura (Sardinia). A prototype of this application is being developed. The prototype-tool allows to evaluate different scenarios, within the GIS, of landscape planning, and helps the planners during the process of decision making; the obtained areas can be exploited for different kinds of activities or can be classified as totally or partially protected

Land planning through GIS, RS and multicriteria decision analysis. A case study in Sardinia

During the last few years researchers and environmental planners have carried on their preliminary studies following an interdisciplinary approach. One of the main issues in this approach is the sustainability of economic development. As a matter of fact, the importance of the studies related to the distribution and the limits of natural resources is widely recognized. This can be accomplished more easily than in present by the use of extremely powerful computer application. The purpose of this contribution is to demonstrate the usefulness of an integrated approach of the GIS and of the RS to planning in complex problems of decision making. Many GIS applications are suited to the input of remote sensing and the integration of these techniques is now accepted in landscape planning. By means of GIS and RS, environmental information can be integrated with administrative, political, social and economic data. GIS, RS and fuzzy logic techniques are used to assist environmental compatibility studies and decision makin

Using cloud computing to develop an integrated virtual system for online GIScience programs

The variety of offerings of online Geographical Information Science (GIS) programs has been extensively reported in the literature, which describes various types of degrees and certificates offered by institutions all over the world. Most online courses have merely focused on delivering lectures, for which standard presentation tools such as PowerPoint are sufficient to fulfil this task. It is imperative for GIS online courses to deliver instruction as a series of interactive steps. This paper presents how an integrated virtual system based on cloud computing can be developed to enhance GIS online courses, and how such an approach provides an interactive teaching method to improve the quality of communication between students and teachers

Assessing the methods needed for improved dengue mapping: a SWOT analysis

INTRODUCTION: Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral infection, is a growing threat to human health in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. There is a demand from public officials for maps that capture the current distribution of dengue and maps that analyze risk factors to predict the future burden of disease. METHODS: To identify relevant articles, we searched Google Scholar, PubMed, BioMed Central, and WHOLIS (World Health Organization Library Database) for published articles with a specific set of dengue criteria between January 2002 and July 2013. RESULTS: After evaluating the currently available dengue models, we identified four key barriers to the creation of high-quality dengue maps: (1) data limitations related to the expense of diagnosing and reporting dengue cases in places where health information systems are underdeveloped; (2) issues related to the use of socioeconomic proxies in places with limited dengue incidence data; (3) mosquito ranges which may be changing as a result of climate changes; and (4) the challenges of mapping dengue events at a variety of scales. CONCLUSION: An ideal dengue map will present endemic and epidemic dengue information from both rural and urban areas. Overcoming the current barriers requires expanded collaboration and data sharing by geographers, epidemiologists, and entomologists. Enhanced mapping techniques would allow for improved visualizations of dengue rates and risks

Assessing the methods needed for improved dengue mapping: a SWOT analysis

Introduction: Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral infection, is a growing threat to human health in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. There is a demand from public officials for maps that capture the current distribution of dengue and maps that analyze risk factors to predict the future burden of disease. Methods: To identify relevant articles, we searched Google Scholar, PubMed, BioMed Central, and WHOLIS (World Health Organization Library Database) for published articles with a specific set of dengue criteria between January 2002 and July 2013. Results: After evaluating the currently available dengue models, we identified four key barriers to the creation of high-quality dengue maps: (1) data limitations related to the expense of diagnosing and reporting dengue cases in places where health information systems are underdeveloped; (2) issues related to the use of socioeconomic proxies in places with limited dengue incidence data; (3) mosquito ranges which may be changing as a result of climate changes; and (4) the challenges of mapping dengue events at a variety of scales. Conclusion: An ideal dengue map will present endemic and epidemic dengue information from both rural and urban areas. Overcoming the current barriers requires expanded collaboration and data sharing by geographers, epidemiologists, and entomologists. Enhanced mapping techniques would allow for improved visualizations of dengue rates and risks

Mosquito habitat and dengue risk potential in Kenya: alternative methods to traditional risk mapping techniques

Outbreaks, epidemics and endemic conditions make dengue a disease that has emerged as a major threat in tropical and sub-tropical countries over the past 30 years. Dengue fever creates a growing burden for public health systems and has the potential to affect over 40% of the world population. The problem being investigated is to identify the highest and lowest areas of dengue risk. This paper presents “Similarity Search”, a geospatial analysis aimed at identifying these locations with- in Kenya. Similarity Search develops a risk map by combining environmental susceptibility analysis and geographical infor- mation systems, and then compares areas with dengue prevalence to all other locations. Kenya has had outbreaks of dengue during the past 3 years, and we identified areas with the highest susceptibility to dengue infection using bioclimatic variables, elevation and mosquito habitat as input to the model. Comparison of the modelled risk map with the reported dengue epi- demic cases obtained from the open source reporting ProMED and Government news reports from 1982-2013 confirmed the high-risk locations that were used as the Similarity Search presence cells. Developing the risk model based upon the bio- climatic variables, elevation and mosquito habitat increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the dengue fever risk mapping process

Mosquito habitat and dengue risk potential in Kenya: alternative methods to traditional risk mapping techniques

Outbreaks, epidemics and endemic conditions make dengue a disease that has emerged as a major threat in tropical and sub-tropical countries over the past 30 years. Dengue fever creates a growing burden for public health systems and has the potential to affect over 40% of the world population. The problem being investigated is to identify the highest and lowest areas of dengue risk. This paper presents “Similarity Search”, a geospatial analysis aimed at identifying these locations with- in Kenya. Similarity Search develops a risk map by combining environmental susceptibility analysis and geographical infor- mation systems, and then compares areas with dengue prevalence to all other locations. Kenya has had outbreaks of dengue during the past 3 years, and we identified areas with the highest susceptibility to dengue infection using bioclimatic variables, elevation and mosquito habitat as input to the model. Comparison of the modelled risk map with the reported dengue epi- demic cases obtained from the open source reporting ProMED and Government news reports from 1982-2013 confirmed the high-risk locations that were used as the Similarity Search presence cells. Developing the risk model based upon the bio- climatic variables, elevation and mosquito habitat increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the dengue fever risk mapping process