Speaker: Xun Shi, Dartmouth College

Title: “Dealing with Spatial Uncertainty in Health Studies” (View the flyer)

Abstract: Spatial uncertainty is important in health studies. On the one hand, it may greatly impact the quality of such a study; on the other hand, it has been used as a means to protect patients’ privacy or improve statistical stability. Spatial uncertainty may cause misplacement of areas with elevated risk of a disease; lead to misevaluation of the spatial association between a disease and an environmental factor; and bias the evidence upon which healthcare policy and resource allocation are based. A major source of spatial uncertainty in health studies is data quality issues, including spatial inaccuracy (e.g., geocoding error and displacement through dithering) and spatial imprecision (e.g., P.O. Box addresses and spatially aggregated data). Spatial inaccuracy in health-related data is usually extremely difficult to be entirely removed, but can be converted into spatial imprecision and treated in that way. In this presentation, I introduce and describe a restricted and controlled Monte Carlo (RCMC) process to deal with the spatial imprecision in health-related data. RCMC disaggregates imprecise or aggregate location data through randomization. This randomization is restricted by the known areal unit boundaries (e.g., zip code boundaries) and is controlled by the available background information (e.g. detailed population distribution data), so that first, utilization of available information is maximized (i.e., the spatial imprecision is minimized); and second, those disease mapping methods designed for individual data (e.g., kernel density estimation) can be applied. Meanwhile, through a Monte Carlo process the spatial uncertainty caused by the imprecision can be explicitly quantified, represented, and even visually presented. We have applied the RCMC to different health problems, including mapping diseases, detecting associations between diseases and environmental factors, and assessing access to healthcare services.

Location: CGIS K354

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Speaker: DAN SUI, Chair and Professor, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University

Title: The paradox of China 2.0: Freedom within the great firewall and growing networked authoritarianism in the People’s Republic of China (View flyer)

Abstract: The rapid diffusion and adoption of advanced information and communication technologies (ICT) are transforming multiple dimensions of Chinese society. Using geospatial information as the primary area of focus, this talk reviews the tension between the on-line freedom Chinese netizens have within the great firewall and the growing Internet censorship state apparatuses impose on on-line activities. The questions of how to resolve this tension will have both short-term and long-term social, political, and environmental implications for China’s development. Although there are early signs that ICTs may have the potential to become “liberation technologies” for both political and environmental causes, there is still a long way to go before ICTs in China truly empower individuals, facilitate independent communication and mobilization, and strengthen an emergent civil society.

Location: Room K354, CGIS Knafel  (3rd Fl)

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ABCD-GIS September Presentation:“EVGeoCloud: Your University’s Geospatial Platform”  by Tony Monsour, Geospatial Platform Designer, and Matthew Tabaka, Academic Sales Manager, East View Geospatial. | Video (Harvard Affiliates Access) (170 MB)

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Speaker:  Sarah Williams, MIT

Title: Data For Public Good (130 MB mp4)

Location: Room S450, CGIS South

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Speaker: Matthew Wilson, University of Kentucky

Title: Toward attentional design in community-based critical GIS (230 MB mp4) 

Location: Room S450, CGIS South

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Speakers: Archie Tse and Jeremy White, Graphics Directors @ the New York Times

Title: Mapping the 2012 U. S. Presidential Election (75 MB video)

Location:CGIS Knafel Buidling, room K262

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Speaker: Mei-Po Kwan, Department of Geography University of California, Berkeley

Title: Advances in Geographic Information Science for Social Science and Health Research (140 MB video)

Abstract: Since its emergence in the 1960s, spatial analysis has been based largely on a zonal spatial framework that conceives place, neighborhood or geographic context in terms of static administrative units (such as census tracts or block groups). Past studies inevitably face two fundamental methodological problems when using this zonal spatial framework: the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) and the uncertain geographic context problem (UGCoP). Recent advances in the technologies and methods of geographic information science (GIScience) allow researchers to collect and analyze data about individual activities and behaviors at very fine spatial and temporal scales (e.g., high-resolution GPS data). As they make frame-independent analysis possible, these methods enable us to overcome some of the limitations of the conventional zonal framework in research on a variety of social and health phenomena. In this presentation, I draw upon my recent studies to explore the use of real-time GPS data, GIS-based 3D geovisualization, and geocomputational methods in the analysis of human activities in space-time. I discuss how these recent developments in GIScience can help move social science and health research forward in significant ways.

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Speaker: Paul Cote, Geographic Information Systems Specialist @ Harvard Graduate School of Design

Title: Information Ecology vs Entropy: Cybernetic Infrastructure for Place-Based Research (150 MB video)

Abstract: A substantial portion of the effort in place-based studies is expended in gathering and organizing information. It is rare for much, if any, of this work to be preserved in re-usable form at the conclusion of a project. The second law of thermodynamics holds that progressive systems tend toward disorder. Yet, successful ecosystems and cultures evolve self-organizing properties that help them to hold off the universal tendency toward entropy. This presentation will review the emerging technologies of cyberinfrastructure for science and the humanities with special focus on place-based studies. With this background we will discuss the application of principles ecological self-organization in the development of place-based intelligence.

Location:CGIS South building, room S050

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Speaker: Donald G. Janelle, Research Professor and Program Director, The Center for Spatial Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Title: “ William Warntz and the Legacy of Spatial Thinking at Harvard University“ (50 MB Video)   |   Slides (4.5 MB PDF)

Abstract: William Warntz (1923-1988) joined Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 1966 as Professor of Theoretical Geography and Regional Planning and as Associate Director of the Laboratory for Computer Graphics. He succeeded Howard Fisher as Director of the Lab (renamed as the Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis) in 1968. The spatial legacy of this period resides in an innovative series founded by Warntz as the Harvard Papers in Theoretical Geography (1966-1971). This talk attempts to position this body of work within the broad tapestry of geography, regional science, graphic visualization, and spatial analysis. The talk also focuses on the conceptualization for a program in geography as proposed by Warntz to Harvard College in 1968. Although the proposal was not acted upon, its ideas align with current themes in geographical information science and with a renewed interest across the academy in trans-disciplinary approaches to spatial thinking in research and curriculum development. For a background reading on this presentation, please see http://csiss.org/janelle/docs/Janelle-warntz-2.pdf.

Bio: Donald Janelle was a colleague of Warntz from 1971 to 1988 at the University of Western Ontario. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Western and a Research Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara where he serves as Program Director for UCSB’s Center for Spatial Studies (http://spatial.ucsb.edu). His research focuses on (a) space-adjusting technologies (transportation, communications, and information) and their implications for human behavior and settlement development at local through global scales, (b) spatially integrated social science (http://csiss.org), and (c) the role of spatial concepts in education across disciplines (http://teachspatial.org). For more information, see http://csiss.org/janelle.

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CENTER FOR GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS NEWSLETTER

July 2011

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HIGHLIGHTS

• Professor Kirk Goldsberry Joins the CGA

• Service Pack 2 Available for ArcGIS 10

• 2011 Conference Reports

• Call for Abstracts: Applied Geography Conference - Deadline 08/05

• Association for Computing Machinery – Call for Papers

• Spatial Epidemiology Summer School 2011

•    GeoImmersion Maps

•    GeoCommons Upgrade

•    Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East

•    GIS Support Associate at MIT Position Open

•    Geography Report Card Finds Students Lagging 

•    Mapnificant Boston 

•    The History of Cartography 

•    Digital Maps for Historical Landscapes 

•    ESRI Land Change Viewer

•    China’s Rising Urban Areas

•    Iraq Cultural Heritage GIS

•    Geospatial Data Preservation

**

CGA NEWS

Professor Kirk Goldsberry Joins the CGA

Professor Kirk Goldsberry of Michigan State University joined the Center for Geographic Analysis on July 25th. He will be a visiting scholar with the CGA for two years to develop geographic materials, from maps and spatial data to GIS tutorials, to be integrated into Harvard courses. For his bio, see http://gis.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k235&pageid=icb.page190006

Service Pack 2 Available for ArcGIS 10

This service pack is now available, and can be downloaded here:

http://resources.arcgis.com/content/patches-and-service-packs?fa=viewPatch&PID=17&MetaID=1752

2011 Conference Reports

CGA members recently attended the ESRI International Users Conference, the International Conference on GeoInformatics, and the International Conference on Spatial Data Mining.  Read the conference reports here:

http://bit.ly/lG7wm5

**

CONFERENCES

Call for Abstracts: Applied Geography Conference - Deadline 08/05

The Applied Geography Conference will be held October 19-21, 2011 in Redlands, CA. The deadline to submit abstracts has been extended to August 5.  For the speaker list, conference program, and to submit an abstract:

http://applied.geog.kent.edu/

Association for Computing Machinery – Call for Papers

The ACM is holding three workshops on November 1 in Chicago.  The workshop topics are Spatial Semantics and Ontologies; Computational Transportation Science; and High Performance and Distributed Geographic Information Systems.  Calls for paper deadlines for all of these are in August.  For more information go to our Events and Calls page:

http://gis.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k235&pageid=icb.page189844&pageContentId=icb.pagecontent371683&state=maximize

Spatial Epidemiology Summer School 2011

The 3^rd International Summer School’s topic this year is “Spatial epidemiology in Megacities: Statistical and spatial analysis of Health under a changing climate”, to be held September 12 – 16 in Bielefield, Germany. For more information:

http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/gesundhw/ag2/summerschoolmc/Programme_Draft_Megacities_2011.pdf

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NEWS ON GIS RESEARCH AND SERVICES

GeoImmersion Maps

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/13/usc-computer-scientist-makes-geo-immersion-maps-other-maps-left/

GeoCommons upgrade

This collaborative mapping website has been recently upgraded:

http://geocommons.com/

Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East

About this project:  http://www.flickr.com/people/apaame/

View the photo collections: http://www.flickr.com/photos/apaame/collections/

GIS Support Associate at MIT Position Open

http://gis.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k235&pageid=icb.page190008

Geography Report Card Finds Students Lagging  

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/education/20geography.html?_r=3

Mapnificant Boston  

http://www.mapnificent.net/boston

The History of Cartography 

This full text is available for free download in PDF format: 

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/HOC/index.html

Digital Maps for Historical Landscapes 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/arts/geographic-information-systems-help-scholars-see-history.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

ESRI Land Change Viewer

View the same location at different time periods side by side:

http://www.esri.com/landsat-imagery/viewer.html

China’s Rising Urban Areas

http://www.newgeography.com/content/002330-a-guide-china%E2%80%99s-rising-urban-areas

Iraq Cultural Heritage GIS

http://www.getty.edu/conservation/field_projects/iraq/iraq_component2.html

Geospatial Data Preservation

http://geopreservation.org

**

Editor of this issue is Jeff Blossom

The CGA Newsletter is published monthly.

For previously published issues please visit: http://bit.ly/jm8FI8   

For the latest information, please visit our website http://gis.harvard.edu

To unsubscribe, send an email to majordomo@mail.hmdc.harvard.edu
with the following command in the BODY of your email message:
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