Using Open Source GIS to Analyze Public Health Data Geog 596a Capstone Proposal Peer Review Advisor: Frank Hardisty Penn State MGIS July 2008

Considering presenting at URISA’s GIS in Public Health Conference Putting Health in Place with GIS June 5-8, Providence, Rhode Island

Outline Presentation Introduce Capstone Introduce Open Source Describe Datasets Describe Analyzes Open Source Applications Re-visited

Capstone Objective Employ open source applications to evaluate the spatial relationship of persons with asthma that are within 200% of the federal poverty level* Secondary Objective –Create an open source GIS model for other organizations to follow –Create a web based GIS with little or no capital investment * Defined by the Department of Health and Human Services

Open Source Better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in Must comply with 10 criteria for example Free redistribution Open access to the source code License must be technology-neutral Source: Open Source InitiativeOpen Source Initiative

Significance of Open Source Leading edge of technology –Always has been –Becoming part of mainstream computing –Where propriety software often gets its ideas and base code Runs on older and newer computers Large learning curve Community Supported –Ask the right question  Get help ie: show that you tried to fix the problem, not just ask for help The “tweak factor” –A lot of times it does not work out of the box –Once configured, it just works, and works, and…

Open Source Proprietary Integration Community Developed “Ease of Use” $$$ FuturePresentPast Proprietary Integration Community Developed $$$ Community Supported Community Developed Ease of Use & “just works” Supported by a larger community Supported by a select group Proprietary Integration “Ease of Use” Mainstream integration the Black Hole

Open Source Applications Linux (Ubuntu) - operating system GRASS GIS - spatial analysis, desktop display; plug-in for R-Spatial R-Spatial - statistical package PostGIS – spatially enabled database QGIS – desktop display; plug-in for GRASS OpenLayers - web map interface MapServer – GIS server; web map interface

Asthma Dataset From the UNMCare program at the University of New Mexico Hospital. UNMCare is a healthcare coverage program for low-income families in Bernalillo County, NM. Data provided by the New Mexico Department of Health and the UNM Health Sciences Center.

Attributes of UNMCare Dataset Medical Record Number (Unique ID) Street level address (de-identified down to a census block to satisfy HIPPA) Primary, secondary, and tertiary diagnostics (ICD-9 Codes) Visit type (inpatient, outpatient) Race, gender, and age Visit start and end date Cost to health care system

US Census Data Tract –Housing type cost, own/rent Block Group –Age –Race –Gender –Employment –Income Block –Population GIS data clearinghouse for New Mexico

Emission Data Sources: –City of Albuquerque –EPA Constituents: –Particulate Matter <10 µm (PM 10 ) –Particulate Matter <2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ) –Sulfur Dioxide –Carbon Monoxide –Ozone

Albuquerque Ambient Air Monitoring Stations

Work Flow Perform Non-Spatial Analysis (R-spatial) Perform Spatial Analysis (PostGIS, Grass with R-spatial Add-on) Display in Web GIS (OpenLayers) De-identify UNM Data (PostGIS)

Analysis of Asthma Admissions 1.Demographic Correlations 2.Air Quality Correlations

Analysis - demographics Identify census blocks with higher percentages of asthma admissions Look for spatial clustering and correlations between persons with asthma and: –Race, age, and gender –Housing type (own/rent, # of units, cost) bias that low-income households have sub-standard living conditions

Analysis – air quality Identify census blocks with higher percentages of asthma admissions Does a correlation exist between asthma admissions and proximity to an air quality monitoring station that exhibits poor air quality? –If correlation exists, compare the ratios of PM 10, PM 2.5, sulfur dioxide, and ozone. Is one constituent present more often than another?

Analysis – air quality continued Does a correlation exist between asthma admissions and proximity to a major traffic corridor? Do low-income households cluster near air monitoring stations?

WHERE DO LOW-INCOME ADULTS LIVE IN BERNALILLO COUNTY? Most low- income adults live in the southern half of the city and along the north- south corridor. 121,173 adults in Bernalillo County earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level. This number represents 30% of the population 18 years of age or older. Source: Tom Scharmen, NMDOH

ALBUQUERQUE, NM WHAT PERCENT OF LOW-INCOME ADULTS ARE ON UNM CARE? 11.2% of Low- Income Adults were Enrolled in UNMCare on July An estimated 13,513 low-income adults were enrolled in UNMCare in July 2003 of the 121,173 adults in the County earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level. The census tracts with the best UNMCare enrollment rates are not in the poorest sections of the county. Source: Tom Scharmen, NMDOH

Open Source Applications re-visited Briefly discuss features and uses –GRASS GIS –R-spatial –PostGIS –QGIS –OpenLayers –MapServer

Grass GIS Used for Desktop GIS –Map generation –Data visualization (2D, 2.5D and 3D)2.5D3D –Spatial analysis –Modeling Data formats supported –Raster (2D and 3D) –Vector (2D and 3D) –Vector Point DBMS Support –PostgreSQL/PostGIS, mySQL, SQLite, ODBC,... Supported platforms –Linux, Windows, Mac, and Handhelds

GRASS GUI (

R-spatial R is a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics Provides a variety of statistical and graphical techniques –linear and nonlinear modeling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification, clustering Runs on Linux, Windows and Mac. Provides classes and methods for spatial data –points, lines, polygons, grids Add-in package for GRASS GIS

R-spatial Example Source:

PostGIS PostGIS "spatially enables" the PostgreSQL database.PostgreSQL It is a database server used as a backend spatial database for geographic information systems (GIS) Functions like ESRI's SDE or Oracle's Spatial extension. Supports Linux, Windows and Mac

PostGIS continued The following is an example of a PostGIS script. The script can be called within a GIS, command line, web page, etc. The below example is a script that locates features within a distance of 5km. Source:

QGIS Quantum GIS (QGIS) runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac Supports many vector, raster, and database formats Supports many common spatial data formats (e.g. ESRI ShapeFile, geotiff) Supports many plug-ins –display tracks from a GPS –Perform spatial analysis and model via GRASS GIS

QGIS GUI Source:

OpenLayers Web map application that displays geographic data from a variety of sources and data types –Geographic data in DBMS and text files –MapServer –Aerial Photography (Virtual Earth, Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, TerraServer) –WMS, WFS –USGS Topographic Maps and DEMs –TIGER data Client-sided (javascript and AJAX); browser independent

OpenLayers Example

MapServer Server-sided GIS for building spatially-enabled internet applications. Best for rendering spatial data for the web. Cross-platform support –Linux, Windows, and Mac Support many raster and vector data formats –TIFF/GeoTIFF, EPPL7, etc –ESRI shapfiles, PostGIS, ESRI ArcSDE, Oracle Spatial, MySQL, etc Is a WMS and WFS client/server Offers map projection support On-the-fly map projection

MapServer Example Source:

Links to Data and Applications GRASS GIShttp://grass.itc.it/ MapServerhttp://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/ New Mexico State Air Quality Bureau OpenLayershttp:// Open Source Initiativehttp:// PostGIShttp://postgis.refractions.net/ QGIShttp:// R-spatialhttp:// Ubuntuhttp:// US Census Data (RGIS)