Many infectious diseases and chronic illnesses have underlying spatiotemporal relationships with the environment that are challenging to integrate into public health strategies. Compounding this challenge is the growing threat from climate change and lack of actionable information. Access to pertinent geospatial data, disparate data sources, and lack of data usability hinder many health investigations from incorporating climate change and environmental data. The overarching goal is to develop EpiMapVis: A dynamic web-based climate change and remote sensing information visualization and distribution system. EpiMapVis is designed to support National Environmental Health Tracking Programs and broader epidemiological and environmental health applications that track the health effects of climate change. Funding from this SBIR will be used to design and prototype EpiMapVis to support ongoing California Environmental Public Health Tracking (CEHTP) program activities. The long-term goal and objectives are to build an easy to use, web-based system to enhance access and use of climate change information and operational remote sensing data for human health applications. EpiMapVis is an interactive tool (not a data portal) that provides public health professionals with climate and environmental information at the desired spatial and temporal scales that facilitate the linkage of health outcome events with hazards.
The specific aims of this SBIR Phase I are designed to establish a technical framework and evaluate feasibility for operationalizing a suite of geospatial technologies and climate change information for epidemiological and human health monitoring. This Phase I and II project will work directly with the California Environmental Health Tracking Program to provide interactive access to climate change information and operational satellite remote sensing products at multiple spatiotemporal scales. EpiMapVis will use existing and well-validated algorithms to deliver operational remote sensing products using free satellite data collected by NASA. First -with our partners at the California EHTP- we will identify current information gaps, evaluate existing data, satellite remote sensing products, climate change and short term weather information needs, and scales. Second, we will identify optimal approaches for integrating disparate datasets and operationalizing (i.e., automate, pre-process, enable customization, download) free NASA satellite remote sensing products and mainstream climate change model results from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Third, we will design and test a web-GIS system based on open-source, PostgreSQL/PostGIS components to provide interactive web-tools and web-services for end-user consumption. Ultimately, EpiMapVis will bring powerful climate and geospatial information products to end-users for improved health management.
Many infectious diseases and chronic illnesses have underlying spatiotemporal relationships with the environment that are challenging to integrate into public health strategies. EpiMapVis will help address this challenge by providing spatial information on land cover, climate, climate change, land surface temperature and other environmental variables with web-based data visualization tools to increase our understanding of disease ecology and chronic illnesses.
