Malaria cases are on the rise. In 2023, 263 million malaria cases were reported globally and 600,000 deaths (WHO, 2024). Malaria, a parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes, can be vectored by a variety of mosquito species (see Blanford (2024, 2025) and the short video lecture by Blanford (2024 – vector-borne diseases: the malaria example). Mapping … Continue reading Geospatial Data and Technologies 4 Combating Disease
“Million dollar blocks”
What do you think you will learn when reading this title? Real-estate? Gold? A number of years ago I came across this study about the "million dollar blocks" and found it fascinating. This is a really nice example of how geography and spatial analysis are so useful for bringing to life data and really gaining insights … Continue reading “Million dollar blocks”
Mapping genomic data
Screenshot of nextstrain By reconstructing a phylogeny we can learn about important epidemiological phenomena. By adding geography to where the sample was taken we can map the spatial spread of a pathogen as well as how it may be changing in a certain location. By looking at this in context by adding in different geographies … Continue reading Mapping genomic data
Where are the rainforests located?
Earlier we posted a short article about using annual rainfall to identify deserts. Now we will use rainfall to identify rain forests. In this case a rain forest is defined as locations where rainfall is greater than 2000mm a year. Temperatures are also important but for now we are just interested in defining rainforests based … Continue reading Where are the rainforests located?
The return of the hummingbird
One of the highlights of the year after a long cold winter is..... the return of the hummingbird. The arrival of the hummingbirds signifies the end of winter and the start of the hot steamy summer! Thanks to a number of different websites where citizens, who like to keep tabs on the world outside of … Continue reading The return of the hummingbird
Earth Observation Data or Satellite Data
Have you found yourself wanting to find some satellite data but didn’t what to look for? You are not alone. Navigating satellite data is not easy. A large number of satellites orbiting the earth collecting information different parts of our planet as captured in the image by esa (European Space Agency). ESA has been dedicated … Continue reading Earth Observation Data or Satellite Data
Temperatures and how they relate to plants in the garden
As summer slowly approaches and one starts to think about the garden and the plants to select for the garden, an important consideration is temperature. Depending on where you live, you will want to select a proportion of plants that will survive from one year to the next, otherwise you will constantly be replacing plants, … Continue reading Temperatures and how they relate to plants in the garden
Mapping mosquito vectored diseases: an integrated geographic data approach
Mapping mosquito vectored diseases: an integrated geographic data approach Malaria cases continue to rise with a disproportionate number of cases occurring on the African continent as captured by the map created by the Malaria Atlas Project. In 2023 263 million cases were reported with over 600,000 deaths. Now with the vaccine and technologies that make … Continue reading Mapping mosquito vectored diseases: an integrated geographic data approach
Games for raising awareness of disaster-health outcomes
Over the years I have participated in many cooperative games both at work and with my kids. In particular, we used to play Max where we had to safely get the little critters to their home without Max, the cat, catching them. This meant strategizing, working together and discussing with each other how we were … Continue reading Games for raising awareness of disaster-health outcomes
Suitability Analysis
Recently I was putting together a short tutorial where the participants were going to use a suitability analysis approach to create a map. During the process I realised that I had not explained this process clearly so here is my short post about suitability analysis. Suitability mapping methods (also known as overlay or multi-criteria decision … Continue reading Suitability Analysis
GeoSpatialSense 