Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

The benefit of GIS-reporting in the context of

Water-related Health

Dr. Ina Wienand (MSc GIS)

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Why using GIS in the context of Water & Health?

Water-related health is a matter of spatial aspects• high interoperability with environmental conditions

like precipitation, soil, aquifer, geology, temperaturechemical aspects

• water infrastructure• epidemiology of water-related diseases

GIS is able to show the spatial distribution of water-related health data as thematic maps with different layers while using tables and data in the background

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Concept of GIS

Geo-database

.. .

...

Data recording

Data organization

+ +

Data analysis

Data output

tables

lines

+

points

polygons

vector raster attribute data

tables maps

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Desktop-GIS versus Web-GIS

Geo-database

Storing data in a geodatabase

Implementing datainto a desktop GIS

Implementingdata into

the Web-GIS

Desktop-GIS: ArcGIS 9

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

What are the advantages of GIS reporting?

• GIS presentation, layout and classification can be easily modified and adopted towards

individual data

• GIS include an extensive list of functions for analyzing and visualizing spatial data

• GIS can be permanently updated and maps can beproduced in a very short time

• GIS can be used by advanced professionals and distributed to a large audience (e.g. internet)

• GIS software does not have to be expensive

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Web-GIS mapping on a cross-national level

Getting information for theselected country

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Web-GIS mapping on a cross-national level

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Development of a Web-GIS approachon a cross-national level

Differences to other static internet maps

• selecting different layers (overlay layers)

• zooming in and out (dynamic map)

• selecting a specific region on a map

• getting information of a specific country which is

stored in the background for all years

• labeling layers

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Desktop-GIS mapping on a national level

Giardiasis incidence inGermany on the districtlevel from 2001 to 2003

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Desktop-GIS mapping on a national level

Extreme values of Giardiasis incidencein Germany

Spatial statistical analysis(poisson distribution)

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Desktop-GIS mapping on a national level

Surface water abstractionper inhabitant in theyear 2001 in Germany

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Desktop-GIS mapping on a national level

Inhabitants per drinking water extracting plantin Germany in 2001

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Desktop-GIS mapping on the catchment level

Prioritizinglanduse risks (according to the WSP concept)

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Desktop-GIS mapping on the catchment level

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Desktop-GIS mapping on the catchment level

Vulnerablepopulationgroups andresidents

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

• Data required by the progress monitoring system

of the Protocol on Water and Health have a spatial

component -> GIS is an ideal reporting tool

• GIS is flexible in respect of integrating and combining

other additional information into one reporting system

• There are GIS standards available (OGC -> Open

Geospatial Consortium) which provide a platform for

interchanging data, models and results

Results and future prospects I

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Results and future prospects II

• GIS analysis shows the identification of critical areasand provides therefore political action on a local basis

• GIS reporting can be fully adopted in the Water Safety Plan approach (WSP)

• GIS forms the basis of an effective publiccommunication tool

• Costs can be mitigated by using Open Source software and moving from desk-top applications to Web-based GIS systems

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

• The level of data collection differs between countries (e.g. district or catchment areas)

• Methods measuring, collecting and preprocessingdata have to be standardized

• Data descriptions have to be included into the metadata or refer to an external file of definition

• As a result data can be analyzed on a cross-nationallevel and allow conclusions which cannot be reached

on local basis

Future needs for GIS reportingon a cross-national level?

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Scheme of Cross-national GIS reporting

Country I Country II Country III

National Desktop GIS

Cross-national Web-GIS

…etc.

Use standardized data and metadata

Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, GermanyWHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management

and Risk Communication

Thank you for your attention! Questions?