ATSDR's new map server provides access to GIS data and products. (Environmental Health-'Net).<http://gis.cdc.gov/atsdr> The Geographic Analysis Tool for Health and Environmental Research (GATHER) is a Web site application recently launched by the GIS (1) (Geographic Information System) An information system that deals with spatial information. Often called "mapping software," it links attributes and characteristics of an area to its geographic location. staff of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry The United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, (ATSDR) is an agency for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that is directed by a congressional mandate to perform specific functions concerning the effect on public health of hazardous (ATSDR ATSDR Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry ). GATHER enables all Internet users Internet user n → internauta m/f Internet user Internet n → internaute m/f to access GIS data in a variety of formats; modify a map view through the display, zoom, and pan functions; query the data; and perform desktop spatial analysis (Data West Research Agency definition: see GIS glossary.) Analytical techniques to determine the spatial distribution of a variable, the relationship between the spatial distribution of variables, and the association of the variables of an area. . GATHER users can view print from their local printer, and e-mail site-specific demographic maps. Each map contains the site location, the area within a one-mile radius of the site, and relevant demographic data (e.g., number of children six years of age or less). GATHER accesses a variety of data layers (e.g., census population and housing data, roads, hydrography hy·drog·ra·phy n. pl. hy·drog·ra·phies 1. The scientific description and analysis of the physical conditions, boundaries, flow, and related characteristics of the earth's surface waters. 2. , schools, graphic images). It displays, at several geographic scales, GIS maps of most Superfund hazardous-waste sites (including U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Defense facilities) and other sites where ATSDR conducts public-health activities and research. If the data are available, the site-specific maps contain information on the chemicals of concern. Once a site has been mapped, relevant documents can be accessed. For more information on ATSDR's GIS projects, see the related stories in this issue's Products and Services section. (Adapted from Hazardous Substances and Public Health, a publication of ATSDR, Vol. 10, No. 2, Summer/Fall 2000.) |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion