Density and local attribute estimation of an infectious disease using MapInfo

Recent developments in local statistics have generally concentrated on area-based data. In this paper, we describe the development and implementation of a set of point-based local statistical methods within the MapInfo GIS. These include the well-documented techniques of density estimation, and a number of extensions that we call "local attribute estimation". The extensions use traditional summary measures to describe the distribution of continuous attributes, and draw on techniques of facies triangle mapping and the Weaver-Thomas combination index to describe categorical attributes. The methods are demonstrated using a point pattern of cases of an infectious disease in London, UK, but are equally applicable to other problems in geoscience.

[1]  Calvin F. Schmid,et al.  Basic Problems, Techniques, and Theory of Isopleth Mapping* , 1955 .

[2]  P. Diggle.  A point process modeling approach to raised incidence of a rare phenomenon in the vicinity of a prespecified point , 1990 .

[3]  J. Bithell.  An application of density estimation to geographical epidemiology. , 1990, Statistics in medicine.

[4]  John C. Weaver,et al.  Crop-Combination Regions in the Middle West , 1954 .

[5]  C. Pelto,et al.  Mapping of Multicomponent Systems , 1954, The Journal of Geology.

[6]  Peter J. Diggle,et al.  SPLANCS: spatial point pattern analysis code in S-Plus , 1993 .

[7]  Alan M. MacEachren,et al.  Visualization in modern cartography , 1994 .

[8]  S. Fotheringham,et al.  Geographically Weighted Regression , 1998 .

[9]  D. J. Unwin,et al.  The use of density estimation techniques in mapping the distribution of Hepatitis A , 1997, Geomed.

[10]  P. Diggle,et al.  Spatial point pattern analysis and its application in geographical epidemiology , 1996 .

[11]  Chris Brunsdon,et al.  Estimating probability surfaces for geographical point data: an adaptive kernel algorithm , 1995 .

[12]  A. Mitchell.  The ESRI guide to GIS analysis , 1999 .

[13]  M. Charlton,et al.  Geographically Weighted Regression: A Natural Evolution of the Expansion Method for Spatial Data Analysis , 1998 .

[14]  A. Stewart Fotheringham,et al.  Trends in quantitative methods I: stressing the local , 1997 .

[15]  A. Molesworth,et al.  Geographical analysis of communicable disease data. , 2001 .

[16]  David John Unwin,et al.  Introductory Spatial Analysis , 1982 .

[17]  A S Fotheringham,et al.  On the Future of Spatial Analysis: The Role of GIS , 1993 .

[18]  B. Silverman.  Density estimation for statistics and data analysis , 1986 .

[19]  Martin Charlton,et al.  A Mark 1 Geographical Analysis Machine for the automated analysis of point data sets , 1987, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[20]  Jason Dykes,et al.  Cartographic visualization: exploratory spatial data analysis with local indicators of spatial association using Tcl/Tk and cdv , 1998 .

[21]  Trevor C. Bailey,et al.  Interactive Spatial Data Analysis , 1995 .

[22]  David Thomas.  Agriculture in Wales During the Napoleonic Wars: a Study in the Geographical Interpretation of Historical Sources , 1963 .

[23]  Antony Unwin,et al.  Exploratory spatial data analysis with local statistics , 1998 .

[24]  Cynthia A. Brewer,et al.  Color Use Guidelines for Mapping and Visualization , 1994 .