Additional Resources
Location-Allocation Sampling Strategy
- Location-allocation approach was used to develop a formal method of optimally locating air pollution monitoring stations.
- The model identifies locations derived from land use, transportation patterns and biophysical characteristics and controls for spatial autocorrelation.
- Read the following literature for more information Kanaroglou, Pavlos et al (2005). Establishing an air pollution monitoring network for intra-urban population exposure assessment: A location-allocation approach.
We will use a variety of tools and programs for spatial analysis and modeling relationships between public health and urban canopy.
BenMap
BenMap
- BenMap is an open source software program designed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to calculate health care impacts and costs associated with variation in air pollution concentrations.
- We will use BenMap to assess how modifications of existing urban canopy designs in our 13 selected cities to improve public health and reduce health costs.
Fragstats
- Fragstats calculates landscape metrics that quantify spatial characteristics of canopy patterns. We will apply Fragstats to quantify vegetation patterns using a series of composition and configuration indices.
- Composition is simply the variety or abundance of canopy. Spatial configuration is the spatial orientation, arrangement, position or orientation of canopy patches.
- Potential metrics include:
- patch size distribution and density (edge density)
- isolation/proximity, contagion/interspersion (aggregation index, percentage of like adjacencies)
- connectivity (patch cohesion, connectance index)