Understanding of the distribution patterns of sediment erosion, concentration and transport in river basins is critically important as sediment plays a major role in river basin hydrophysical and ecological processes. In this study, we proposed an integrated framework for the assessment of sediment dynamics, including soil erosion (SE), suspended sediment load (SSL) and suspended sediment concentration (SSC), and applied this framework to the Mekong River Basin. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model was adopted with a geographic information system to assess SE and was coupled with a sediment accumulation and a routing scheme to simulate SSL. This framework also analyzed Landsat imagery captured between 1987 and 2000 together with ground observations to interpolate spatio-temporal patterns of SSC. The simulated SSL results from 1987 to 2000 showed the relative root mean square error of 41% and coefficient of determination (R(2)) of 0.89. The polynomial relationship of the near infrared exoatmospheric reflectance and the band 4 wavelength (760-900nm) to the observed SSC at 9 sites demonstrated the good agreement (overall relative RMSE=5.2%, R(2)=0.87). The result found that the severe SE occurs in the upper (China and Lao PDR) and lower (western part of Vietnam) regions. The SSC in the rainy season (June-November) showed increasing and decreasing trends longitudinally in the upper (China and Lao PDR) and lower regions (Cambodia), respectively, while the longitudinal profile of SSL showed a fluctuating trend along the river in the early rainy season. Overall, the results described the unique spatio-temporal patterns of SE, SSL and SSC in the Mekong River Basin. Thus, the proposed integrated framework is useful for elucidating complex process of sediment generation and transport in the land and river systems of large river basins.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
Malaysia has a long coastline stretching over 4,809 km where more than 1,300 km of beaches are experiencing erosion.
Coastal erosion is recognised as the permanent loss of land and habitats along the shoreline resulting in the changes
of the coast. Thus, it is important to detect and monitor shoreline changes especially in Pahang coast by identifying the
rate of shoreline erosion and accretion. This study used temporal data and high spatial resolution imagery (SPOT 5) using
remote sensing and GIS techniques to monitor shoreline changes along 10 study locations, which is from Cherating to
Pekan of the Pahang coast. The total length of shoreline changes is about 14 km (14035.10 m) where all these areas are
very likely to experience erosion ranging from 0.1 to 94.7 ha. On the other hand, these coastal areas found a minimal
accretion with increased sediment from 0.1 to 2.8 ha. Overall, the coastal areas are exposed to higher erosion process
than accretion with a very high vulnerability of erosion rate from 1.8 to 20.9 meter per year. The findings on monitoring
shoreline changes and identifying vulnerable erosion areas might be useful in the policy and decision making for
sustainable coastal management.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
Family support has a strong impact on individuals and there is no exception in substance abuse
recovery process. Family support manages to play a positive role in substance abuse problems. The
present study deals with the developing model of family support substance abuser with the
combination method of Geographic Information System (GIS) and statistical models. The data used
for this study was collected from seven districts in Terengganu with a constant number of
respondents. 35 respondents for each district were involved in this study. It was then processed using
factor analysis (FA) to develop index of family support. By using the developed indices, GIS tool was
used to plot the distribution map of family support indices according to each form of family support.
The result indicated that the highest index for all form of family support abuser was located in Besut
district. High level of family support is essential as an effort for rehabilitation process of substance
abusers.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
Disability is termed as both evolving concept and manifestation of interaction between persons with disabilities (PWDs) and physical and environmental barriers that holds them back from contributing actively in a society. People who fall in this category will find themselves trapped in a such vulnerable condition as they may not be able to cope with their daily problems without high surveillance from their guardian. Development of a mobile apps and web GIS-based healthcare system in Ampang is proposed in this study as this application has a bright potential to assist PWDs in terms of accessibilities to reach healthcare centres. The main objectives of this paper are i) to study the needs assessment on the proposed system, ii) to develop a mobile and web GIS-based healthcare information system and iii) to evaluate the performance of the proposed system. Selected respondents agreed on the development of the prototype system, namely the mobile apps and web system. The system was created with main menus such as doctor home visits, ambulance and medication delivery. Medical support team can also perform analyses in the system for PWD needs such as shortest path analysis, buffering and view of the main menus.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
We used AdaBoost (AB), alternating decision tree (ADTree), and their combination as an ensemble model (AB-ADTree) to spatially predict landslides in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. The models were trained with a database of 152 landslides compiled using Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry, Google Earth images, and field surveys, and 17 conditioning factors (slope, aspect, elevation, distance to road, distance to river, proximity to fault, road density, river density, normalized difference vegetation index, rainfall, land cover, lithology, soil types, curvature, profile curvature, stream power index, and topographic wetness index). We carried out the validation process using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and several parametric and non-parametric performance metrics, including positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, root mean square error, and the Friedman and Wilcoxon sign rank tests. The AB model (AUC = 0.96) performed better than the ensemble AB-ADTree model (AUC = 0.94) and successfully outperformed the ADTree model (AUC = 0.59) in predicting landslide susceptibility. Our findings provide insights into the development of more efficient and accurate landslide predictive models that can be used by decision makers and land-use managers to mitigate landslide hazards.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
Introduction: Physical activity has been shown to be beneficial for the prevention of
obesity and non-communicable diseases. Our contemporary way of life that is technology
dependent has significantly reduced physical activity. This study aimed to determine
accelerometer-measured physical activity (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA))
among adults in high and low walkability neighbourhoods in Penang and Kota Bharu,
Malaysia.
Methods: Participants (n=490) were sampled using multistage sampling method
from neighbourhoods with varied levels of walkability using Geographical Information
System (GIS). Physical activity was measured objectively using Actigraph GT3X+
accelerometers, worn by the participants on their waists for a period of 5 to 7 days.
Results:
The participants had a mean of 13.5 min/day of MVPA. Total MVPA was significantly
higher among participants in high walkability neighbourhoods (19.7 min/day vs. 9.1 min/
day). Results from t-test showed that the time spent on MVPA per day was significantly
lower among participants residing in low walkability neighbourhoods. The final model
of the MIXED model statistical tests showed that total MVPA was significantly associated
with BMI, but not with WC measurements, after adjusting for covariates.
Conclusion: Most
of the participants had very low MVPA and did not achieve the current physical activity
recommendations, implying that Malaysian adults residing in these two cities were not
physically active to achieve health benefits. Results are suggestive of the importance of the
walkability concept in neighbourhoods in encouraging physical activity and healthy body
weight among Malaysians.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
Although geographic information system-based studies are particularly increasing in other sectors, few have embraced their full potential in health services allocation in Malaysia. This study aimed to produce a visual map on the distribution of smoking cessation clinics (SCCs) in Malaysia and analyze its pattern against the national population of smokers. SCC addresses were obtained from the government website and mapped using geographic information system tools. A total of 199 and 449 private and public SCCs was mapped throughout the country, respectively. The lowest SCC to smoker population ratio was in the state of Negeri Sembilan with 1:3000. The highest SCC to smoker population ratio was in Sabah with 1 SCC for 15 000 smokers. Almost 70% of SCCs were primary health clinics. Smoking cessation clinics were distributed throughout all the states in Malaysia except the state of Sabah.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing are geospatial technologies that have been used for many years in environmental studies, including gathering and analysing of information on the physical parameters of wildlife habitats and modelling of habitat assessments. The home range estimation provided in a GIS environment offers a viable method of quantifying habitat use and facilitating a better understanding of species and habitat relationships. This study used remote sensing, GIS and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) application tools as methods to assess the habitat parameters preference of Asian elephant. Satellite images and topographical maps were used for the environmental and topographical habitat parameter generation encompassing land use-land cover (LULC), Normalized Digital Vegetation Index (NDVI), water sources, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), slope and aspect. The kernel home range was determined using elephant distribution data from satellite tracking, which were then analysed using habitat parameters to investigate any possible relationship. Subsequently, the frequency of the utilization distribution of elephants was further analysed using spatial and geostatistical analyses. This was followed by the use of AHP for identifying habitat preference, selection of significant habitat parameters and classification of criterion. The habitats occupied by the elephants showed that the conservation of these animals would require good management practices within and outside of protected areas so as to ensure the level of suitability of the habitat, particularly in translocation areas.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
The new innovative of technology by (GIS) Geographic Information System, (LIS) Land
Information System and (CIS) Cadastral Information System has been playing a leading
role in the development of cadastral and land administration in this study area. The
Customary ways and approach to the land titling and registration in the time past has
resulted in the delay in the processes of obtaining title to the land. Land administration
system in Nigeria includes the processes of land registration, cadastral mapping, land
valuation and land inventory. Most of developing nation particularly Nigeria is faced
with the problem of poor land administration and management. Technology is
paramount in acquiring a proper technological development in land administration.
This study tried to encourage land title registration by providing web technologies that
are faster and suitable with a low rate and minimum delay. The need to develop a
dynamic web for the processes in the land registration arises from the dynamic
relationship to the land of the people. The delay in time and process of land registration
couple with the exploitation in land related activities has called for the urgent
intervention of all the stakeholders in land administration. PHP programming language
was used as a server side scripting languages together with MyAdmin SQL, a website
was developed for the processes involved in the land registration having examined the
fastest way to solve the problem. A robust dynamic database that is reliable and easy
to use was also developed which is capable of accommodating several numbers of
applicants. The applicants, monitoring agency and the government have the advantage
of checking all the processes on line without any contact with the officers working on
the certificate.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
The selection of landfill, which happens to be an environmental issue, has attracted
the attention of many researchers from the fields of waste management and
environmental sciences worldwide. Hence, in the attempt to overcome this problem,
some decision-making techniques, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), have been widely utilized in prior studies,
where multiple criteria, particularly in site selection process, have been employed.
With that, this article identifies the selection criteria for landfill selection and presents
a review concerning decision-making techniques that have been used in past studies
for two important phases involved during the process of site selection, namely, (1)
preliminary site screening, and (2) assessment of site suitability. As such, some 82
articles chosen from 34 peer-reviewed journals had been investigated in detail. The
results showed that 42.68% of the selected articles integrated GIS and MCDA
techniques to solve the problem of landfill site selection, and this is followed by
integrating GIS and fuzzy MCDA technique (18.29%). Both these techniques are indeed
powerful tools that can guide decision-makers to solve problems in making decisions
on the basis of various criteria under certainty and uncertainty results, mainly involving
environmental issues.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
The use of remote sensing in detecting aerosol or air pollution is not widely applied in Malaysia. The large area of coverage provided by remote sensing satellite may well be the solution to the lack of spatial coverage by the local ground air quality monitoring stations. This article discusses the application of remote sensing instruments in air quality monitoring of Malaysia. The remote sensing data is validated using ground truths either from local ground air monitoring stations or the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). The correlation between remote sensing is relatively good with R from 0.5 to 0.9 depending on the satellite used. The correlation is much improved using the mixed effects algorithm applied on MODIS Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data. Accuracy of predicted air quality data by remote sensing is generally tested using the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) against the ground truths data. Besides the Geographic Information System (GIS) tools are used in manipulating the data from both remote sensing and ground stations so as to produce meaningful results such as spatio-temporal pattern mapping of air pollution. Overall the results showed that the application of remote sensing instruments in air quality monitoring in Malaysia is very useful and can be improved further.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
The aim of this paper is to review the potentialities and major methodological challenges
of integrating remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) with socioeconomic data
from published articles or book chapters. RS and GIS combined with social science (SS)(termed as
geoinformation technology) serve many applications for sustainable management and monitoring of
the environment. This combined approach gives more accurate results than the single one. It makes
information available about the trend and pattern of land use and land cover change (LUCC) with
socioeconomic variables like population, demographic or income. This combined study which links
RS and GIS with socioeconomic data can also be used successfully for monitoring transmission rate
of disease and mapping or preparing vulnerability index. For impact assessment and modelling, this
combined technology provides better results than the single one. There are some methodological
problems for the researchers to link completely two different disciplines as the object of study and
observational unit is completely different. However, this interdisciplinary study is gaining popularity
day by day to researchers from different disciplines as well as decision makers.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
Preparation of natural hazards maps are vital and essential for urban development. The main scope of this study is to synthesize natural hazard maps in a single multi-hazard map and thus to identify suitable areas for the urban development. The study area is the drainage basin of Xerias stream (Northeastern Peloponnesus, Greece) that has frequently suffered damages from landslides, floods and earthquakes. Landslide, flood and seismic hazard assessment maps were separately generated and further combined by applying the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and utilizing a Geographical Information System (GIS) to produce a multi-hazard map. This map represents the potential suitability map for urban development in the study area and was evaluated by means of uncertainty analysis. The outcome revealed that the most suitable areas are distributed in the southern part of the study area, where the landslide, flood and seismic hazards are at low and very low level. The uncertainty analysis shows small differences on the spatial distribution of the suitability zones. The produced suitability map for urban development proves a satisfactory agreement between the suitability zones and the landslide and flood phenomena that have affected the study area. Finally, 40% of the existing urban pattern boundaries and 60% of the current road network are located within the limits of low and very low suitability zones.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
An accuracy in the hydrological modelling will be affected when having limited data sources especially at ungauged areas. Due to this matter, it will not receiving any significant attention especially on the potential hydrologic extremes. Thus, the objective was to analyse the accuracy of the long-term projected rainfall at ungauged rainfall station using integrated Statistical Downscaling Model and Geographic Information System (SDSM-GIS) model. The SDSM was used as a climate agent to predict the changes of the climate trend in Δ2030s by gauged and ungauged stations. There were five predictors set have been selected to form the local climate at the region which provided by NCEP (validated) and CanESM2-RCP4.5 (projected). According to the statistical analyses, the SDSM was controlled to produce reliable validated results with lesser %MAE (<23%) and higher R. The projected rainfall was suspected to decrease 14% in Δ2030s. All the RCPs agreed the long term rainfall pattern was consistent to the historical with lower annual rainfall intensity. The RCP8.5 shows the least rainfall changes. These findings then used to compare the accuracy of monthly rainfall at control station (Stn 2). The GIS-Kriging method being as an interpolation agent was successfully to produce similar rainfall trend with the control station. The accuracy was estimated to reach 84%. Comparing between ungauged and gauged stations, the small %MAE in the projected monthly results between gauged and ungauged stations as a proved the integrated SDSM-GIS model can producing a reliable long-term rainfall generation at ungauged station.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
Analysis of relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and Chlorophyll-a (chl-a) improves our understanding on the variability and productivity of the marine environment, which is important for exploring fishery resources. Monthly level 3 and daily level 1 images of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Satellite (MODIS) derived SST and chl-a from July 2002 to June 2011 around the archipelagic waters of Spermonde Indonesia were used to investigate the relationship between SST and chl-a and to forecast the potential fishing ground of Rastrelliger kanagurta. The results indicated that there was positive correlation between SST and chl-a (R=0.3, p<0.05). Positive correlation was also found between SST and chl-a with the catch of R. kanagurta (R=0.7, p<0.05). The potential fishing grounds of R. kanagurta were found located along the coast (at accuracy of 76.9%). This study indicated that, with the integration of remote sensing technology, statistical modeling and geographic information systems (GIS) technique were able to determine the relationship between SST and chl-a and also able to forecast aggregation of R. kanagurta. This may contribute in decision making and reducing search hunting time and cost in fishing activities.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
The use of environmental planning tools for optimum solid waste landfill siting taking into account all environmental implications was carried out by applying Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to enhance the research information obtained from initial analysis using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The objective of this study is to identify the most eco-friendly landfill site by conducting a LCA analysis upon 5 potential GIS generated sites which incorporated eleven important criteria related to the social, environmental, and economical factors. The LCA analysis utilized the daily distance covered by collection trucks among the 5 selected landfill sites to generate inventory data on total energy usage for each landfill sites. The planning and selection of the potential sites were facilitated after conducting environmental impact analysis upon the inventory data which showed the least environmental impact.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that cause landslides in the area along the new road between Cameron Highlands and Gua Musang. Landslide factors such as lineaments have been extracted from remote sensing data (Landsat TM image) using ERDAS software. A soil map has been produced using field work and laboratory analysis, and the lithology, roads, drainage pattern and rainfall have been digitized using ILWIS software together with the slope angle and elevation from the Digital Elevation Model (DEM). All these parameters, which are vital for landslide hazard assessment, have been integrated into the geographical information system (GIS) for further data processing. Weightage for these landslide relevant factors related to their influence in landslide occurrence using the heuristic method has been carried out. The results from this combination through a modified ‘index overlay with multi class maps’ model was used to produce a landslide hazard zonation map. Five classes of potential landslide hazard have been derived as the following: very low hazard zone 17.27%, low hazard zone 39.35%, medium hazard zone 25.1%, high hazard zone 15.35% and very high hazard zone 2.93%. The results from this work have been checked through the landslide inventory using available aerial photos interpretation and field work, and show that the slope and elevation have the most direct affect on landslide occurrence.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
The determination of the high-risk area and clusters of typhoid cases is critical in typhoid control. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the epidemiology and spatial distribution of typhoid in four selected districts in Kelantan using GIS (geographical information system). A total of 1215 (99%) of the cases were coordinated with GPS (global positioning system) and mapping was done using ArcGIS 9.2. Spatial analysis was performed to determine the cluster and high-risk area of typhoid. Results showed that typhoid incidence was not associated with race and sex. Most affected were from the age group of 5-14 followed by 15-24 year olds. Nine sub-districts were categorized as highly endemic. In addition typhoid has shown a significant tendency to cluster and a total of 22 hotspots were found in Kota Bharu, Bachok and Tumpat with a few sub districts identified as high risk for typhoid. No significant relationships between the treated water ratio and flood risk area were found with the cluster of cases. The cluster of typhoid cases in the endemic area did not appear to be related to environmental risk factors. Understanding the characteristics of these clusters would enable the prevention of typhoid disease in the future.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
Countering the dangers associated the present extreme climate not only requires continuous improvement of local disaster
prevention engineering infrastructure but also needs an enhanced understanding of the causes of the disasters. This study
investigates the geologic hazard risk of 53 slopeland villages in Pingtung county of southern Taiwan. First, remote sensing
(RS) techniques were utilized to interpret environmental geology and geologic hazard zonation, including dip slope, fault,
landslide and debris flow. GIS map overlay analysis was used to further identify the extent of the geologic hazard zonation.
As a final step, field investigation is used to comprehend geologic, topographic conditions and the geologic hazard risk
specific to each locality. Based on data analysis and field investigation results, this study successfully integrates RS, GIS
and GPS techniques to construct a geologic hazard risk assessment method of slopeland village. The results of this study
can be used to promote support for future disaster prevention and disaster mitigation efforts.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems
In Malaysia, the incidence of Dengue Fever (DF) and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) have risen dramatically in the last twenty years. With the use of Geographical Information System an explanation for the spread and control of these diseases can be obtained. This study aims to develop a spatial modeling that can predict the risks for DF and DHF based on environmental factors such as physical surroundings, land use, rainfall, temperature and GIS application using logistic regression. A total of 16 variables were used in the process of spatial modeling development. At the significant level of 0.05, the results of logistic regression showed that only 10 out of 16 significant variables in the modeling process. The accuracy of the resulting model is 70.3%. A crucial feature of this study is a risk area map for incidence of DF and DHF in the study area. This study also highlights the application of spatial analysis in planning and implementing the process for the prevention and control activities of DF and DHF in Malaysia.
Matched MeSH terms: Geographic Information Systems