New Data and Approaches for Urban Analysis: Modelling Residential Densities

The potential of Remote Sensing (RS) data for understanding urban environments is best unlocked by augmenting satellite information with ancillary sources of data. Integrating urban RS with new, often commercial, sources of socio-economic data offers the prospect of creating vastly enhanced models of the form and functioning of urban settlements. This paper takes some steps towards that end-goal by considering the contribution that four different datasets make to generating improved models of residential densities for a study region of Bristol, England. These datasets, available in the UK, are: the 1991 Census; a satellite image; the Ordnance Survey GB's Address-Point, and Code-Point products. The authors argue that closer RS-GIS integration will create new opportunities for modelling and understanding urban systems. Such models are considered a necessary pre-requisite for effective and sustainable management of urban environments.     

Temporal Uncertainty in a Small Area Open Geodemographic Classification

The 2001 Output Area Classification (2001 OAC) is an open source geodemographic classification of the UK built exclusively from 2001 UK Census data. There has been considerable user interest in its applicability to subsequent time periods, particularly given the potential propensity of characteristics and attributes in some areas to change during inter‐censual periods. Users often purchase commercial geodemographic classification products in the belief that purely census‐based classifications such as the 2001 OAC are uniformly unreliable because there is no temporal updating of input data. Yet there is evidence to suggest that whilst some UK neighborhoods are prone to sudden changes, many others change very little over protracted time periods. Using measures that are available at the small area level, temporal uncertainty indicators can be constructed to identify those areas that are less stable. Using mid‐year population estimates and dwelling stock data, this article develops three temporal uncertainty indicators. These provide a reliable means of gauging the stability or otherwise of neighborhood conditions. The conclusion from this is that while a large number of small areas in the UK do experience change over time, this change is not uniform in either degree or distribution, or by geodemographic type.     

Research Paper. The predictive use of GIS to model property valuations

Abstract

GIS is a technology which is ideally suited to analysis of the market values of properties, since such values are based upon spatial comparisons as well as individual property attributes. Great Britain now has a new mechanism of local taxation, the council tax, which is based upon the capital values of properties. Central to the implementation of this tax has been the potentially controversial assignment of properties to valuation ‘bands’. This paper posits that a geographical model embedded within a GIS provides an alternative means of devising credible capital values, and anticipates some of the prospects for the use of GIS in local revenue-raising.     

Grid-enabling Geographically Weighted Regression: A Case Study of Participation in Higher Education in England

Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) is a method of spatial statistical analysis used to explore geographical differences in the effect of one or more predictor variables upon a response variable. However, as a form of local analysis, it does not scale well to (especially) large data sets because of the repeated processes of fitting and then comparing multiple regression surfaces. A solution is to make use of developing grid infrastructures, such as that provided by the National Grid Service (NGS) in the UK, treating GWR as an "embarrassing parallel" problem and building on existing software platforms to provide a bridge between an open source implementation of GWR (in R) and the grid system. To demonstrate the approach, we apply it to a case study of participation in Higher Education, using GWR to detect spatial variation in social, cultural and demographic indicators of participation.     

Geodemographics,visualisation, and social networks in applied geography

This review begins by acknowledging the success of geodemographics as an important area of activity in applied geography. However, it then develops a critique of the conceptual and computational underpinnings of the approach, and argues that changes in data supply and online communication have rendered current practices obsolete. It presents elements of a new perspective, entailing: changes in the specification, estimation and testing of online geodemographic systems; adoption of consultative practices from online folksonomies; automated generation of pen portraits; and ‘on the fly’ visualisation of the outcome of geodemographic classifications.     

The academic success of GIS in geography: Problems and prospects

The success of GIS has in some ways proved to be a mixed blessing to academic geography. While quantitative geography has developed as a disciplinary specialism over a long period of time, the infusion of GIS has been more rapid and applications-led. Geography has been a consumer, not producer, of mainstream GIS software, and as such GIS may even contribute towards accelerated de-skilling of the discipline. The technology nevertheless provides a crucial means of dealing with the current proliferation of digital data, and has important implications for the future development of geography.     

Geodemographics as a tool for targeting neighbourhoods in public health campaigns

Geodemographics offers the prospects of integrating, modelling and mapping health care needs and other health indicators that are useful for targeting neighbourhoods in public health campaigns. Yet reports about this application domain has to date been sporadic. The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of a bespoke geodemographic system for neighbourhood targeting in an inner city public health authority, Southwark Primary Care Trust, London. This system, the London Output Area Classification (LOAC), is compared to six other geodemographic systems from both governmental and commercial sources. The paper proposes two new indicators for assessing the performance of geodemographic systems for neighbourhood targeting based on local hospital demand data. The paper also analyses and discusses the utility of age- and sex standardisation of geodemographic profiles of health care demand.     

On the significance of sensitivity changes in eppley pyranometers†: Research note

Abstract

Analysis of radiation data from Suffield, Alberta and Swift Current, Saskatchewan reveals discrepancies that are strongly linked to changes in the actual and assigned calibration factors of the pyranometers used at those locations.     

The diurnal variation of wind direction at Calgary

The winds at Calgary airport show a diurnal variation. Night winds tend to be northwest, with afternoon winds from the Southeast. Other data show that this variation is not associated with local topography, but seems to be an effect of the Rocky Mountains to the west.