ABSTRACT
The state government of Sarawak with the help of the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) has continuously made the updated information on the state COVID-19 situation and its ensuing control measures available to general public in the form of daily press statements. However, these statements are merely providing textual information on daily basis though the data are in fact rich in temporal and spatial properties. Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, spatiotemporal analysis becomes the key element to better understand the spread of COVID-19 in various spatial levels worldwide. Hence, there is an urgent need to convert this textual information into more valuable insights by applying geo-visualization techniques and geospatial statistics. The paper demonstrates the prospect of retrieving geospatial data from publicly available document to locate, map and analyze the spread of COVID-19 up to division level of Sarawak. Specifically, map visualization and geospatial statistical analysis are performed for the list of exposed locations, which are indeed locations visited by COVID-19 patients prior to being tested positive in Kuching division, using open-source geospatial software QGIS. It is found that these exposed locations concentrate on the build-up areas in the division and are in south-west to north-east direction of the center of Kuching in September and October 2021. Despite the number of exposed locations published is relatively small compared to the number of confirmed cases reported, both are nearly strongly correlated. The insights gained from such geospatial analysis may assist the local public health authorities to impose applicable disease control interventions at division level. © 2023 Horizon Research Publishing. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to map the accessibility of the existing isolation facilities in Cabagan, Isabela, and propose probable locations suitable for establishing isolation facilities using the Geographic Information System (GIS). Digital datasets of the current isolation facilities were used in the study, along with factors such as land uses, hazards, landfills, and road networks that should be taken into consideration when choosing potential locations for isolation facilities. These factors follow the guidelines set by the Department of Health (DOH). The processing and generation of layers related to the criteria were done using GIS techniques, specifically overlay analysis tools. In order to project an appropriate map of potential isolation facilities in Cabagan, Isabela, the layers were combined and overlaid. The existing isolation facilities are accessible to Milagros Albano District Hospital (MADH) since all of them are adjacent to national or barangay roads. More than half, or 65.38%, of the isolation facilities, belong to areas with low to moderate susceptibility to flooding, and 26.92% are in areas with high susceptibility to flooding. Furthermore, all isolation facilities are open to the public, with 53.85% of existing isolation facilities in residential areas, 7.69% in commercial areas, and 38.46% in agricultural areas. The suitability map of proposed isolation facilities was successfully generated, showing that 100% of the proposed isolation facilities are accessible from any road network in the municipality with low and moderate susceptibility to flooding and low susceptibility to landslides. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Advancement in digital technology opens new doors for food safety auditors when it comes to performing food safety audits. Surge of Covid cases since year 2020 has seen an unprecedented switch to remote auditing by the Food Safety and Quality Programme under the arm of Ministry of Health in Malaysia. Methods: This paper presents the use of QGIS, an open-source cross-platform for geographic information system (GIS) to store, manage and visualise 2 types of data, i.e. real time data collected via a mobile device using QField, an open-source mobile application and also fixed data retrieved from existing database. New data from obtained from field sampling and surveillance presents updated information for food safety auditing and enforcement purposes. A total of 4972 datasets were obtained from the Ministry of Health's Food Safety and Quality Division database on food factories from all 13 states and 3 federal territories in Malaysia. These datasets were transformed and stored into QGIS point layer for performing data classification analysis on clustering of HACCP, GMP and MeSTI certifications. Results: The Penang state has the most HACCP certified companies in fish and fish product category, Selangor is the highest for confectionery industry and Sabah for food services. The general output of mobile GIS provides a big picture of distribution of food safety certifications in Malaysia while more specific adoption of QField can assist in effective field work planning for enforcement officers and auditors leading to cost calculation via information on location, distance and time. Conclusion: QGIS application for spatial and temporal visualisation of data benefits the food safety auditing in Malaysia. © 2023 UPM Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Advancement in digital technology opens new doors for food safety auditors when it comes to performing food safety audits. Surge of Covid cases since year 2020 has seen an unprecedented switch to remote auditing by the Food Safety and Quality Programme under the arm of Ministry of Health in Malaysia. Methods: This paper presents the use of QGIS, an open-source cross-platform for geographic information system (GIS) to store, manage and visualise 2 types of data, i.e. real time data collected via a mobile device using QField, an open-source mobile application and also fixed data retrieved from existing database. New data from obtained from field sampling and surveillance presents updated information for food safety auditing and enforcement purposes. A total of 4972 datasets were obtained from the Ministry of Health's Food Safety and Quality Division database on food factories from all 13 states and 3 federal territories in Malaysia. These datasets were transformed and stored into QGIS point layer for performing data classification analysis on clustering of HACCP, GMP and MeSTI certifications. Results: The Penang state has the most HACCP certified companies in fish and fish product category, Selangor is the highest for confectionery industry and Sabah for food services. The general output of mobile GIS provides a big picture of distribution of food safety certifications in Malaysia while more specific adoption of QField can assist in effective field work planning for enforcement officers and auditors leading to cost calculation via information on location, distance and time. Conclusion: QGIS application for spatial and temporal visualisation of data benefits the food safety auditing in Malaysia. [ FROM AUTHOR]
ABSTRACT
Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) is a topographical system that processes spatial data. Popular spatial algorithms such as spatial join, clipping, area computations and visualizations are implemented either as a basic support or through additional Plugins designed with Python modules. These features are not yet available for video input in QGIS. With the current Covid-19 pandemic outbreak the non-pharmaceutical precautionary measures suggested by the World Health Organization is to wear mask and maintain minimum physical proximity between the two individuals. The proposed system processes the surveillance video captured through CCTV cameras from college campus, detects the persons from the video and computes the physical proximity between people in the captured spaces. The proposed approach also provides important information about individual person getting in contact with how many other people in the given time duration thereby identifying hotspots in the overall spatial expanse. The module is integrated as a plugin in QGIS which is a contribution to the open source software. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
In accordance with the new recovery plan, Next Generation EU (NGEU), and the need to speed up the transition of cities towards a new sustainable model, this paper provides an overview of the outcomes of the PEDRERA project, which is focused on the development of a novel tool able to calculate multiple key performance indicators that can support renovation actions at the district level, according to a Positive Energy District (PED) concept. The new tool is programmed in Python programming language and is useful to evaluate several strategies for the renovation of existing building stock. It moves from a quick list of input according to several Public Private Partnership (PPP) models, in addition to other potential business models. Furthermore, the design of the model is supported by a step-by-step methodology in order to deal with a “financial appraisal” that is interactive in each context, customizable for each stakeholder, and user-friendly. The paper describes this innovative tool and reports on the stronger potential that this model can offer when it runs in a QGIS software environment and interacts with a PostgreSQL database, as demonstrated in two case studies located in Spain.
ABSTRACT
This case study investigates the magnitude and nature of the spatial effect generated by the anti-COVID measures on land surface temperature (LST) in the city of Targu Mures (Marosvasarhely), Romania. The measures were taken by the Romanian government during the state of emergency (March 16 - May 14, 2020) due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. The study shows that - contrary to previous studies carried out on cities in China and India in most of the urban areas of Marosvasarhely LST has increased in the period of health emergency in 2020 concerning the large average of the years 2000-2019. Remote sensing data from the MODIS and the Landsat satellites show. that MODIS data, having a moderate spatial (approximately 1 km) but good temporal resolution (daily measurements), show a temperature increase of +0.78 degrees C, while Landsat data, having better spatial (30 m) but lower temporal resolution, show an even greater increase, +2.36 degrees C in the built-up areas. The difference in temperature increase is mainly due to the spatial resolution difference between the two TIR band sensors. The LST anomaly analysis performed with MODIS data also shows a positive anomaly increase of 1 degrees C. However, despite this increase, with the help of the hotspot-coldspot analysis of the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic we were able to identify 46 significant coldspots that showed a 1- 2 degrees C decrease of LST in April 2020 compared to the average of the previous years in April. Most of these coldspots correspond to factory areas, public transport epicenters, shopping centers, industrial polygons. and non-residential areas. This shows that anti-COVID measures in the medium-sized city of Marosvasarhely had many effects on LST in particular areas that have links to the local economy, trade. and transport. Paired sample t-test for areas identified with LST decrease shows that there is a statistically significant difference in the average LST observed before and after anti-COVID measures were applied. MODIS-based LST is satisfactory for recognizing patterns and trends at large or moderate geographical scales. However, for a hotspot-coldspot analysis of the urban heat islands, it is more suitable to use Landsat data.
ABSTRACT
This study aims to investigate the power system scenario in ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and various challenges being faced by the different stakeholders and individuals who are involved to manage the cause. It investigates how this sector responded to other sectors availing essential services like healthcare, security, data center, etc., during health crisis situation. In order to categorize the impact, region-wise detection of COVID-19 cases for the whole nation has been analyzed for developing the geoprocessing map model using advance technology like Q-GIS 2.18.0. Author also tries to examine some of the major challenges and disruptions faced on supply chain to new and ongoing renewable energy projects particularly solar, wind and hydropower projects in India. Moreover, this paper also tries to investigate first ever 9 min “Light off Event” in India, discussed some of its major consequences that could arise if not handled properly. The role of Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO) during the event in retaining the grid frequency and grid voltage profile within their recommended band has also been discussed. This unprecedented event has been studied and analyzed by taking case study on Sikkim, India and explores the different challenges being faced at state level to manage smooth operation of power supply system. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.