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Research
CIESIN
is actively engaged in a number of research areas that address the impacts
of human activities and institutional arrangements on the environment,
and in turn, the ways in which environmental change affects human health
and welfare. Hyperlinked project titles link to research project Websites.
| Climate-Related
Studies |
| Climate
Change Information Resource for the New York Metropolitan Area
(CCIR-NY)
Researchers: Roberta Balstad Miller (PI), CIESIN; W. Christopher Lenhardt and
Robert Downs (Co-PI's), CIESIN; Cynthia Rosenzweig (Co-PI), GISS;
William Solecki (Co-PI), Geography Department, Hunter College
Abstract: The purpose of this research is to advance scientific research
and public policy by improving the communication of climate change
data and information to urban policy- and decision-makers and,
by so doing, to improve their capacity to respond to the impacts
of climate change. It consists of research on the climate change
information needs and information-seeking behavior of urban policy-
and decision-makers and using this research to construct a prototype
Urban Climate Change Information System focusing on the New York
metropolitan area.
Funder:
US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
Status:
Completed
Methodology
for Applying IRI Climate Forecasts for Local Public Health Interventions:
A Pilot Study of Climate-Health-Population Mobility Interactions
in Mali
Researchers: Sally E. Findley (PI), Center for Population
and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health of CU; Deborah
Balk (Co-PI), CIESIN; Christopher Small, Lamont Doherty Earth
Observatory; Matt Barlow, International Research Institute for
Climate Prediction (IRI); Yeya Toure, University of Mali
Abstract: This pilot study develops methods to link
local and IRI climate data and downscale IRI climate forecasts
to local levels suitable for program planning. It develops a field
study methodology appropriate for sampling in micro-climate zones
where variation in anomaly patterns will call for different public
health interventions. The pilot study will be used to determine
the extent to which behavioral and health responses to climate
shifts can be documented retrospectively and prospectively through
survey and administrative records. It will focus on the types
of behaviors and decisions people confront in the event of a climate
event (both excesses and deficits of rainfall and temperature)
in the selected study zone of Niono, Mali. The outcome of the
study will enable the team to move ahead with its larger comparative
African study, as well as inform IRI teams about methodological
requirements for local applications of the climate forecasts.
Funder:
International Research Institute for Climate Prediction
Status:
Completed
Climate,
Health and Land Cover/Land Use Interactions in Kenya
Researchers: Deborah Balk, CIESIN; Chris Small, Lamont Doherty
Earth Observatory; Dan Kammen, UC-Berkeley; Majid Ezzati, WHO
Abstract: This study addresses the following questions:
(1) To what extent are the transmissions of various diseases in
Kenya subject to climate variations? (2) To which climate or land
cover parameter is each disease most responsive? (3) How much
of the variability in each disease's response to climate or land
cover change is related to the interactions between the diseases?
This study includes multiple methodologies from the earth and
social sciences appropriate for the analysis of remotely-sensed,
climate, clinic, and population data. The research team has assembled
an integrated, georeferenced database comprised of a ten-year
record for multiple diseases (e.g., malaria, acute respiratory
infection, anemia, diarrheal diseases, intestinal parasites, malnutrition,
schistosomiasis, urinary tract infections) from clinic records,
for multiple clinics in Laikipia District, Kenya. These are linked
with (daily and) monthly rainfall data from meteorological stations,
and with Landsat imagery (from 1987).
Funder:
The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Status:
Completed
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| Conservation |
GIS-based Assessment of Undeveloped Parcels in New York Coastal Counties
Researchers:Yuri Gorokhovich (PI)
Abstract: The objective of this project is to assemble existing parcel data from coastal counties of New York State that will be used by LISS and NYSDEC officials in conservation of the most significant remaining unprotected and undeveloped parcels. The developed methodology will evaluate undeveloped coastal parcel data in numerical ways to identify a score that will be used in the final analysis of categorizing undeveloped coastal parcels according to their conservation values. Part of the data set related to Westchester County will be hosted on an Internet Mapping Server together with similar data from the project Hudson River Communities Vacant Property Inventory, thus increasing the value and outcome of the project.The developed methodology of the GIS-based assessment and compiled database will help NYSDEC to improve their current coastal management and assessment practices. Preservation of undeveloped parcels within New York’s watershed area of Long Island Sound will promote conservation of open space, landscapes and ecosystems; improve access to the Sound; prioritize property types for natural resources conservation and finally reduce amount of non-point source pollution reaching Long Island Sound.
Funder:
New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission
Status: Completed
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| Cyberinfrastructure |
Geoinformatics for Geochemistry (GfG)
Researchers: CIESIN; Harvard University; University of Kansas;
Oregon State University;
Boston University;
Boise State University
Abstract: A program of integrated data management projects intended to develop, maintain and operate digital geochemical data collections, so as to maximize their application in research and education. The GfG system supports the long-term preservation, discovery, retrieval, and analysis of geochemical data and facilitates their integration with the broad array of other available Earth science parameters through use of advanced information technologies and data management practices.
Databases within the GfG system are developed, operated and maintained by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers at the collaborating institutions.
Funder: NSF
Status: Active
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| Environment and Health |
A Spatial Analysis
of Childhood Mortality in West Africa
Researchers:
Deborah Balk, Adam Storeygard, and Melissa Newman, CIESIN; Tom
Pullum, University of Texas; Fern Greenwell, ORC-Macro
Abstract:
It is suggested that environmental or geographic factors—e.g., population density, climate, and disease environment—play an important role in determining infant and child survival
above and beyond that played by individual and household level
factors. Only recently, however, have relevant spatial data become
available and have demographic survey data systematically recorded
geographical location of surveyed households and has the technology
to integrate these data become accessible. This study estimates
the risk of infant and child death in 10 West African countries
attributable to individual, household and spatially explicit geographic
factors; 120,000 births occurring in the 10 years prior to 1997-2001
Demographic and Health Survey dates are evaluated. Results from
a generalized linear model show that spatial variables explain
away a good deal of the country-specific variation in mortality
and that they are associated with (and may be mediated by) the
household characteristics. Implications for research and policy
will be addressed.
Funders:
Financial support for
this project was provided by ORC Macro under the USAID-funded
MEASURE DHS+ program. The research was also facilitated by complementary
activities underway at CIESIN funded by the NASA Socioeconomic
Data and Application Center (Contract NAS 5-98162) and the UN
Millennium Development Project.
Status:
Completed
Prevention
of Health Effects in Children from Energy-Related Air Pollution:
An International Collaborative Project
Researchers:
Frederica Perera and Dialang Tang, Columbia
Center for Children's Environmental Health; Mark Becker, CIESIN
Abstract: This research uses a novel biomedical approach—molecular epidemiology—to determine the health risks to children
from environmental pollutants generated by burning of coal and
other fossil fuels. The Columbia Center for Children's Environmental
Health (CCCEH) is collaborating with the Columbia University Center
for International Earth Science Information (CIESIN), the Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and representatives of the Chongqing
Municipal Government to launch a new project in P. R. China. The
China project will determine the health benefits to newborns of
reducing in utero exposure to toxic air pollutants generated by
coal burning. Through this collaboration, the research in China
will be closely linked with ongoing projects in the United States and Poland.
Funder:
The Rasmussen Foundation
Status:
Completed
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| Environment and Social Dynamics |
Hydrology and Social Interactions: A Focus on Conflict in Africa
Researchers:
Marc Levy (PI) and Christian Webersik, CIESIN
Abstract: Does climatic and hydrologic variability influence patterns of civil war outbreak? Using data for Africa, and controlling for social, economic and political factors, this project aims (1) to test hypotheses linking water scarcity and variability to civil war outbreak, ceteris paribus, (2) to develop and test a methodology for combining gridded environmental time series data with spatial time series conflict data, (3) to communicate the findings and implications to decision-makers, and (4) to produce a data collection useful to a wide range of scholars of civil war, human security, and other fields who are interested in the impacts of water scarcity on human wellbeing and behavior. The uniquely interdisciplinary research team is composed of hydrologists, political scientists and geographers, aiming to generate a set of country-level and subnational-level water indicators useful to a range of social science research needs, including public health, economic development, demography, and land use/land cover change. The project will have broader impact as well, with vital policy implications in fields such as early warning, humanitarian assistance, and development planning.
Funder:
NSF
Status:
Active
2006–2008
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| Gridding of Demographic and Socioeconomic Data |
| New Methods for Understanding Intra-Urban
Contours at a Global Scale
Researchers: Deborah Balk (PI), Baruch College-City University; Ernesto Rodriguez and Son V. Nghiem, California Institute of Technology; Christopher Small, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory
Abstract: A global and consistent characterization of land use
and land change in urban and suburban environments are
crucial for many fundamental social and economic science studies
and applications. Here, we present for the first time a dense
sampling method (DSM) that uses satellite scatterometer data at
a coarse resolution (~12 km) to delineate urban and intra-urban
areas at a much higher resolution (~1 km). The tradeoff is that the daily or near daily temporal resolution is reduced to yearly or multi-year time scale, which is still appropriate to map urban
areas and to identify interannual changes in most cases. The
DSM results will be analyzed together with information on
population and housing censuses, with Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) of moderate and high spatial resolution optical satellite imagery, and with both DMSP night lights.
Funder: NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
Status: Active
Revitalizing Urban Population Projections: New Data, New Methods
Researchers: Deborah L. Balk (PI), Baruch College-City University; Christopher Small, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory; Mark Montgomery, Population Council; Thomas Buettner, UN Population Division
Abstract: As the developing world continues to urbanize, and Africa and Asia approach the point at which they will become more urban than rural, new investments in demographic data and research methods will be required to understand and address the needs of urban residents. At a minimum, policy makers will need defensible estimates of city population sizes, rates of growth, and geographic extents if they are to formulate effective development strategies. At present the demographic research community cannot supply such estimates.The goal of the proposed research team is to produce and evaluate new spatially-explicit demographic methods for estimating and projecting city populations in the developing world. The essence of our approach is to merge several important sources of information that have yet to figure into city estimates and projections for developing countries: spatially-coded information (such as urban spatial extents, derived from satellite data [CIESIN et al., 2005] and administrative areas); and survey data on urban fertility, child mortality, migration, and age structure (as provided by the World Fertility Surveys [WFS], the Demographic and Health Surveys [DHS] , and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys [MICS]), along with the census data that are the basis of current estimates.
Funder: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Status: Active
The
Development of Spatial Data Databases of Human Settlements and
of Population Distribution by Urban and Rural Population for the
Developing World
Researchers: Deborah Balk, CIESIN; Uwe Deichmann, World
Bank; Stanley Wood, International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI)
Abstract: There are increasing demands for greater
specificity in defining the impacts of agricultural research and
development, particularly with regard to the likely impacts of
policy, technology, and institutional changes on poverty. The
development of spatially disaggregated global population databases
represents a significant contribution to meeting those demands.
However, most means of assessing the economic consequences of
change in the agricultural sector involve the identification of
impacts on producers, predominantly located in rural areas, and
consumers, increasingly represented by urban populations in many
countries. Notwithstanding the important challenge of properly
characterizing combined production and consumption patterns in
rural households, a major step forward in impact assessment would
be the spatial delineation of human settlements and rural and
urban populations. The purpose of this research is to produce
a gridded urban-rural dataset, with each pixel representing not
only population size and density, but also urban or rural character.
Funder:
International
Food Policy Research Insititute
Status:
Active
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| Human Impacts on
Biodiversity |
| Biological
Assessment of the Central Truong Son Mountain Range
Researchers: Melina Laverty (PI), Center for Biodiversity
and Conservation (CBC) at the American Museum for Natural History
(AMNH); John Mickelson (Co-PI), CIESIN
Abstract:
Current and historical land use/land cover,
habitat and vegetation patterns for the Central Truong Son Mountain
Range (CTS) are being mapped and analyzed with the aid of remotely
sensed satellite data. The analysis will provide a baseline spatial
framework for biodiversity assessment and conservation planning
in the region, in support of research underway with the World
Wildlife Federation - Indochina Programme (WWF). The Truong Son
Mountain Range located along the border of Laos and Vietnam harbors
an incredibly diverse flora and fauna and a high level of endemism
of both global and regional significance. It has received international
attention for several recent discoveries of large mammal species.
Biological, geophysical and ethnological data will be combined
with field data collected by CBC over the past three years, enabling
the examination of patterns of biodiversity distribution relative
to human resource use.
Funder: Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) at Columbia
University
Status:
Completed
Last
of the Wild and Human Footprint Project
Researchers:
Malanding Jaiteh, Marc Levy and Antoinette
Wannebo of CIESIN; Kent H. Redford, Eric W. Sanderson and Gillian
Woolmer of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Abstract: To inform the priority setting discussion
of where to focus limited conservation resources, WCS and CIESIN
conducted a globally extensive GIS analysis of the most recent
appropriate publicly available global digital datasets to locate
the remaining wild areas in the world. Previous attempts to map
wilderness areas used older data or data covering a lesser extent.
Our analysis first defined what is “not wild” using
information on land cover, population density, stable lights and
human infrastructure, thus creating an inverse map of the potential
wild areas. Second these wild areas are placed in a relative context
by normalizing them with respect to different biomes on each continent.
Finally results are checked with conservation biologists from
the WCS international conservation programs and other data to
verify our mapping. The resulting map can be used as a conservation
reconnaissance tool, for strategic planning of conservation investments,
and for other global analyses.
Funder:
Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) at Columbia
University
Status:
Completed
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| Information Management |
Discovery, Access, and Delivery of Data for the International Polar Year
Researchers:
A collaboration between NSIDC, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center for Biogeochemical Dynamics (ORNL DAAC), the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) at Columbia University, and the Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN); and International Permafrost Association's Arctic Coastal Dynamics (ACD) project and the interagency Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH).
Abstract:
The project aims to improve the availability of Arctic coastal data. Our goal is to develop a system that can be readily extended to support the International Polar Year (IPY). The project has two phases. The first phase will focus on identification, acquisition, and description of data to facilitate discovery and will build off ORNL's Mercury toolset for metadata harvesting, indexing, and searching. The second phase will focus on the advertisement, visualization, and delivery of the data in a manner that facilitates analysis. As part of the first phase we are conducting a small user workshop in November 2006 to develop the specific requirements for the system. As the system is developed, this site will provide tools for registering and accessing Arctic coastal data.
Funder: NASA
Status: Active
Managing
and Preserving Geospatial Electronic Records (MAPGER)
Researchers:
Robert S. Chen, (Director), Robert R. Downs, (Co-Director), Mark
Becker, John Mickelson, and John Scialdone, CIESIN
Abstract:
This project is investigating the requirements for state and local
government archivists, records managers, and other institutional
recordkeepers to manage and preserve electronic records with significant
geospatial components, especially those records generated by Geographic
Information System (GIS) software. The project seeks to identify
and recommend practical and appropriate policies, techniques,
standards, and practices to manage geospatial electronic records
(GERs) to support their long-term retention and dissemination
and to facilitate their usability and utility as important information
resources of significant historical interest.
Funder: National Historical Publications
and Records Commission (NHPRC) of the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA)
Status:
Completed (Web site ongoing)
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| Land Use |
Land Use/Land Cover Change Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean
Researchers: Marc Levy (Co-PI), CIESIN; Mitch Aide (Co-PI), University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras; David Carr (Co-PI), University of California, Santa Barbara; Matthew Clark (Co-PI), Sonoma State University; Deborah Balk (Co-PI), Baruch School of Public Affairs, City University of NY; Maria Muniz, CIESIN; Ricardo Grau, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; Carlos Zambrana Torrelio
Abstract: Economic globalization is exerting an enormous impact on human and natural systems in Latin
America and Caribbean (LAC). To address this challenge, this project takes a multi-disciplinary/multi-scale approach
to evaluating how changes in demography and land use are affecting natural and human systems at the continental, country, and municipality scales in Latin America and the Caribbean.
We will explore how land use patterns are affected by demographic, economic,
and ecological factors. We expect to identify
two major patterns: 1) extensive conversion of natural ecosystems to modern agriculture, particularly in
areas with little topographic relief, and 2) abandonment of marginal agricultural and grazing lands,
particularly in mountainous and remote regions, permitting ecosystem recovery. We anticipate that this
dual trend will be most evident in countries and regions further along the demographic and economic
transition axes, while developing nations and regions lagging in these transitions will experience
relatively less intensification of lands through modern farming techniques and relatively more continued conversion of mountainous regions and remote frontiers.
Funder: NSF
Status: Active
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| Natural Hazards |
Social and Environmental Vulnerability Disasters
Researchers: Gilbert Burnham(PI), John Hopkins School of Public Health;
Yuri Gorokhovich (Co-PI), CIESIN;
Courtland Robinson (Co-PI),
Shannon Doocy (Co-PI)
Abstract:There is a growing awareness of the need for better measurements and models of vulnerability to natural disasters and for improved management of information that guides the humanitarian response. A collaboration between the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and CIESIN will bring together the fields of physical science, demography, public health, and informatics in order to develop an integrated approach to disaster assessment that will enhance the understanding of vulnerability and provide information for decision making in the post-disaster context. The research will develop the means by which spatial dependencies and interactions between population and environmental variables can be described and studied using GIS models, available socio-demographic information, and data from field surveys of disaster-affected areas with the dual objectives of assessing the risk of populations to natural disasters, and providing information on affected populations to decision makers in the post-disaster relief and rehabilitation environment. In terms of the broader results of the research—modeling population vulnerability and risk in natural disasters—it is intended that those models will be used to inform post-disaster assessments of surviving populations by presenting clear visual representations of disaster risk and impact on populations, enabling governments and humanitarian organizations to better locate need and allocate resources in the aftermath of disasters.
Funding: NSF
Status: Active 2007–2009
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Global Natural Disaster Hotspots
Researchers: Maxx Dilley and Bradfield Lyon, International Research Institute for Climate Prediction; Robert S. Chen and Gregory Yetman, CIEISIN; Uwe Deichmann and Piet Buys, Development Economics Research Group, The World Bank; Arthur Lerner-Lam, Center for Hazards and Risk Research and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Margaret Arnold and Jonathan Agwe, Hazard Management Unit, The World Bank; Oddvar Kjekstad, International Centre for Geohazards, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute
Abstract:
This project assesses the global risks of two disaster-related outcomes: mortality and economic losses. We have estimated risk levels by combining hazard exposure with historical vulnerability for two indicators of elements at risk—gridded population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per unit area—for six major natural hazards: earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, drought, and cyclones. By calculating relative risks for each grid cell rather than for countries as a whole, we have been able to estimate risk levels at subnational scales. Such information can inform a range of disaster prevention and preparedness measures, including prioritization of resources, targeting of more localized and detailed risk assessments, implementation of risk-based disaster management and emergency response strategies, and development of long-term land-use plans and multihazard risk management strategies. A set of accompanying case studies, available separately, explores risks from particular hazards or for localized areas in more detail, using the same theoretical framework as the global analysis.
Funder:
ProVention Consortium from the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID)
Status: completed
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| Poverty Mapping |
| Global Poverty
Mapping Project
Researchers: Marc Levy, Deborah Balk,
Adam Storeygard, Maria Muñiz,
and Bridget Anderson, CIESIN
Abstract: The Global Poverty Mapping Project is being conducted
to characterize the global distribution of poverty and test the
proposition that the world’s poor live under geographic
and biophysical conditions that are significantly different from
those experienced by other populations. The project is using GIS
analysis to characterize the nature of those conditions. Spatial
statistical methods are also being tested for their effectiveness
in analyzing global spatial poverty data. The project will result
in a global spatial database of poverty variables with high resolution
data for approximately 20 countries.
Funder: World
Bank
Status:
Completed
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| Remote Sensing Applications
for Multilateral Environmental Agreements |
| Remote
Sensing Technologies for Ecosystem Management Treaties
Researchers: Alex de Sherbinin (PI) and John Mickelson,
CIESIN; Alicia Torres, Gonzalo Picasso, Ignacio Porzecanski and
Carlos Prigioni, PROBIDES (Uruguay); Valdir Steinke, Sergio Arraes
Monteiro and Amauri de Sena Motta, IBAMA (Brazil); Frank Rivera,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and Richard Podolsky, Consultant
Abstract: This project focuses on the utilization of satellite remote sensing
data to improve the effectiveness of ecosystem-oriented multilateral
environmental agreements (MEAs). These agreements include, among
others, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Heritage
Convention, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance, and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. These conventions and
site designations serve to protect natural resources and biodiversity
of international importance, yet they are often constrained by
lack of data and information to support implementation. The project
will test applications of remote sensing at a Ramsar and Biosphere
Reserve site in northeastern Uruguay (Banados del Este), and in
the adjacent transboundary freshwater lake (Laguna Merin, shared
by Uruguay and Brazil) that is threatened by land use practices,
agrochemical pollution, and over-fishing.
Funder:
U.S. State Department,
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific
Affairs
Status:
Completed
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| Sustainability
Indicators |
| Environmental Performance Index
Researchers:
Marc Levy, Alex de Sherbinin, and Valentina Mara, CIESIN; Daniel Esty, Tanja Srebotnjak, and Christine Kim, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy; Fiona Paual, World Economic Forum; Andrea Saltelli and Michaela Saisana, Joint Research Centre, European Commission
Abstract:
The Environmental Performance Index measures environmental performance at the country level for issue areas using a proximity-to-target methodology. Targets for each issue area such as urban particulate matter concentrations, access to water and sanitation, nitrogen concentrations in water, and timber harvest rates were identified in international consensus documents or by consulting the scientific literature. Country performance is measured as a proximity to the internationally recognized targets.
Funder: The Samuel Family
Foundation, The Coca Cola Foundation, and the Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation
Status: Pilot 2006 EPI and 2008 EPI completed; future updates ongoing
Environmental
Sustainability Index
Researchers: Marc A. Levy, Alex de Sherbinin, and Bridget Anderson, CIESIN; Daniel Esty, Tanja Srebatnjak, and Christine Kim, Yale Center
for Environmental Law and Policy; Kim Samuel-Johnson, World Economic
Forum Global Leaders for Tomorrow Environment Task Force
Abstract: The Environmental Sustainability Index provides
an aggregate measure of national progress towards sustainability.
It is comprised of five components, which in turn are composed
of between two and six indicators each. The indicators are averages
of variable-level scores. In total, 67 variables went into the
index. Current research is focused on methodological improvements
and statistical analysis of the ESI and its constituent parts.
Funder:
Samuel Foundation (1999-2002); Coca-Cola Corporation
Status:
2005 ESI completed (future updates possible)
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