Geospatial Technologies in Environmental Management

Abstract

The authors review advances in applications for geotechnologies, specifically earth-observing satellite remote sensing, geo-positioning (i.e. USA's Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global'naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS), Europe's Galileo and China's Beidou/Compass) and selected geo-spatial modeling software for public health and disaster management applications, with an emphasis on environmental health and environmental sustainability. Specific applications addressed include the use of remote sensing for infectious disease vector habitat identification and ecologically sustainable disease vector population mitigation, as well as the integration of GPS into mobile CD4 testing devices for HIV/AIDS. Public domain software models described include the Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler (STEM) and the Hydrologic Engineering River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) for flood modeling. Examples of regional, national and global real-time data acquisition and near-real-time data product development and distribution for time-critical events are offered, specifically through the Purdue Terrestrial Observatory (PTO), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) supported America View and the International Charter - Space & Major Disasters.