| Risk Assessment and Management Solutions for Arthropod-borne and Infectious Diseases |
Use of Google Earth in public health
We are exploring the use of Google Earth as a complement to GIS software in vector and dengue control and development of public health infrastructure
 | http://earth.google.com/ |
Advantages of using Google Earth:
- Free stand-alone software (can be downloaded to your computer from the internet)
- Simple and intuitive to use. We expect vector control and public health professionals to easily develop proficiency in using Google Earth through an unsupervised brief session of working with the software
- Provides free access to satellite imagery (the image quality is constantly improving)
- Internet access is needed to first "capture" the image; thereafter the image can be stored and processed in Google Earth on your computer
- Includes simple tools to make and label polygons, lines, and points
- A variety of color options for points and polygons allows for development of maps simultaneously showing information related to multiple diseases and/or public health initiatives
- Google Earth-generated KML files can readily be shared among Google Earth users; they also can be imported as shapefiles into a GIS software for spatial analysis of the included data
- Large user community with online support groups: http://groups.google.com/group/earth-help
Examples of image quality in Google Earth
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| Managua, Nicaragua |
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| Manilla, Philippines |
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| Kampala, Uganda |
Basic characteristics of Google Earth versus commonly used GIS software
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| a CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; ESRI, Environmental Systems Research Institute; PAHO, Pan American Health Organization; WHO, World Health Organization. b Spatial analysis and modeling capability going beyond visual interpretation of displayed data. c Restricted to basic feature-making tools. |
From: Lozano-Fuentes and others. 2008. Use of Google Earth to strengthen public health capacity and facilitate management of vector-borne diseases in resource-poor Environments. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 86: In Press. |
Google Earth versus GIS software
Benefits of Google Earth versus GIS software:
- Some basic maps can be generated more easily by the end user with Google Earth than with GIS software
- There is potential for developing premise level maps from satellite imagery freely available through Google Earth
Limitations of Google Earth:
- Access to the internet is needed to initially capture satellite images of areas of interest
- There is no access to demographic or socioeconomic data
- Google Earth lacks the spatial analysis capability of GIS software
- The quality of the satellite images is highly variable, especially for rural areas
- The age of the images is variable
Where will Google Earth be most useful?
In areas with poorly developed GIS databases but availability of high-quality Google Earth satellite images. There is a need for global assessment to determine where such areas occur
We find Google Earth to be a useful complement to GIS software