Research Paper Outline

Developing a Geographic Information System (GIS)= for Simulating City Bus Movements

By: Jermaine Hemby

Oak Ridge = National Laboratory’s (ORNL) Geographic Information Science and Technology (GI= ST) Group have been developing a unique high-resolution population distribution model= and database called LandScan USA. It has the potential to impro= ve the exposure modeling procedures used by the Exposure Modeling and Research Bra= nch (EMRB) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL). The GIST Group’s high-resolution population model can provide population data at higher spatial resolution than the US Census data. This capability has been demonstra= ted in previous ORNL work on a pilot study supported by EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment that showed the value of LandScan USA’s results for urban/industrial areas. EMRB would like to determine the importance of the GIST Group’s techniques and approach in simulating population exposures to environmental pollutants. During this partnership, GIST Group would be able to improve their population distribut= ion model using information from EPA’s human activity database (CHAD).<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> ORNL will obtain and analyze opera= ting and commuting data from CHAD available for the urban/metropolitan area selected by EPA. Then translate t= his information into grid cell-specific movements in space and time for age, gender, and ethnic-specific associates.&nb= sp; The trips shall be assigned to specific roadways within a grid cell = to the extent possible. ORNL wil= l then apply their LandScan USA high resolution population distribution model to t= he urban/metropolitan area selected by EPA to produce population distribution estimates with the spatial resolution of the model. &nbs= p;

An importa= nt aspect of modeling exposures to human population is to simulate their commuting behavior, by mode of transportation and time of day. ORNL has demonstrated the capabili= ty of the high resolution population distribution model to estimate both daytime = and nighttime population distributions by time of day in a pilot study mentioned earlier.

The purpos= e of this project is to develop high-resolution population distribution database= s, using ORNL’s LandScan USA, for U.S.= metropolitan areas to acquire hour-of-day and cohort-specific population distribution data used for human exposure modeling. Once the model is complete, EPA can examine the model and actually see how much environmental exposure school k= ids are really exposed to. They c= an then figure out the effects of the environmental exposure over different periods of time.

In order t= o get the project started you first collect Philadelphia, PA bus routes off the Inter= net. Once that information was collecte= d, you then had to use that information to create Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Once they were created= , you then had to collect the data needed out of each GIS and input that informat= ion into a spreadsheet. You then applied the information out of each spreadsheet into a C++ program that will simulate the bus movements.

The softwa= re used to create a GIS is called ArcView GIS. This software is used for visualizing, creating, and analyzing geographic information. Using ArcView GIS, you can examine geographic infor= mation, allowing you to see relationships and identify patterns in new ways. You can also manage all your docume= nts, databases, and Internet data resources from a single application. ArcView GIS is the most commonly us= ed desktop GIS software in the world because it provides a simple way for ever= yone to use geographic data. ArcView GIS makes data management and editing a painless task that can be accomplished by anyone in your organization. Because data can be included from a= lmost any source, projects can get started right away with data that is available locally or on the Internet.

The main b= enefit of this project is to enhance space-time visualization for understanding different hazards school kids are exposed to at different times of the day.= The expected results of this proje= ct will be a high-resolution population distribution model for U.S metropolitan areas that will simulate school bus routes behavior with exact times and distances.

In this pr= oject, I created a GIS of Philadelphia, PA school bus routes in order to understand = what effect environmental exposure has on school kids. Once a GIS was created, that infor= mation will be applied to a model that will simulate the movement of each bus with exact times and stops. I lear= ned how to use ArcView GIS and how to create a GIS.