Scenario: The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has tasked you with creating a map of risk of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) exposure by populations that have asthma. PM2.5 is known to exacerbate various cardio-vascular and respiratory diseases, including asthma. All you are given is the data and you must determine how to use it to create the model. The DOHMH wants a simple first pass at this, so all they want is an additive model at the UHF-level (an aggregate of zip codes) that quantifies the following things:
1) UHF zones with very high concentrations of PM2.5 (greater than 15 mg/m3),
2) UHF zones with somewhat high PM2.5 concentrations (between 14 and 15 mg/m3),
3) UHF zones with very high rates of asthma (prevalence > 6 people with asthma per 100 people)
4) UHF zones with somewhat high asthma rates (between 5.5 and 6 people with asthma per 100 people).
These were the instructions. We were also given the weights for the additive model. I already submitted something, which I know isn't correct, but I would like to know how to do this. I have only been using GIS for about 4 months and I decided to take a more advanced course along with an introductory course to graduate sooner. Probably not the smartest idea. I did derive a raster surface for both PM2.5 and asthma layers, reclassified, and did a weighted sum. It didn't come out right, but I don't think the solution is overly complicated.
-Spiro