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EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT OF POPULATIONS USING ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING, DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS, AND GIS 1
Author(s) -
Maslia Morris L.,
Aral Mustafa M.,
Williams Robert C.,
Susten Allan S.,
Heitgerd Janet L.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1994.tb03350.x
Subject(s) - geographic information system , computer science , environmental science , task (project management) , process (computing) , exposure assessment , spatial analysis , environmental monitoring , remote sensing , systems engineering , environmental engineering , engineering , geography , statistics , operating system , mathematics
Simulation of ground‐water flow and fate of contaminants in the subsurface environment constitutes a major phase of most environmental assessment and site remediation studies. These simulation studies yield information on spatial and temporal distributions of contaminants in the subsurface media. An important use of this information is to conduct exposure assessment studies. Spatial and temporal distributions of both chemical concentrations and exposed populations render this integrated exposure analysis task rather difficult. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), on the other hand, provide a platform in which layered, spatially distributed databases can be manipulated with ease, thereby simplifying exposure analysis tasks significantly. In this paper, we describe procedures that combine the simulation models and demographic databases under a GIS platform to automate the exposure assessment phase of a typical health assessment study. Procedures developed herein significantly simplify the post‐processing phase of the analysis, and render the overall task more ‘user friendly.’ A site‐specific application is included as a demonstration of the proposed process.