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EnviroAtlas Connects Urban Ecosystem Services and Human Well-Being
Citation:
Cochran, F., L. Jackson, AND A. Neale. EnviroAtlas Connects Urban Ecosystem Services and Human Well-Being. Nat'l Council for Science and the Environment, Washington, District Of Columbia, January 24 - 26, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
To feature eco-health components of EnviroAtlas at a national conference with the theme this year of integrating environment and health.
Description:
Ecosystem services in urban areas can improve public health and well-being by mitigating natural and anthropogenic pollution, and by promoting healthy lifestyles that include engagement with nature and enhanced opportunities for physical activity and social interaction. EPA’s EnviroAtlas online mapping tool identifies urban environmental features linked in the scientific and medical literature to specific aspects of public health and well-being. EnviroAtlas researchers have synthesized newly-generated one-meter resolution landcover data, downscaled census population data, and other existing datasets such as roads and parks. Resulting geospatial metrics represent health-related indicators of urban ecosystem services supply and demand by census block-group and finer scales. EnviroAtlas maps include percent of the population with limited window views of trees, tree cover along walkable roads, overall neighborhood green space, and proximity to parks. Demographic data can be overlaid to perform analyses of disproportionate distribution of urban ecosystem services across population groups. Together with the Eco-Health Relationship Browser, EnviroAtlas data can be linked to numerous aspects of public health and well-being including school performance, physical fitness, social capital, and longevity. EnviroAtlas maps have been developed using consistent methods to allow for comparisons between neighborhoods and across multiple U.S. communities.