Remotely measuring populations during a crisis by overlaying two data sources.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Societal instability and crises can cause rapid, large-scale movements. These movements are poorly understood and difficult to measure but strongly impact health. Data on these movements are important for planning response efforts. We retrospectively analyzed movement patterns surrounding a 2010 humanitarian crisis caused by internal political conflict in Côte d'Ivoire using two different methods.

Methods

We used two remote measures, nighttime lights satellite imagery and anonymized mobile phone call detail records, to assess average population sizes as well as dynamic population changes. These data sources detect movements across different spatial and temporal scales.

Results

The two data sources showed strong agreement in average measures of population si

SUBMITTER: Bharti N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4357797 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature