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Programs and Projects
Recent Awards
Past Programs & Projects
| Programs |
CIESIN’s major ongoing activities are:
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 Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)
One of eight NASA Earth Science Data Centers, SEDAC
is the only to focus on socioeconomic data, complementing the other Centers’ emphasis on earth science
and remote sensing data.
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 World Data Center for Human Interactions in the Environment (WDC)
The CIESIN WDC is one of more than 50 data centers of
the International Council for Science (ICSU) World Data
Center System, focusing on the development, dissemination,
and preservation of global socioeconomic data
sets. The WDC portal includes an extensive map gallery
and interactive map client.
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 Northeast Information Node of the National Biological Information infrastructure (NBII)
The NBII is an electronic information network of the U.S.
Geological Survey that provides access to biological data
and information on U.S. plants, animals, and ecosystems;
NIN focuses on eight states in the Northeast.
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| Collaborative Projects |
CIESIN collaborates with a number of partners on projects spanning a variety of human dimensions of environmental change and sustainability themes.
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Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) Digital Soils Map
A collaboration between the Earth Institute and African
scientists and institutions, to develop detailed digital
maps of soils in 42 countries of sub-Saharan Africa in
support of sustainable agriculture. CIESIN is helping
to build the information systems for collecting, analyzing,
and disseminating the data to a wide range of end
users. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.
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Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and Urbanization in
Modern China
CIESIN is collaborating with a medical researcher at Columbia
University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons to
explore the implications of trends in urbanization and related
population changes for future patterns of CVD in China. |
CODATA Global Roads Data Set
CIESIN is co-leading an international group of experts
under the ICSU Committee on Data for Science and
Technology (CODATA), working to develop a global, publicly-available database on intercity roads. It will be used
for sustainable development, humanitarian response,
transportation planning, and biodiversity conservation.
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Cyberinfrastructure for the Earth Institute (CI4EI)
A project led by CIESIN, as part of the Earth Institute’s Cross-Cutting Initiative (CCI) program, in response to a perceived need for a coherent strategy for developing and using cyberinfrastructure to fulfill organizational missions. CI4EI aims to identify cyberinfrastructure needs—software, human resources, policies and procedures, and development and maintenance of applications—throughout the scientific and engineering communities of the EI and other interested Columbia units; and to assess opportunities to address these needs.
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 Discovery, Access, and Delivery of Data for the International Polar Year
CIESIN is part of a NASA-funded team, led by the National Snow and Ice Data Center, that is developing and implementing a Web services portal for cryospheric data and information focused on arctic coastal processes.
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2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI)
A collaboration with the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, in association with the World Economic
Forum. The EPI measures progress toward environmental goals for 149 countries.
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Environmental Sustainability Compendium of Indicators
Containing 411 indicators compiled from the ESI, EPI, the Environmental Vulnerability Index, the Wellbeing Index, and the Rio-Jo’burg Dashboard.
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Global Trends in Emerging Infectious Diseases
Study results in the journal Nature show EIDS are on the rise
and zoonoses (diseases from wildlife) are the prime threat.
Funded by the NSF, the team includes scientists from CIESIN,
London’s Institute of Zoology, CCM-Wildlife Trust NY,
and The University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology. |
Hudson River Mapping Tool
CIESIN’s NBII-NIN, with the Beacon Institute, has developed
a Web-based data portal and mapping tool for
exploring the physical and cultural geography of the
Hudson River Watershed. |
Hydrology and Conflict in Africa
An interdiscliplinary exploration of the impact of drought on the incidence of civil War in Africa over the past three decades, in collaboration with UNH Water Systems Analysis Group and Peace Research Institute of Oslo.
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Interactive Mapping Tool for HIV/AIDS Care Information Management Systems
An online interactive mapping tool for incorporation into HIV/
AIDS care information management systems. Developed
by CIESIN with the International Center for AIDS Care and
Treatment Programs (ICAP) at Columbia University’s Mailman
School of Public Health.
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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Socioeconomic Data Distribution Centre
A data management operation shared between SEDAC,
the UK’s British Atmospheric Data Centre, and the World
Data Center Climate at the Max Planck Institute for
Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany. The DDC provides
online access to baseline and scenario data on population,
economic development, technology, and natural
resources for climate impact assessments.
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Land-Use/Land Cover Change Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean
A collaborative NSF grant is exploring land use patterns
in Latin America and the Caribbean, and how they are
affected by demographic, economic, and ecological factors. |
 Millennium Villages
Overseen by the Tropical Agriculture Program of the Earth Institute, the Millennium Villages Project is a collaborative initiative meant to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by improving the health, education, and livelihoods of select rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Specialists in agriculture, nutrition, energy, water, health, environment, and information technology are working in partnership with select communities (14 villages to date). Areas of focus include soil fertility restoration; nutritional programs; drinking water and sanitation facilities; energy and transportation initiatives; and malaria and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.
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New Methods for Understanding Intra-Urban Contours at a Global Scale
The project uses a new sampling method to delineate urban and intra-urban areas at a much higher resolution (~1 km). The DSM results will be analyzed together with information on population and housing censuses, with Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) of moderate and high spatial resolution optical satellite imagery, and with both DMSP night lights. Funded by the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, the project is a collaboration among researchers from Baruch College-City University;
California Institute of Technology; and Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory.
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Polar Information Commons
A CODATA initiative co-led by CIESIN to develop an international
framework for the long-term preservation of
and access to polar region data, generated in part by the
International Polar Year. Initial funding from ICSU. |
Population-Environment Research Network
Promotes online scientific exchange among researchers worldwide to advance academic research on population and the environment. Sponsored by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and the International Human Dimensions on Global Environmental Change Programme (IHDP).
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 Research Translation Core for Columbia University SBRP (Superfund Basic Research Program)
Led by the Mailman School of Public Health and sponsored by the NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Columbia SBRP studies the health effects, geochemistry, and remediation of arsenic and manganese in groundwater in Bangladesh and the United States.
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Revitalizing Urban Population Projections: New Data, New Methods
The aimed production and evaluation of new spatially-explicit demographic methods for estimating and projecting city populations in the developing world. Funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
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Risk Assessment and Mitigation Measures for Natural and Conflict-Related Hazards in the Asian Region
CIESIN contributed to a recently completed study led by
the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute to assess the risks
of natural hazards and civil conflict in Asia in support of
the humanitarian response needs of the UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (OCHA).
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Social and Environmental Vulnerability in Disasters: Spatial Analysis and Information Management for Humanitarian Decision Making
An integrated approach to disaster assessment—bringing together the fields of physical science, demography, public health, and informatics—that aims to enhance the understanding of vulnerability and provide information for decision making post-disaster. A collaboration with the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
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Transatlantic Seminar Series
A seminar series on multiple risks in the context of sustainable
development, co-organized by CIESIN, beginning
spring 2009. Funded by Columbia University’s Alliance Program, the seminars will be given by CIESIN and
Earth Institute scientists at three universities in Paris,
and by French scholars at Columbia.
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| No recent awards at this time. |
| Past Programs & Projects |
Climate Change Information Resources for the New York Metropolitan Region (CCIR-NYC)
Funded through a grant from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Global Programs, the aim of the CCIR-NYC was to advance scientific research and public policy by improving the communication of climate change data and information to urban policy- and decision makers and residents and, by so doing, to improve their capacity to respond to the impacts of climate change. The CCIR-NYC is a flexible framework that allows the addition of new data and information as they become available.
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Environmental Performance Index (Pilot 2006 EPI)
Using a “proximity to target” approach, the 2006 EPI measures progress towards environmental goals for 133 countries. |
 Geoinformatics for Geochemistry
Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), scientists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and CIESIN designed and developed online databases and tools for the geoscience community. Now maintained by LDEO, these databases include PetDB (Petrologic Database of the Ocean Floor); SedDB (Data Management System for Sediment Geochemistry); EarthChem (Integrated Data Management for Solid Earth Geochemistry); and SESAR (System for Earth SAmple Registration).
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GIS-Based Assessment of Undeveloped Parcels in New York Coastal Counties
GIS analysis of parcel data from the most significant unprotected and undeveloped coastal areas of New York, to be used by NYS DEC and Long Island Sound Study in conservation efforts. |
Global Change Research and Information Office (GCRIO)
CIESIN managed the GCRIO on behalf of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program through 2002. GCRIO provides access to data and information on climate change research, adaptation and mitigation strategies, and global change related educational resources. As of 2003 the responsibility for GCRIO was assumed by the USCCSP.
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Global Natural Disaster Hotspots
With support from the World Bank and the ProVention Consortium, CIESIN worked with the Center for Hazards and Risk Research (CHRR) of the Earth Institute of Columbia University on a global analysis of high risk disaster hotspots. CIESIN conducted the geospatial analysis and was involved in the overall conceptualization of the project.
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 The Global Poverty Mapping Project A collaboration among CIESIN, The World Bank, and the Japanese government's Policy and Human Resource Development Fund that aimed to depict the global distribution of poverty in order to help design and enact interventions. Downloadable maps, spatial data, and tabular data are available on the Web site: Global coverage for infant mortality and malnutrition, and higher-resolution national coverage for consumption and basic needs in 28 countries. Selected maps appear in Where the Poor Are: An Atlas of Poverty (available for PDF download on the Web site.)
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Human Dynamics of Emerging Diseases
This NSF-funded project is focused on population dynamics, climate change, and emerging diseases.
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Managing and Preserving Geospatial Electronic Records (MAPGER)
This project, funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), investigated the requirements for state and local government archivists, records managers, and other institutional recordkeepers to manage and preserve electronic records with significant geospatial components, especially those records generated by Geographic Information System (GIS) software. The project identified and recommended practical and appropriate policies, techniques, standards, and practices to manage geospatial electronic records (GERs) to support their long-term retention and dissemination and to facilitate their usability and utility as important information resources of significant historical interest.
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Metadata Training for Public Health Records Data
With funding from U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee, CIESIN worked with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to support training on metadata preparation for geospatial public health data.
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Metropolitan East Coast Climate Impacts Assessment (MEC)
The MetroEast Coast study examined the New York metropolitan area’s vulnerability to climate change as part of the United States National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change. CIESIN provided support in data management, electronic outreach, and cartographic presentation of data for educational purposes.
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Millennium Development Project Support
CIESIN served as the “mapping arm” in support of the UN Millennium Project’s task forces. CIESIN’s maps and data were used in the reports of the poverty, hunger, health, and environmental sustainability task forces. CIESIN worked closely with the World Bank Development Economics Data and Research Groups collecting and integrating subnational poverty data for a wide range of developing countries.
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National Spatial Data Infrastructure Activities
CIESIN has had a number of cooperative agreements with the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) to provide training on spatial metadata management and to develop services in support of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Ongoing activities include development of a Web Feature Service for Government Unit Boundaries and Population for the Northeastern U.S. and a collaborative project on public health metadata with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
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Prevention of Health Effects in Children from Energy-Related Air Pollution
CIESIN worked with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health to integrate a novel biomedical approach, molecular epidemiology, and spatial analysis methods to determine the health risks to children from environmental pollutants generated by burning coals and other fossil fuels. CIESIN’s role was to develop the Geographic Information System (GIS) data and tools to help researchers understand the complex spatio-temporal relationships between the environmental pollution and disease and for identifying exposures.
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Remote Sensing Technologies for Ecosystem Management Treaties
This two-year project (2003-2005), funded by the US Department of State, involved a collaboration with the Brazilian Institute the Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA), and the Program for Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development of Bañados del Este (PROBIDES) in Uruguay. The project focused on the utilization of satellite remote sensing data to improve the effectiveness of ecosystem-oriented multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and transboundary conservation.
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Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES)
The SRES was a key input into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report. CIESIN provided an Internet forum for the “open process” that contributed to the review of greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, and CIESIN currently posts the new SRES emissions scenarios. These scenarios, in turn, form the basis of major IPCC climate change and impact projections over the next century. (Funded under SEDAC)
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Sustainable Rural Development Information System (SRDIS)
SRDIS is a specialized, online library of Internet resources developed by CIESIN for the World Bank’s Rural Development Department. The site includes country profiles and case studies.
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