Buffer Analysis in GIS: Proximity of Hospitals to Solid Waste Sites

Introduction

This tutorial guides you through performing a buffer analysis in GIS, specifically examining the proximity of hospitals to solid waste sites using ArcMap. Understanding this relationship is crucial for public health planning and resource allocation. By the end of this guide, you'll learn how to load data, create buffers, merge them, and analyze the spatial relationships between hospitals and waste sites.

Step 1: Load the Data into ArcMap

To start your analysis, you need to load the necessary datasets into ArcMap.

1. Download the Data

   • Visit the provided GitHub link: Download Data
   • Extract the contents of the ZIP file to a known location on your computer.

2. Open ArcMap

   • Launch ArcMap on your computer.

3. Add Data

   • Click on the “Add Data” button.
   • Navigate to the location where you extracted the data.
   • Select the relevant shapefiles for boundaries, hospitals, and solid waste sites, and click “Add.”

Step 2: Create Multiple Buffers

Creating buffers around solid waste sites helps determine the proximity of hospitals to these locations.

1. Open the Buffer Tool

   • Go to the “Geoprocessing” menu.
   • Select “Buffer.”

2. Set Buffer Parameters

   • Choose the solid waste sites layer as the input feature.
   • Define the buffer distance (for example, 1 mile, 2 miles, etc.) based on your analysis needs.
   • Select the output location for the buffer shapefile.

3. Run the Buffer Tool

   • Click “OK” to create the buffer. Repeat this step for each buffer distance you want to create.

Step 3: Merge Buffers

To analyze the combined effect of all buffer zones, you need to merge them into a single layer.

1. Open the Merge Tool

   • Navigate to “Geoprocessing” and select “Merge.”

2. Select Buffer Layers

   • Add all the buffer layers created in the previous step.

3. Define Output

   • Specify an output location and name for the merged buffer layer.

4. Execute the Merge

   • Click “OK” to complete the process.

Step 4: Select Hospitals by Location

Now that you have your merged buffer, it's time to identify hospitals that fall within these areas.

1. Open the Select by Location Tool

   • Go to “Selection” in the top menu.
   • Choose “Select by Location.”

2. Set Selection Criteria

   • Select the hospitals layer as the target layer.
   • Set the relationship to “intersect” with the merged buffer layer.

3. Execute Selection

   • Click “OK” to select hospitals within the buffer zones.

Step 5: Map the At-Risk Hospitals

Visualizing the hospitals that are at risk due to their proximity to solid waste sites is essential.

1. Create a New Map

   • Open a new layout view in ArcMap.

2. Add Layers

   • Add the merged buffer layer and the selected hospitals layer to the map.

3. Style Your Map

   • Use different colors or symbols to represent hospitals and buffers for clarity.

4. Export the Map

   • Save your map layout as a PDF or image for reporting purposes.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to perform buffer analysis in GIS, focusing on the proximity of hospitals to solid waste sites. You successfully loaded data into ArcMap, created and merged buffers, identified at-risk hospitals, and visualized the results. For further analysis, consider exploring additional spatial data layers or conducting more detailed statistical assessments based on your findings.