Learn how to apply spatial data, in Google Earth Engine to identify optimal locations for medical facilities
Identifying optimal sites for medical centers is a critical task that ensures healthcare accessibility, equity, and emergency readiness. In this course, you’ll explore how to use Remote Sensing, GIS, and Google Earth Engine (GEE) to build a spatial model for Medical Center Suitability Analysis.
What you’ll learn
- Understand core GIS and remote sensing concepts to analyze spatial data, including raster and vector formats, imagery interpretation, and geospatial tools..
- Perform suitability mapping using multi-criteria analysis like slope, roads, land cover, and population to find ideal sites for medical centers..
- Learn GEE for spatial modeling: access datasets, process imagery, apply formulas, and create automated, cloud-based suitability models..
- Visualize and export suitability maps with color-coded layers, and export GeoTIFFs for reports, GIS software, or stakeholder presentations..
Course Content
- Introduction –> 6 lectures • 59min.
Requirements
Identifying optimal sites for medical centers is a critical task that ensures healthcare accessibility, equity, and emergency readiness. In this course, you’ll explore how to use Remote Sensing, GIS, and Google Earth Engine (GEE) to build a spatial model for Medical Center Suitability Analysis.
The course begins with the fundamentals of remote sensing, teaching how satellite imagery is captured, processed, and applied to land use analysis. You’ll also explore GIS concepts, including spatial layers, vector and raster data, and map algebra.
Next, you’ll learn the core principles of site suitability analysis, including how to select criteria (like road proximity, terrain slope, population density, and land cover) and assign appropriate weights. These theoretical concepts are then brought to life using GEE, where you’ll access satellite datasets, perform distance transforms, normalize variables, and calculate a composite suitability index.
Through a hands-on lab focusing on Los Angeles, you’ll develop a fully functional suitability model for locating medical centers. You’ll also learn to visualize results, export GeoTIFFs, and interpret outcomes for real-world planning.
This course is ideal for:
- Urban planners and public health analysts
- GIS students and professionals
- Environmental and civil engineers
- Policy makers and researchers
By course end, you’ll have the tools to conduct suitability mapping projects for healthcare, disaster response, education, or other infrastructure using open-source geospatial platforms.
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