Geocomputation techniques for spatial analysis: are they relevant to health data? Técnicas de geocomputação para análise espacial: é o caso para dados de saúde?

Geocomputation is an emerging field of research that advocates the use of computa- tionally intensive techniques such as neural networks, heuristic search, and cellular automata for spatial data analysis. Since increasing amounts of health-related data are collected within a geographical frame of reference, geocomputational methods show increasing potential for health data analysis. This paper presents a brief survey of the geocomputational field, including some typical applications and references for further reading.