title: A space-time analysis of the WikiLeaks Afghan War Diary: a resource for analyzing the conflict-health nexus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although it is widely acknowledged that areas of conflict are associated with a high health burden, from a geospatial perspective it is difficult to establish these patterns at fine scales because of a lack of data. The release of the "WikiLeaks" Afghan War Diary (AWD) provides an interesting opportunity to advance analysis and theory into this interrelationship.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper will apply two different space time analyses to identify patterns of improvised explosive devices (IED) detonations for the period of 2004 to 2009 in Afghanistan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is considerable spatial and temporal heterogeneity in IED explosions, with concentrations often following transportation links. The results are framed in terms of a resource for subsequent analyses to other existing health research in Afghanistan. To facilitate this, in our discussion we present a Google Earth file of overlapping rates that can be distributed to any researcher interested in combining his/her fine scale health data with a similarly granular layer of violence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The release of the AWD presents a previously unavailable opportunity to consider how spatially detailed data about violence can be incorporated into understanding, and predicting, health related spillover effects. The AWD can enrich previous research conducted on Afghanistan, and provide a justification for future "official" data sharing at appropriately fine scales.
authors.affiliation: GIS, Health and Hazards Lab, Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA. acurti13@kent.edu.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.affiliation: GIS, Health and Hazards Lab, Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA. xye5@kent.edu.
authors.forename: Xinyue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Meiling Hall, 370 W 9th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA. kevin.hachey@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hachey
authors.affiliation: Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA, USA. mbourdeaux@partners.org.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bourdeaux
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and Medicine, College of Public Health, Ohio State University, 326 Cunz Hall, 1841 Neil Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210-1351, USA. anorris@cph.osu.edu.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Norris
mesh_terms: D000346:Afghanistan; D054042:Bombs; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D011051:Poliomyelitis; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D014857:Warfare