We’re excited to announce the release of Vesta 2.6—an update that takes BioMedware’s proprietary GIS software to the next level. Vesta 2.5 introduced time plots, indicator Kriging, and categorical variables in Variography and Kriging. This version makes powerful geospatial and temporal analyses even more accessible with smarter data handling and enhanced usability. Here’s a breakdown of what’s new:
1. Smarter Back-Transforms for Kriging
Vesta 2.6 has improved the handling of back-transforms for kriging of logratios and indicators. Yes, this sounds like something only the kriging mavens would understand, but the software handles everything. Vesta 2.6 knows the types of data you’re working with, as well as the analysis you want to accomplish. It automatically selects the appropriate forward- and back-transform, and then applies them in your analyses. No need for manual intervention!
2. Enhanced Support for Temporally Varying Data
Kriging now has better support for temporally varying data in Vesta 2.6. Now, users can easily analyze how data distributions change over time with statistical and cartographic brushing. The handling of multiple observations through time is fully implemented in all analyses and visualizations, making it easier to visualize and understand your data.
3. Joinpoint Regressions for Short Time Intervals
Vesta 2.6 now supports joinpoint regressions with a small number of time intervals. These can be time series of short length or with several missing values. Vesta 2.6 will work with multiple places—for example, time series in counties—in one analysis. This feature will be ideal when your geography has multiple areas, such as counties within a state, nested census units, and so on. Vesta 2.6 also knows how many areas you’re working with and provides goodness of fit and parsimony measures so you can quickly identify the best model. No guesswork—just reliable, streamlined results!
But a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some visualizations created by BioMedware Chief Scientist Dr. Pierre Goovaerts. How long did it take to create these? Just a matter of minutes for each one, Vesta 2.6 is that quick and is easy to use.
Average Annual Percentage change in deaths caused by cardiovascular disease between 1980 and 2005 for MI counties. Timeseries for seven highlighted counties in the left map are displayed in orange in the right plot.
Clusters of MI counties with high and low percentages of death caused by cardiovascular disease in 1980
Clusters of MI counties with high and low percentages of death caused by cardiovascular disease in 1998
Relationship between percentages of death caused by cardiovascular disease and cancer at the county-level in 1992 in Michigan. Highlighted in yellow are two counties with the largest percentages of cardiovascular death and simultaneously the lowest percentages of deaths caused by cancer.
Give Vesta 2.6 a try!
Download a 30-day free trial version of Vesta today.