DOI: 10.57745/xh5hdw
title: Characterization of the physical environment at the municipal level in Northern France

description: This dataset was developed as part of a PhD research work titled 'Multi-dimensional description of the environment at the territorial scale : contribution to researching environmental determinants in the etiology of chronic diseases' (Paumelle, 2023). This work also aligns with two research projects: (i) ‘Ecologic historic and environnemental influence in Crohn Disease' funded by the French National Research Agency (CROPS/ANR-20-CE34-0015); and (ii) ‘Health and Environment: from territorial to individual risk' funded by the I-SITE ULNE Foundation (R-PILOTE-01 SANTE et ENVIRONNEMENT project). Finally, this dataset was notably used to develop a territorial typology and define the environmental profiles of municipalities in Northern France. The associated publication, is as follows: Paumelle et al., 2023. The dataset provides an integrated description of the physical and outdoor environment at the municipal level in four French departments: Nord (59), Pas-de-Calais (62), Somme (80), and Seine-Maritime (76). In total, the dataset incorporates 109 spatial indicators characterizing the environmental dimensions of the 3,041 municipalities within the study area. The administrative boundaries used are based on the 2016 edition of the French National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information (IGN). The source databases used are exclusively open-access. A total of 23 different databases were used. Regardless of their original format, these datasets were processed to generate spatial indicators at the municipal scale. In the final dataset, three types of indicators can be distinguished: (i) indicators integrated as-is without significant manipulation of raw data; (ii) indicators requiring simple normalization steps (e.g., scaling by municipal surface area or population); and (iii) indicators calculated through more complex processing. These operations were performed using QGIS (QGIS Development Team, 2021) or the R software (R Core Team, 2021), depending on the complexity. This dataset provides an integrated description of the physical environment through 109 spatial indicators divided into seven sub-dimensions: (i) contamination levels of environmental media (air, water, soil); (ii) pollutant emission levels; (iii) proximity to emission sources; (iv) land use; (v) agricultural practices; (vi) territorial naturalness; (vii) climate. These indicators help characterize human activities such as industry, agriculture, and transport. They also describe the pressures these activities exert on the environment, including pollution (air, water, soil), emissions, land artificialization, and climate change. Additionally, environmental amenities are captured through indicators of territorial naturalness. The objective of this work is to provide insights for reusing open environmental data. The data management steps and protocols developed to generate all spatial indicators are detailed in the second chapter of the thesis manuscript (Paumelle, 2023). This chapter also includes a critical perspective on the dataset (e.g., quality of source data, interpretative limitations of indicators). For appropriate use of the dataset, consulting this information beforehand is strongly recommended. Initially, the dataset was developed to explore the relationship between environment and health, particularly for studying Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). This explains why the spatial coverage of the dataset coincides with that of the EPIMAD registry, the only French health registry dedicated to IBD (Gower-Rousseau et al., 1994). However, this work could be extended geographically since all selected open-access databases are theoretically available nationwide. To facilitate the adoption and reuse of this dataset, two file formats are provided: (i) a GIS-compatible format titled 'Data - GIS Format.gpkg'; and (ii) a spreadsheet format titled 'Data - Spreadsheet Format.tab'. Additionally, a list of all indicators produced is provided, along with a brief description of each: 'List and Description of Indicators.pdf'. This document is concise, and it is recommended to refer to Chapter 2 of the thesis manuscript for more detailed information. References : Gower-Rousseau, C., Salomez, J.L., Dupas, J.L., Marti, R., Nuttens, M.C., Votte, A., Lemahieu, M., Lemaire, B., Colombel, J.F., Cortot, A., 1994. Incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in northern France (1988-1990). Gut 35, 1433–1438. https://doi.org/10.1136/gut.35.10.1433 Paumelle, M., 2023. Description multi-dimensionnelle de l’environnement à l’échelle des territoires : contribution pour la recherche de déterminants environnementaux dans l’étiologie des maladies chroniques (Thèse de doctorat). Université de Lille. Paumelle, M., Occelli, F., Wakim, L.M., Brousmiche, D., Bouhadj, L., Ternynck, C., Lanier, C., Cuny, D., Deram, A., 2023. Description of the multi-dimensional environment at the territorial scale: A holistic framework using cluster analysis and open data in France. Ecol. Indic. 154, 110562. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110562