Dataset for: Spatial-Temporal Variation of Green Space and Racial Disparities in the United States

This repository contains the tract-level datasets and accompanying data dictionary used in the study Spatial-Temporal Variation of Green Space and Racial Disparities in the United States. The data integrate land-cover information from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), demographic and socioeconomic indicators from the American Community Survey (ACS), and social determinants of health measures from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Database, with variables selected and grouped according to the four domains of the CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). The repository includes: Tract-level datasets for 2010 and 2020 covering the contiguous United States Environmental, demographic, and social determinants of health variables used in the analyses A data dictionary describing all variables, definitions, units, and data sources, including a flag identifying the variables used in the analyses Key variables include measures of forest and shrub cover, other land-cover classes (percent of tract area), racial composition, socioeconomic characteristics, housing conditions, transportation access, health insurance coverage, air pollution (annual mean PM2.5), and distance to healthcare facilities. Census tracts are identified by 11-digit FIPS codes (GEOID); no individual-level or restricted data are included. Original data sources (all publicly available): National Land Cover Database (NLCD), Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC), https://www.mrlc.gov/ American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/ Social Determinants of Health Database (v1.0.1), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), https://www.ahrq.gov/sdoh/data-analytics/sdoh-data.html CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (SVI; used as the conceptual framework for variable grouping), https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/place-health/php/svi/index.html These materials are provided to support transparency, reproducibility, and future research on environmental justice, green space equity, and population health in the United States. If you use these data, please cite the associated article and this repository.