Method and Validation Center
Evidence over assertion.
Canopulse earns confidence by showing evidence, not by sounding louder than the data can support. This page tracks every check we run on UCRI.
| Test | Status | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Formula reproduction | Complete | Component weights reproduce the published UCRI score |
| GEOID audit | Complete | 11-digit tract IDs preserved end to end |
| Missing-data audit | Complete | Incomplete tracts labeled provisional or insufficient |
| Source vintage audit | Complete | Every component tied to a source and vintage |
| Component correlation | In progress | Redundancy between components disclosed |
| Dimensionality (PCA) | In progress | Whether the index behaves as 2 factors or 5 |
| Effective weights | In progress | Nominal weights vs actual influence reported |
| Weight sensitivity | In progress | How stable the ranking is to weight changes |
| Leave-one-out | In progress | How much each component changes the ranking |
| Normalization comparison | In progress | Percentile vs min-max vs z-score |
| Top-50 stability | In progress | How robust the priority list is |
| Expert review | In progress | Planner, GIS, and public-health feedback |
| Independent outcome validation | Pending | Comparison against heat-related health outcomes |
| Field validation | Pending | Real-world confirmation |
UCRI is internally audited and suitable for screening-level planning. It is not yet a field-verified or independently health-outcome-validated predictor. Independent validation is being developed through outcome-data comparison and expert review.
Data vintage
UCRI LA v1.0 is a mixed-vintage planning baseline using 2020 census tracts, 2021 NLCD tree canopy and impervious surface, 2023 Landsat summer land-surface temperature, 2022 CDC/ATSDR SVI, and CalEnviroScreen 4.0 crosswalked to 2020 tract geography.
| Version | Purpose | Status |
|---|---|---|
| UCRI LA v1.0 | Current LA County screening baseline | Active |
| UCRI LA v1.1 | Robustness-tested version with expanded validation | In progress |
| UCRI-H | Outcome-calibrated version | Planned, only after independent validation |