20 January 2010

This file contains metadata for the North Caucasus violent event dataset.  All shapefiles are projected to the UTM coordinate system, zone 38N.

CaucViolentEvents.zip
	Set of data files containing the raw geolocated violent events for the North Caucasus, Aug 1999 - Aug 2007

	EVENT_ID	- a unique ID value with year and month embedded in it
	REPUBLIC_K	- Republic/Krai in which the event occurred
	BEST_LOCAT	- best geolocation for each event (either a town, rayon, or republic/krai)
	DATE_OCCUR	- date the event occurred
	CATEGORY	- category that best describes the event; Rebels, Military, Police, or Arrest
	Y_UTM		- the y-coordinate value for UTM zone 38N
	X_UTM		- the x-coordinate value for UTM zone 38N
	
CaucRayonData.zip
	Set of data files containing data aggregated to the 143 rayon administrative units.  For full details on the calculation of variables, see O'Loughlin & Witmer (2010) "The Localized Geographies of Violence in the North Caucasus of Russia, 1999-2007" in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers.
	
	RAYON_CITY	- name of the Rayon/City district
	REPUB_KRAI	- name of the Republic/Krai
	CENT_LAT	- the x-coordinate for the rayon centroid, UTM zone 38N
	CENT_LON	- the y-coordinate for the rayon centroid, UTM zone 38N
	EVNT_CNT	- total number of violent events that occurred within the rayon
	POP2001_02	- estimated number of people for each rayon for the year 2001 or 2002
	EVNT1000	- total number of violent events per 1000 people
	CHECH_DV	- a dummy variable set to 1 if the rayon is within Chechnya, 0 otherwise
	URB_AREA	- total urban area, square meters
	PCT_URB		- percentage of rayon that is urban
	ELEV_MEAN	- mean elevation for the rayon, meters
	SH_RUSSIAN	- percentage of population that is Russian
	PCT_FRST	- percentage of rayon that is covered by forest
	DIST_TOHWY	- mean distance (km) to the Caucasian Federal Highway
	LNEVNT1000	- natural log transformed events per 1000 people

CaucGridData.zip
	Set of data files containing data aggregated to 292 grid cells.  For full details on the calculation of variables, see O'Loughlin & Witmer (forthcoming) "Spatial fragmentation of civil war violence in the North Caucasus of Russia, 1999-2007" in the Journal of Conflict Resolution.
	
	gridID		- a unique identifier for each grid cell
	AllEvnts	- total number of violent events (all categories) that occurred within the grid cell
	RebEvnts	- total number of rebel violent events that occurred within the grid cell
	MilEvnts	- total number of military violent events that occurred within the grid cell
	PctUrban	- percentage of the grid cell that is urban
	MeanElev	- mean elevation for the grid cell, meters
	PctFrst		- percentage of grid cell that is covered by forest
	DistToStra	- mean distance (km) to the nearest strategic location
	MeanSlope	- mean slope (degree) of the grid cell
	popDens		- population density (people/sq.km)
	centX		- the x-coordinate for the grid cell centroid, UTM zone 38N
	centY		- the y-coordinate for the grid cell centroid, UTM zone 38N
	gridAreaKm	- area of the grid cell that falls within the study area (sq. km)
	Pop02		- estimated number of people for each grid cell for the year 2001 or 2002