WISQARS™ Fatal Injury Mapping Help Menu
3.6 Map Image Construction
Rates in WISQARS Fatal Injury Mapping are tagged with a state or county Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code. These codes uniquely identify states and counties.
The maps displayed in WISQARS Fatal Injury Mapping rely on “shape” files that are used to draw state and county boundaries. Each shape is also tagged with a FIPS code that uniquely identifies the corresponding state or county.
Rate maps are produced by matching the FIPS codes for the map shapes (states or counties) to the FIPS codes for the rates. Each rate is also tagged with an interval number, which determines the color used to fill in each map shape.
Geographic boundaries of counties occasionally change due to splits, merges, or other administrative actions. Data recorded subsequent to such actions may not immediately reflect the changed geography. WISQARS Fatal Injury Mapping presents county-level maps that reflect the geography most compatible with the way in which the relevant data were recorded.
WISQARSTM Fatal Injury Mapping