NASA invites citizen scientists to follow mosquitoes; aims to predict the spread of Zika, malaria



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NASA has invited citizen scientists to help locate mosquitoes to create new predictive models that can predict the spread of diseases such as Zika, West Nile virus and malaria. People can help detect mosquitoes by downloading an application called GLOBE Observer, and then collect data over the summer using the Mosquito Habitat Mapper tool in the application. The application guides users in the process of identifying and eliminating mosquito breeding sites.

"We do not have enough information about the geographical distribution of mosquitoes and the variations over time of their populations, and this will help fill the gaps around the world and help us in our work. work, "said Assaf Anyamba, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the US From 1965 to 2018, researchers studied Western Europe, a place little known for mosquito epidemics. 19659002] The teams mixed citizens' scientific data with NASA's satellite observations of temperatures, humidity, humidity, elevation, vegetation and precipitation. have been used to create an interactive and open source map on Google Earth Engine to improve predictive models for disease-carrying mosquitoes.The work is underway.The first results showed that e vegetation, moisture and soil moisture facilitated the development of mosquitoes during the summer months. During the winter, altitude played a greater role in creating mosquito – friendly habitats.

The lower the altitude, the higher the number of mosquitoes. One of the challenges of the study was that citizen science data was concentrated in populated areas; and, as a result, it skewed some of the mosquito results, said Sara Lubkin of NASA. "Knowing the mosquito species and their approximate populations at one point provides useful information about the potential for occurrence of a particular pathogen, or disease transmission," Anyamba said.

Different environmental conditions are suitable for certain types of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Every summer, warm, humid conditions drive up mosquito populations. As there are many wetlands to live and reproduce, mosquitoes tend to stay in one area. However, when conditions become hot and dry, mosquitoes migrate to more suitable habitats. Satellites can detect whether an area is wet or dry, and this information helps to determine what types of mosquitoes and diseases can move in an environment.

Warmer temperatures excite some species of mosquitoes, causing them to bite more people. In addition, certain high temperature thresholds can reduce the time needed for mosquito maturity to pbad from the larva to the adult, resulting in the doubling of mosquito populations during an average year. Mosquitoes can not travel alone. Instead, they must board people and animals to cover any significant distance.

If a mosquito is a type that transmits and spreads diseases, then the disease can move to new areas, such as in Western Europe.

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