Help NASA track and predict outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases

Picnics, parades and fireworks are the hallmarks of a great celebration on July 4th. So are the itching and scratching of mosquito bites. While bites are annoying, they do not tend to stop the festivities. However, certain types of mosquitoes can cause serious damage. They are known to carry and spread diseases like Zika, West Nile Virus and Malaria.

One of the tools used by researchers to track these mosquitoes is the scientific data of citizens combined with NASA's satellite observations to create new predictive models that can predict the spread of diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, but more data is needed. "We do not have enough information about the geographical distribution of mosquitoes and the variations over time of their populations. If many people participated in this citizen science initiative around the world, this will help" said Assaf Anyamba, a scientist from the University Space Research Association, using satellite data to study mosquitoes at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

From autumn 2017 to spring 2018 Goddard teams studied Western Europe, a place little known for mosquito epidemics. The DEVELOP project, part of NASA's applied science program, addresses environmental and public policy issues through interdisciplinary research projects that apply NASA's observations to community concerns around the world. The Global Mosquito Alert consortium provided the development teams with citizen science data.

The teams merged citizen science data with NASA's satellite observations on surface temperatures, humidity, humidity, elevation, vegetation, and precipitation. The data was then used to create an interactive and open source map on Google Earth Engine to improve prediction models for disease-carrying mosquitoes. The work is in progress.

Early results showed that 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; This, in turn, skewed some of the mosquito results, "said Sara Lubkin, DEVELOP Project Coordinator at Goddard.

More knowledge about citizen science in more parts of the world could help.

" Knowing the Species mosquito and their approximate populations at any given time provides useful information about the potential for occurrence of a particular pathogen, or disease transmission, "Anyamba said.

Different environmental conditions are appropriate for certain types of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Because there are many wetlands to live and raise, mosquitoes tend to remain in an area, but when conditions become hot and dry, mosquitoes migrate to more suitable habitats

. Satellites can detect how wet or dry a zone is, and this information can help determine what types of mosquitoes and diseases can move in an environment.

The last major minority of West Nile Ak in the United States occurred in 2011, which was a dry year. The hot, dry season led mosquitoes to move into highly urbanized and populated areas, seeking food and water.

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 pass from larvae to adults, resulting in a doubling of mosquito populations in an average year.

Mosquitoes can not travel alone. Instead, they have to hitch up people and animals to cover any significant distance. If a mosquito is a type that carries and spreads diseases, the disease can move to new areas, as has been the case in Western Europe.

The public can help detect mosquitoes by downloading an application called GLOBE Observer. been using the Mosquito Habitat Mapper tool in the application. The application guides users through the process of identifying and eliminating mosquito breeding sites in order to reduce mosquito populations in their area.

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