scholarly journals Selection and integration of Earth Observation-based data for an operational disease forecasting system

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor A Ainscoe ◽  
Barbara Hofmann ◽  
Felipe Colon ◽  
Iacopo Ferrario ◽  
Quillon Harpham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Dengue Fever ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Disease Forecasting ◽  
Current Increase ◽  
Disease Case ◽  
Wide Range

<p>The current increase in the volume and quality of Earth Observation (EO) data being collected by satellites offers the potential to contribute to applications across a wide range of scientific domains. It is well established that there are correlations between characteristics that can be derived from EO satellite data, such as land surface temperature or land cover, and the incidence of some diseases. Thanks to the reliable frequent acquisition and rapid distribution of EO data it is now possible for this field to progress from using EO in retrospective analyses of historical disease case counts to using it in operational forecasting systems.</p><p>However, bringing together EO-based and non-EO-based datasets, as is required for disease forecasting and many other fields, requires carefully designed data selection, formatting and integration processes. Similarly, it requires careful communication between collaborators to ensure that the priorities of that design process match the requirements of the application.</p><p>Here we will present work from the D-MOSS (Dengue forecasting MOdel Satellite-based System) project. D-MOSS is a dengue fever early warning system for South and South East Asia that will allow public health authorities to identify areas at high risk of disease epidemics before an outbreak occurs in order to target resources to reduce spreading of epidemics and improve disease control. The D-MOSS system uses EO, meteorological and seasonal weather forecast data, combined with disease statistics and static layers such as land cover, as the inputs into a dengue fever model and a water availability model. Water availability directly impacts dengue epidemics due to the provision of mosquito breeding sites. The datasets are regularly updated with the latest data and run through the models to produce a new monthly forecast. For this we have designed a system to reliably feed standardised data to the models. The project has involved a close collaboration between remote sensing scientists, geospatial scientists, hydrologists and disease modelling experts. We will discuss our approach to the selection of data sources, data source quality assessment, and design of a processing and ingestion system to produce analysis-ready data for input to the disease and water availability models.</p>

scholarly journals Quantifying Tree Cover Loss in Urban Forests within Nairobi City Metropolitan Area from Earth Observation Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Francis Oloo ◽  
Godwin Murithi ◽  
Charlynne Jepkosgei
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Vegetation Health ◽  
Earth Observation Data

Urban forests contribute significantly to the ecological integrity of urban areas and the quality of life of urban dwellers through air quality control, energy conservation, improving urban hydrology, and regulation of land surface temperatures (LST). However, urban forests are under threat due to human activities, natural calamities, and bioinvasion continually decimating forest cover. Few studies have used fine-scaled Earth observation data to understand the dynamics of tree cover loss in urban forests and the sustainability of such forests in the face of increasing urban population. The aim of this work was to quantify the spatial and temporal changes in urban forest characteristics and to assess the potential drivers of such changes. We used data on tree cover, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and land cover change to quantify tree cover loss and changes in vegetation health in urban forests within the Nairobi metropolitan area in Kenya. We also used land cover data to visualize the potential link between tree cover loss and changes in land use characteristics. From approximately 6600 hectares (ha) of forest land, 720 ha have been lost between 2000 and 2019, representing about 11% loss in 20 years. In six of the urban forests, the trend of loss was positive, indicating a continuing disturbance of urban forests around Nairobi. Conversely, there was a negative trend in the annual mean NDVI values for each of the forests, indicating a potential deterioration of the vegetation health in the forests. A preliminary, visual inspection of high-resolution imagery in sample areas of tree cover loss showed that the main drivers of loss are the conversion of forest lands to residential areas and farmlands, implementation of big infrastructure projects that pass through the forests, and extraction of timber and other resources to support urban developments. The outcome of this study reveals the value of Earth observation data in monitoring urban forest resources.

D-MOSS: Dengue Fever Forecasting for Vietnam – Assessment of an Operational System.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Hofmann ◽  
Gina Tsarouchi ◽  
Felipe Colon ◽  
Eleanor Ainscoe ◽  
Iacopo Ferrario ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dengue Fever ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
International Partnership ◽  
Earth Observation Data ◽  
Models Of Disease ◽  
The Uk

<p>Dengue fever is now present in over 150 countries world-wide, affecting 390 million people per year. In Vietnam the number of cases has increased by 100% since 2000, and 2019 exhibited exceptional high numbers of reported dengue fever cases. Transmission of this mosquito-borne disease is dependent on a variety of climate and socio-economic factors. Among those water availability plays a crucial role in creating or destroying suitable mosquito breeding grounds.</p><p>At present mitigating actions are taken based on reported dengue fever cases and local knowledge, leading to a reactive rather than proactive approach of disease control. By combining Earth Observation and vector-borne disease modelling expertise we have developed D-MOSS (Dengue Model Forecasting Satellite based System). The D-MOSS system is funded by the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme and aims to predict the likelihood of future dengue epidemics for Vietnam on a province scale with a lead time of up to six months.</p><p>D-MOSS integrates multiple stressors such as water availability, land-cover, precipitation and temperature with data of past dengue fever incidents.  This information is used to develop statistical models of disease incidence, that can then be used to forecast dengue outbreaks based on seasonal weather and hydrological forecasts.  It is the first fully integrated dengue fever forecasting system incorporating Earth Observation data and seasonal climate forecasts to routinely issue warnings. </p><p>D-MOSS takes the form of a web-based platform.  The system’s architecture is based on open and non-proprietary software, where possible, and on flexible deployment into platforms including cloud-based virtual storage and application processing. Working closely with public health authorities in Vietnam enabled us to develop a system tailored to the local needs and decision making procedures.</p>

scholarly journals Separating the effects of changes in land cover and climate: a hydro-meteorological analysis of the past 60 yr in Saxony, Germany

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 389-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Renner ◽  
K. Brust ◽  
K. Schwärzel ◽  
M. Volk ◽  
C. Bernhofer
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Forest Damage ◽  
Federal State ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Surface Changes

Abstract. Understanding and quantifying the impact of changes in climate and land use/land cover on water availability is a prerequisite to adapt water management; yet, it can be difficult to separate the effects of these different impacts. In this paper we illustrate a separation and attribution method based on a Budyko framework. We assume that evapotranspiration (ET) is limited by the climatic forcing of precipitation (P) and evaporative demand (E0), but modified by land-surface properties. Impacts of changes in climate (i.e., E0/P) or land-surface changes on ET alter the two dimensionless measures describing relative water (ET/P) and energy partitioning (ET/E0), which allows us to separate and quantify these impacts. We use the separation method to quantify the role of environmental factors on ET using 68 small to medium range river basins covering the greatest part of the German Federal State of Saxony within the period of 1950–2009. The region can be considered as a typical central European landscape with considerable anthropogenic impacts. In the long term, most basins are found to follow the Budyko curve which we interpret as a result of the strong interactions of climate, soils and vegetation. However, two groups of basins deviate. Agriculturally dominated basins at lower altitudes exceed the Budyko curve while a set of high altitude, forested basins fall well below. When visualizing the decadal dynamics on the relative partitioning of water and energy the impacts of climatic and land-surface changes become apparent. After 1960 higher forested basins experienced large land-surface changes which show that the air pollution driven tree damages have led to a decline of annual ET on the order of 38%. In contrast, lower, agricultural dominated areas show no significant changes during that time. However, since the 1990s effective mitigation measures on industrial pollution have been established and the apparent brightening and regrowth has resulted in a significant increase of ET across most basins. In conclusion, data on both, the water and the energy balance is necessary to understand how long-term climate and land cover control evapotranspiration and thus water availability. Further, the detected land-surface change impacts are consistent in space and time with independent forest damage data and thus confirm the validity of the separation approach.

scholarly journals Remote Sensing for the Quantification of Land Surface Dynamics in Large River Delta Regions—A Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 1985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuenzer ◽  
Heimhuber ◽  
Huth ◽  
Dech
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Large River ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Surface Dynamics ◽  
River Deltas ◽  
Wide Range

River deltas and estuaries belong to the most significant coastal landforms on our planet and are usually very densely populated. Nearly 600 million people live in river deltas, benefiting from the large variety of locational advantages and rich resources. Deltas are highly dynamic and vulnerable environments that are exposed to a wide range of natural and manmade threats. Sustainable management of river deltas therefore requires a holistic assessment of historic and recent ongoing changes and the dynamics in settlement sprawl, land cover and land use change, ecosystem development, as well as river and coastline geomorphology, all of which is difficult to achieve solely with traditional land-based surveying techniques. This review paper presents the potential of Earth Observation for analyses and quantification of land surface dynamics in the large river deltas globally, emphasizing the different geo-information products that can be derived from medium resolution, high resolution and highest resolution optical, multispectral, thermal and SAR data. Over 200 journal papers on remote sensing related studies for large river deltas and estuaries have been analyzed and categorized into thematic fields such as river course morphology, coastline changes, erosion and accretion processes, flood and inundation dynamics, regional land cover and land use dynamics, as well as the monitoring of compliance with respect to anthropogenic activity such as industry expansion-related habitat destruction. Additionally, our own exemplary analyses are interwoven into the review to visualize related delta work.

scholarly journals Separating the effects of changes in land cover and climate: a hydro-meteorological analysis of the past 60 yr in Saxony, Germany

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 8537-8580 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Renner ◽  
K. Brust ◽  
K. Schwärzel ◽  
M. Volk ◽  
C. Bernhofer
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Forest Damage ◽  
Evaporative Demand ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Surface Changes

Abstract. Understanding and quantifying the impact of changes in climate and in land use/land cover on water availability is a prerequisite to adapt water management; yet, it can be difficult to separate the effects of these different impacts. Here, we illustrate a separation and attribution method based on a Budyko framework. We assume that ET is limited by the climatic forcing of precipitation P and evaporative demand E0, but modified by land surface properties. Impacts of changes in climate (i.e. E0/P) or land-surface changes on ET alter the two dimensionless measures describing relative water ET/P and energy partitioning ET/E0, which allows us to separate and quantify these impacts. We use the separation method to quantify the role of environmental factors on ET using 68 small to medium range river basins covering the greatest part of Saxony within the period of 1950-2009. The region can be considered a typical Central European landscape with considerable anthropogenic impacts. In the long term, most basins are found to follow the Budyko curve which we interpret as a result of the strong interactions of climate, soils and vegetation. However, two groups of basins deviate. Agriculturally dominated basins at lower altitudes exceed the Budyko curve while a set of high altitude, forested basins fall well below. When visualizing the decadal dynamics on the relative partitioning of water and energy the impacts of climatic and land surface changes become apparent. After 1960 higher forested basins experienced large land surface changes which show that the air pollution driven tree damages have led to a decline of annual ET in the order of 38%. In contrast, lower, agricultural dominated areas show no significant changes during that time. However, since the 1990s when effective mitigation measures on industrial pollution have been established, the apparent brightening and regrowth has resulted in a significant increase of ET across most basins. In conclusion, data on both, the water and the energy balance is necessary to understand how long-term climate and land cover control evapotranspiration and thus water availability. Further, the detected land surface change impacts are consistent in space and time with independent forest damage data and thus confirm the validity of the separation approach.

scholarly journals A Global Analysis of Land Surface Temperature Diurnal Cycle Using MODIS Observations

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1279-1291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Sharifnezhadazizi ◽  
Hamid Norouzi ◽  
Satya Prakash ◽  
Christopher Beale ◽  
Reza Khanbilvardi
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface Temperature ◽  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Interpolation Method ◽  
Diurnal Variations ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Land Cover Types ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractDiurnal variations of land surface temperature (LST) play a vital role in a wide range of applications such as climate change assessment, land–atmosphere interactions, and heat-related health issues in urban regions. This study uses 15 years (2003–17) of daily observations of LST Collection 6 from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on board the Aqua and the Terra satellites. A spline interpolation method is used to estimate half-hourly global LST from the MODIS measurements. A preliminary assessment of interpolated LST with hourly ground-based observations over selected stations of North America shows bias and an error of less than 1 K. Results suggest that the present interpolation method is capable of capturing the diurnal variations of LST reasonably well for different land-cover types. The diurnal cycle of LST and time of occurrence of maximum temperature are computed from the spatially and temporally consistent interpolated diurnal LST data at a global scale. Regions with higher variability in the timing of maximum LST hours and diurnal amplitude are identified in this study. The global desert regions show generally small variability of the monthly mean diurnal LST range, whereas larger areas of the global land exhibit rather higher variability in the diurnal LST range during the study period. Moreover, the changes in diurnal temperature range for the study period are examined for distinct land-cover types. Analysis of the 15-yr time series of the diurnal LST record shows an overall decrease of 0.5 K in amplitude over the Northern Hemisphere. However, the diurnal LST range shows variant changes in the Southern Hemisphere.

Analysis of Land Use Land Cover in Annapurna Conservation Area in Gandaki Province, Nepal using Vegetation Index and Land Use Land Cover Datasets

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-99
Author(s):  
Shiva Pokhrel ◽  
Chungla Sherpa
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
National Level ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Barren Land ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Annapurna Conservation Area

Conservation areas are originally well-known for protecting landscape features and wildlife. They are playing key role in conserving and providing a wide range of ecosystem services, social, economic and cultural benefits as well as vital places for climate mitigation and adaptation. We have analyzed decadal changes in land cover and status of vegetation cover in the conservation area using both national level available data on land use land cover (LULC) changes (1990-2010) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) (2010-2018) in Annapurna conservation area. LULC showed the barren land as the most dominant land cover types in all three different time series 1990, 2000 and 2010 with followed by snow cover, grassland, forest, agriculture and water body. The highest NDVI values were observed at Southern, Southwestern and Southeastern part of conservation area consisting of forest area, shrub land and grassland while toward low to negative in the upper middle to the Northern part of the conservation area.

Evaluation and Avoidance of False Alarm by Controlling Rhine Water with Continuously Working Biotests

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Puzicha
Keyword(s):  
Warning System ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
River Rhine ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
River Test ◽  
Continuous Working ◽  
Range Of Variation ◽  
Contaminant Load ◽  
Rhine Water

Effluents from point sources (industries, communities) and diffuse inputs introduce pollutants into the water of the river Rhine and cause a basic contaminant load. The aim is to establish a biological warning system to detect increased toxicity in addition to the already existing chemical-physical monitoring system. To cover a wide range of biocides, continuous working biotests at different trophic levels (bacteria, algae, mussels, water fleas, fishes) have been developed and proved. These are checked out for sensitivity against toxicants, reaction time, validity of data and practical handling under field conditions at the river. Test-specific appropriate methods are found to differentiate between the normal range of variation and true alarm signals.

Danube River Basin: Progress with the Environmental Programme

1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Botterweg ◽  
D. W. Rodda
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Waste Water Treatment ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Danube River ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Global Environment Facility ◽  
Major Activity ◽  
Wide Range

An Internationally funded Programme, involving the European Commission, the Global Environment Facility managed by UN Development Programme, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is addressing river basin problems in a unique situation. The solution of these should lead to the prevention of pollution and better water quality, protected ecosystems, sustainable water resources and more efficient sewerage and waste water treatment facilities for the 90 million population living in the region and the reduction of pollution impact on the Black Sea into which the Danube River flows. The paper introduces current Programme activities, the challenges being met and progress. Work is described for implementing a monitoring strategy, an accident emergency warning system and implementation of the 1994 Strategic Action Plan. The applied research activity is explained. The Programme is a major activity with many elements addressing a wide range of environmental problems in the catchment of a major international waterway.

scholarly journals Cooling Effect of Different Land Cover Types: A Case Study in Xi’an and Xianyang, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1099
Author(s):  
Yuhe Ma ◽  
Mudan Zhao ◽  
Jianbo Li ◽  
Jian Wang ◽  
Lifa Hu
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Land Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Cooling Effect ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Land Cover Types ◽  
Island Effect ◽  
Urban Heat

One of the climate problems caused by rapid urbanization is the urban heat island effect, which directly threatens the human survival environment. In general, some land cover types, such as vegetation and water, are generally considered to alleviate the urban heat island effect, because these landscapes can significantly reduce the temperature of the surrounding environment, known as the cold island effect. However, this phenomenon varies over different geographical locations, climates, and other environmental factors. Therefore, how to reasonably configure these land cover types with the cooling effect from the perspective of urban planning is a great challenge, and it is necessary to find the regularity of this effect by designing experiments in more cities. In this study, land cover (LC) classification and land surface temperature (LST) of Xi’an, Xianyang and its surrounding areas were obtained by Landsat-8 images. The land types with cooling effect were identified and their ideal configuration was discussed through grid analysis, distance analysis, landscape index analysis and correlation analysis. The results showed that an obvious cooling effect occurred in both woodland and water at different spatial scales. The cooling distance of woodland is 330 m, much more than that of water (180 m), but the land surface temperature around water decreased more than that around the woodland within the cooling distance. In the specific urban planning cases, woodland can be designed with a complex shape, high tree planting density and large planting areas while water bodies with large patch areas to cool the densely built-up areas. The results of this study have utility for researchers, urban planners and urban designers seeking how to efficiently and reasonably rearrange landscapes with cooling effect and in urban land design, which is of great significance to improve urban heat island problem.

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