Software to Facilitate Remote Sensing Data Access for Disease Early Warning Systems

Overview

Journal Environ Model Softw

Date 2015 Dec 9

PMID 26644779

Citations 10

Authors

Yi Liu

Jiameng Hu

Isaiah Snell-Feikema

Michael S VanBemmel

Aashis Lamsal

Michael C Wimberly

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Satellite remote sensing produces an abundance of environmental data that can be used in the study of human health. To support the development of early warning systems for mosquito-borne diseases, we developed an open-source, client based software application to enable the Epidemiological Applications of Spatial Technologies (EASTWeb). Two major design decisions were full automation of the discovery, retrieval and processing of remote sensing data from multiple sources, and making the system easily modifiable in response to changes in data availability and user needs. Key innovations that helped to achieve these goals were the implementation of a software framework for data downloading and the design of a scheduler that tracks the complex dependencies among multiple data processing tasks and makes the system resilient to external errors. EASTWeb has been successfully applied to support forecasting of West Nile virus outbreaks in the United States and malaria epidemics in the Ethiopian highlands.

Citing Articles

Development of an Integrated Surveillance System to Improve Preparedness for Arbovirus Outbreaks in a Dengue Endemic Setting: Descriptive Study.

Leandro A, Maciel-de-Freitas R JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2024; 10:e62759.

PMID: 39588736 PMC: 11611802. DOI: 10.2196/62759.

Assessment of malaria risk in Southeast Asia: a systematic review.

Sa-Ngamuang C, Lawpoolsri S, Yin M, Barkowsky T, Cui L, Prachumsri J Malar J. 2023; 22(1):339.

PMID: 37940923 PMC: 10631000. DOI: 10.1186/s12936-023-04772-3.

Cloud-based applications for accessing satellite Earth observations to support malaria early warning.

Wimberly M, Nekorchuk D, Kankanala R Sci Data. 2022; 9(1):208.

PMID: 35577816 PMC: 9110363. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01337-y.

Electronic data collection, management and analysis tools used for outbreak response in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and stakeholder survey.

Keating P, Murray J, Schenkel K, Merson L, Seale A BMC Public Health. 2021; 21(1):1741.

PMID: 34560871 PMC: 8464108. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-11790-w.

A genetic algorithm for identifying spatially-varying environmental drivers in a malaria time series model.

Davis J, Gebrehiwot T, Worku M, Awoke W, Mihretie A, Nekorchuk D Environ Model Softw. 2021; 119:275-284.

PMID: 33814961 PMC: 8018598. DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2019.06.010.

References

Estrada-Pena A . Increasing habitat suitability in the United States for the tick that transmits Lyme disease: a remote sensing approach. Environ Health Perspect. 2002; 110(7):635-40. PMC: 1240908. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.110-1240908. View

Kwan J, Park B, Carpenter T, NGo V, Civen R, Reisen W . Comparison of enzootic risk measures for predicting West Nile disease, Los Angeles, California, USA, 2004-2010. Emerg Infect Dis. 2012; 18(8):1298-306. PMC: 3414020. DOI: 10.3201/eid1808.111558. View

Linard C, Alegana V, Noor A, Snow R, Tatem A . A high resolution spatial population database of Somalia for disease risk mapping. Int J Health Geogr. 2010; 9:45. PMC: 2949749. DOI: 10.1186/1476-072X-9-45. View

Chuang T, Hildreth M, Vanroekel D, Wimberly M . Weather and land cover influences on mosquito populations in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. J Med Entomol. 2011; 48(3):669-79. PMC: 3117223. DOI: 10.1603/me10246. View

Chuang T, Hockett C, Kightlinger L, Wimberly M . Landscape-level spatial patterns of West Nile virus risk in the northern Great Plains. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2012; 86(4):724-31. PMC: 3403767. DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0515. View

Hartley D, Barker C, Menach A, Niu T, Gaff H, Reisen W . Effects of temperature on emergence and seasonality of West Nile virus in California. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2012; 86(5):884-94. PMC: 3335698. DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0342. View

Helbing D, Brockmann D, Chadefaux T, Donnay K, Blanke U, Woolley-Meza O . Saving Human Lives: What Complexity Science and Information Systems can Contribute. J Stat Phys. 2015; 158(3):735-781. PMC: 4457089. DOI: 10.1007/s10955-014-1024-9. View

Chung W, Buseman C, Joyner S, Hughes S, Fomby T, Luby J . The 2012 West Nile encephalitis epidemic in Dallas, Texas. JAMA. 2013; 310(3):297-307. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2013.8267. View

Chuang T, Henebry G, Kimball J, Vanroekel-Patton D, Hildreth M, Wimberly M . Satellite Microwave Remote Sensing for Environmental Modeling of Mosquito Population Dynamics. Remote Sens Environ. 2012; 125:147-156. PMC: 3463408. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2012.07.018. View

10.

Soverow J, Wellenius G, Fisman D, Mittleman M . Infectious disease in a warming world: how weather influenced West Nile virus in the United States (2001-2005). Environ Health Perspect. 2009; 117(7):1049-52. PMC: 2717128. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.0800487. View

11.

Ford T, Colwell R, Rose J, Morse S, Rogers D, Yates T . Using satellite images of environmental changes to predict infectious disease outbreaks. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009; 15(9):1341-6. PMC: 2819876. DOI: 10.3201/eid1509.081334. View

12.

DaSilva J, Garanganga B, Teveredzi V, Marx S, Mason S, Connor S . Improving epidemic malaria planning, preparedness and response in Southern Africa. Report on the 1st Southern African Regional Epidemic Outlook Forum, Harare, Zimbabwe, 26-29 September, 2004. Malar J. 2004; 3:37. PMC: 526760. DOI: 10.1186/1475-2875-3-37. View

13.

Abeku T . Response to malaria epidemics in Africa. Emerg Infect Dis. 2007; 13(5):681-6. PMC: 2738452. DOI: 10.3201/eid1305.061333. View

14.

Wesolowski A, Eagle N, Tatem A, Smith D, Noor A, Snow R . Quantifying the impact of human mobility on malaria. Science. 2012; 338(6104):267-70. PMC: 3675794. DOI: 10.1126/science.1223467. View

15.

Ceccato P, Vancutsem C, Klaver R, Rowland J, Connor S . A vectorial capacity product to monitor changing malaria transmission potential in epidemic regions of Africa. J Trop Med. 2012; 2012:595948. PMC: 3272826. DOI: 10.1155/2012/595948. View

16.

Coker R, Rushton J, Mounier-Jack S, Karimuribo E, Lutumba P, Kambarage D . Towards a conceptual framework to support one-health research for policy on emerging zoonoses. Lancet Infect Dis. 2011; 11(4):326-31. PMC: 7129889. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(10)70312-1. View

17.

Wimberly M, Giacomo P, Kightlinger L, Hildreth M . Spatio-temporal epidemiology of human West Nile virus disease in South Dakota. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013; 10(11):5584-602. PMC: 3863861. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph10115584. View

18.

Ceccato P, Ghebremeskel T, Jaiteh M, Graves P, Levy M, Ghebreselassie S . Malaria stratification, climate, and epidemic early warning in Eritrea. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2008; 77(6 Suppl):61-8. View

19.

Baeza A, Bouma M, Dhiman R, Baskerville E, Ceccato P, Yadav R . Long-lasting transition toward sustainable elimination of desert malaria under irrigation development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013; 110(37):15157-62. PMC: 3773790. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1305728110. View

20.

Kalluri S, Gilruth P, Rogers D, Szczur M . Surveillance of arthropod vector-borne infectious diseases using remote sensing techniques: a review. PLoS Pathog. 2007; 3(10):1361-71. PMC: 2042005. DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.0030116. View