Multispectral Satellite Data and GIS for Mapping Vector Ecology, Monitoring, Risk Assessment, and Forecast of Vector Borne Disease Epidemics: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The vector borne disease (VBD) epidemics trend have been gradually increased in the world, especially in India for several decades. Mapping the vector breeding habitats, spatial distribution and seasonal variation of vector density, epidemiological survey, and mapping the thematic layers of bio-geo-environmental risk variables, VBD occurrences with respect to space and time, disease surveillance, spatial analysis and spatial modeling for prediction of epidemic risk assessment, and forecast are herculean task, and are involved huge expenditure, man power, and long duration, by the time, then the situation would have been changed, whereas, remote sensing, GPS and GIS are the finest technology which have been used for achieving the task in time with high accuracy, reliable, and low cost. The earth environmental remote sensing of multispectral satellite data are readily available to process the past and present condition of the vector ecology based on the data derived from visible to Infrared (Near Infrared, Middle Infrared, Infrared, and Thermal infrared) i.e. 0.0.45 µm-0.52 µm (Blue), 0.52 µm-0.60 µm (Green), 0.63 µm -0.69 µm (Red), 0.76 µm -0.90 µm (NIR), 1.55 µm -1.75 µm (Infrared), Thermal IR bands 10.41 µm -12.5 µm, and 2.08 µm -2.35 µm, and spatial resolution ranging from 30 meters to less than 1 meters, and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer), MWR (Microwave Radiometer), microwave remote sensing of various earth resource satellites have been used for the study of weather parameters and climate determinants, and were used to analyze spatial topology with vector abundance and VBD epidemics. The results could thus provide a new basis of guidelines for the control of mosquito vectors as well as disease epidemics early in advance. Mostly, the situation, when the diseases occurrences are strongly related to geo-ecological risk variables, viz; weather parameters, climate season, agriculture, vegetation, land-use / land cover, water features, and physiographic landscapes, and therefore, the data pertaining to bio-geo environmental variables have been included in the spatial prediction models. Remote sensing, and GPS have been used for data collection of vector data (mature and immature), epidemiological site specific information, geo-environmental parameters, and vectors breeding habitats, subsequently, GIS have been used to analyze and mapping epidemic hotspots of VBD based on climate determinants are provided the key elements for depicting thematic layers concerned in both the vector control, prevention measures, and epidemiological management processes in advance.