Global Monitoring and Human Health Program
Malaria Projects
The Global Monitoring and Human Health (GMHH) program was initiated in 1985 by
NASA's Life Sciences Division to explore the practical application of remote
sensing and geographic information systems
(RS/GIS) technologies
for malaria
surveillance. The goal of the program, phased over nine years, has been to
determine if remote sensing and field data, integrated in a GIS, can be
used to predict the spatial and temporal variability in malaria vector
population dynamics for the purpose of assessing malaria transmission
risk. This collaborative research program has had three phases. The
initial phase focused on the dynamics of the western malaria mosquito in
California rice fields.
The landscape approach developed in California was
extended to a malaria-endemic area in southern
Chiapas, Mexico, in Phase II.
In the last phase, the model that was used to successfully predict villages
with high abundance of malaria vectors was tested in another area of
Chiapas.
California Rice Fields
Chiapas, Mexico
Other Activities
Workshops
NASA has supported three interdisciplinary workshops to expand the scope of
the GMHH research. The first two workshops focused on a review of how remote
sensing has been used to address the relationship between environmental
change, and the patterns of vector-borne disease. The focus of the third
workshop was to evaluate the need for a remote sensing system dedicated to
human health and to define NASA's role in this area. One recommendation from
this workshop was that NASA should develop a center for education, training,
and transfer of RS/GIS technologies to the user community. In response, NASA
formed CHAART at Ames Research Center in California.
University of Texas, El Paso
Since the late 1980s, investigators from NASA's GMHH program and the
University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) have collaborated on a number of studies
that involved students in the development of innovative approaches to the
analysis of remote sensing data. Currently, CHAART is part of a consortium
of universities and agencies that is providing technical support to UTEP in
the establishment of the Pan American Center for Earth and Environmental
Studies (PACES). The goal of PACES is to provide a repository of data and
information that will enable researchers to develop an improved understanding
of geological, ecological, and environmental processes, as well as
changes in land use taking place along the United States/Mexico border.
University of Michigan
The GMHH program has provided support for two satellite design courses in the
Atmospheric Oceanic and Space Sciences Department at the University of
Michigan. The purpose of these courses was to consider some of the
engineering design issues associated with the development of a small remote
sensing satellite system, called MEDSAT, dedicated to human health
applications. A total of 40 undergraduate and graduate students from
engineering, natural resources, biology, and public health participated in
the courses. The final design specified a 340-kg satellite, in an equatorial
orbit, supporting a 4-channel visible/near-infrared multispectral scanner and
an L-band SAR.
Collaborating Institutions:
Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences
University of California, Davis
Centro de Investigacion de Paludismo, Chiapas, Mexico
California State University, Fresno
University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston
University of Texas, El Paso
GMHH Publications
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CHAART
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Last updated: 6 May 1998