9. GIS-Based 
lin Province, 
sessment: An 
08. Study on 
S. Computer 
1827. 
MAPPING THE RISKS OF MALARIA, DENGUE AND INFLUENZA 
USING SATELLITE DATA 
R. K. Kiang *, R. P. Soebiyanto ^* 
? NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA — Richard kiang@nasa.gov 
^ Goddard Earth Sciences Technology & Research, Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, Maryland, 
USA — radina.p.soebiyanto@nasa.gov 
Commission VIII, WG 2 
KEY WORDS: Malaria, Dengue, Influenza, satellite, remote sensing 
ABSTRACT: 
It has long been recognized that environment and climate may affect the transmission of infectious diseases. The effects are most 
obvious for vector-borne infectious diseases, such as malaria and dengue, but less so for airborne and contact diseases, such as 
seasonal influenza. In this paper, we examined the meteorological and environmental parameters that influence the transmission of 
malaria, dengue and seasonal influenza. Remotely sensed parameters that provide such parameters were discussed. Both statistical 
and biologically inspired, processed based models can be used to model the transmission of these diseases utilizing the remotely 
sensed parameters as input. Examples were given for modelling malaria in Thailand, dengue in Indonesia, and seasonal influenza in 
Hong Kong. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
The transmission of infectious diseases is influenced by a 
myriad of factors. Environmental, meteorological, social, 
economic, political and warlike conditions have all been shown 
to contribute to the occurrence and outbreaks of a large number 
of diseases. Among these, the environmental and 
meteorological conditions are the factors that can be more 
easily quantified. They can be conveniently measured 
repeatedly using remote sensing in either friendly or hostile 
territories. Other factors, on the other hand, often require 
substantial efforts to measure and can only be expressed 
qualitatively. 
Malaria is a parasitic disease that infects both humans and 
primates, and is endemic in most parts of the tropic, especially 
in the developing countries. Among the continents, Africa has 
nearly ninety per cent of the malaria cases and deaths. But 
malaria is also a significant problem in South and Southeast 
Asia. Malaria may still become a serious health issue for 
countries outside of the tropics where public health support is 
inadequate because of economic constraints or military 
conflicts. For example, since 1993 vivax malaria re-emerged in 
North Korea (Feighner 1998). Similarly, situated around 34°N 
with an arid climate, Afghanistan has approximately 0.41 to 0.6 
million cases annually (Youssef 2008 WHO-EMRO 2007), and 
is the country most endemic with malaria within the World 
Health Organization’s (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region. 
In this section, we will discuss malaria modelling and 
surveillance using remote sensing data. Examples are drawn 
from malaria in South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and 
Afghanistan. 
It is estimated that half of the world’s population is at risk for 
malaria infection (RBM 2011). There are approximately 250 
million cases annually with 0.9 million deaths worldwide. In 
recent years, the malaria burden has been significantly reduced 
through concerted efforts of international and national public 
health organizations, and the generous contributions from 
developed nations and philanthropic foundations. A major 
concern, however, is the emergence of artemisinin-resistant 
falciparum malaria that first appeared at the Thai-Cambodian 
border in 2007. Eliminating or containing the drug resistant 
strains is essential to global malaria control. Malaria is 
transmitted by infected female anophelines after taking blood 
meals from infectious humans. Five plasmodium species are 
known to infect humans, including Plasmodium vivax, P. 
falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovali, and the more recently 
discovered P. knowlesi (Singh 2004). 
Similar to malaria, dengue fever and the more lethal dengue 
hemorrhagic fever are also mosquito-borne diseases. They are 
caused by flavivirus that is transmitted by infected Aedes 
mosquitoes. The latter may lead to the dangerous dengue shock 
syndrome with a mortality rate as high as 30%. Two fifths of 
the world’s populations are at risk. Dengue vectors can breed 
in any small amount of water such as vases, flower pots, 
discarded containers, or used tires. Hence it is challenging to 
implement larval control. Unlike malaria, dengue is considered 
an urban disease. Currently, dengue exists in Mexico and all 
Central American and Southeast Asian countries. There are four 
viral serotypes in the family of Flaviviridae. 
Influenza is a common viral respiratory disease. Almost 
everyone gets infected one year or another. It infects five to 
fifteen per cent of the world population and causes 250,000- 
300,000 deaths each year (WHO 2009). Despite vaccination 
and the largely mild cases, the burden of influenza remains 
significant due to health care cost and the loss of productivity. 
In the United States alone, the annual seasonal influenza 
epidemic can cause up to 200,000 hospitalization and more than 
30,000 deaths (CDC 2010), the estimated economic burden 
based on the 2003 population is nearly US$90 billion (Molinari