Monitoring environmental indicators of vector-borne disease from space: a new opportunity for RADARSAT-2

Environmental vector-borne diseases are plaguing much of the world and are a serious concern on a global scale. Many of these diseases are clearly associated with specific environmental conditions and landscape variables. The science and technology associated with remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) are suitable for identifying these environmental targets. Since vector-borne diseases are most often found in tropical environments and during rainy seasons with persistent cloud cover conditions, radar is an important sensor for monitoring and mapping the environmental indicators of disease. Preliminary investigations using RADARSAT-1 C-band horizontal transmit, horizontal receive (C-HH) imagery have proven especially useful for identifying wetland habitats and flooded areas. It is anticipated that the advancements associated with upcoming RADARSAT-2 sensors will improve the science of mapping vector-borne disease risk in tropical areas, particularly with access to increased spatial and temporal resolution and fully polarimetric data. This paper discusses the concept of using radar remote sensing for epidemiology applications, results using RADARSAT-1 for malaria risk mapping in coastal Kenya, and expected results with the advanced capabilities of RADARSAT-2.