It is important to be able to predict the potential spread of water borne diseases
when building dams or redirecting rivers. This study was designed to test whether the use
of a growing degree day (GDD) climate model and remotely sensed data (RS) within a
geographic information system (GIS), could be used to predict both the distribution and
severity of Schistosoma haematobium. Growing degree days are defined as the number of
degrees centigrade over the minimum temperature required for development. The base
temperature and the number of GDD required to complete one generation varies for each
species. A monthly climate surface grid containing the high and low temperature, rainfall,
potential evapotranspiration (PET), and the ratio of rain to PET was used to calculate the
total number of GDD provisional on suitable moisture content in the soil. The latitude
and longitude for known snail locations were used to create a point file. A 5km buffer
was made around each point. Mean values were extracted from buffer areas for Advanced
Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data on maximum land surface temperature
(Tmax) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The values for Tmax ranged
from 15-28 and the NDVI values were 130-157. A map query found all areas that meet
both criteria and produced a model surface showing the potential distribution of the
vectors for this disease. Results indicate that the GDD and AVHRR models can be used
together to define both the distribution range and relative risk of S.haematobium in
anticipated water development projects and for control program planning and better
allocation of health resources in endemic vs. non-endemic areas.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-1111103-094734 |
| Date | 12 November 2003 |
| Creators | McNally, Kelsey Lee |
| Contributors | Oscar Huh, James Miller, John B Malone |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1111103-094734/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University Libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. |
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