EFFECT OF SATELLITE-DERIVED ON THE SPATIAL ABUNDANCE OF ANOPHELES (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE) IN MISIONES, ARGENTINA

RAMIREZ, PATRICIA; DE LUCA, GERARDO; MONTERO, MARI ; MARTÍN, MÍA E.; ORIA, GRISELDA; ETCHEPARE, EDUARDO ; ZAIDENBERG, MARIO; STEIN, MARINA; SOTELO, AILÍN; KURUC, JORGE A.; ESTALLO, ELIZABET LILIA

Congreso; Congreso Internacional de Ciencia y Tecnología Aeroespacial ? CICTA.; 2020

Universidad Industrial de Santander

Spatial epidemiology is the study of spatial variation in disease risk or incidence. Several environmental characteristics can affected the presence, abundance and distribution of vector population, and these can be mapped using satellite images. We investigate the relationship between the abundance of Anopheles mosquitoes and the characteristics of the environment in Misiones, Argentina. Monthly samplings between June 2012 and June 2014 in 4 locations were carried out. Proportion of land cover classes derived from SPOT-5 images (water, bare soil, farmland, low vegetation, high vegetation and urban areas), as well as average of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index in buffer areas of 3km were used to characterize and identify suitable environmental conditions for the development of mosquitoes through Generalized Linear Mixed Models. In addition, the distance from locations to the closest point of water, vegetation and urban areas was calculated using Google Earth. Sixteen species were collected and An. strodei was the most abundant. The models showed that high abundance of Anopheles mosquitoes was negatively associated with NDVI values and distance of vegetation, while An. strodei abundance was positively related to the presence of water, but negatively related to the NDVI values.