Student Research Reports
Autonomous Mosquito Habitat Detection using Satellite Imagery and Convolutional Neural Networks for Disease Risk Mapping
Country:United States of America
Student(s):Sriram Elango and Nandini Ramachandran
Grade Level:Secondary School (grades 9-12, ages 14-18)
GLOBE Educator(s):Cassie Soeffing
Contributors:Dr. Rusty Low, scientist, IGES
Peder Nelson, scientist, OSU
Dr. Erika Podest, scientist, NASA JPL
Dr. Becky Boger, scientist
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report, Mission Mosquito Report
Protocols:Land Cover Classification, Mosquitoes
Presentation Video:
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Presentation Poster:
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Language(s):English
Date Submitted:02/23/2022
Mosquitoes are known vectors for disease transmission that cause over one million deaths
globally each year. The majority of natural mosquito habitats are areas containing standing
water such as ponds, lakes, and marshes. These habitats are challenging to detect using
conventional ground-based technology on a macro scale. Contemporary approaches, such as
drones, UAVs, and other aerial imaging technology are costly when implemented. Multispectral
imaging technology such as Lidar is most accurate on a finer spatial scale whereas the proposed
convolutional neural network(CNN) approach can be applied for disease risk mapping and
further guide preventative efforts on a more global scale. By assessing the performance of
autonomous mosquito habitat detection technology, the transmission of mosquito borne
diseases can be prevented in a cost-effective manner. This approach aims to identify the
spatiotemporal distribution of mosquito habitats in extensive areas that are difficult to survey
using ground-based technology by employing computer vision on satellite imagery for proof of
concept. The research presents an evaluation and the results of 3 different CNN models to
determine their accuracy of predicting large-scale mosquito habitats. For this approach, a
dataset was constructed utilizing Google Earth satellite imagery containing a variety of
geographical features in residential neighborhoods as well as cities across the world. Larger
land cover variables such as ponds/lakes, inlets, and rivers were utilized to classify mosquito
habitats while minute sites such as puddles, footprints, and additional human-produced
mosquito habitats were omitted for higher accuracy on a larger scale. Using the dataset,
multiple CNN networks were trained and evaluated for accuracy of habitat prediction. Utilizing
a CNN-based approach on readily available satellite imagery is cost-effective and scalable,
unlike most aerial imaging technology. Testing revealed that YOLOv4 obtained greater accuracy
in mosquito habitat detection than YOLOR or YOLOv5 for identifying large-scale mosquito
habitats. YOLOv4 is found to be a viable method for global mosquito habitat detection and
surveillance.