Early Warning System of Mosquito Diseases

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In a nutshell

EYWA (EarlY WArning System for Mosquito borne diseases) is a prototype system addressing the critical public health need for prevention and protection against the Mosquito-Borne Diseases (MBDs) and lies under the umbrella of EuroGEO Action Group "Earth Observation for Epidemics of Vector-borne Diseases" which is led by the National Observatory of Athens / BEYOND Centre of Earth Observation Research and Satellite Remote Sensing.

The system combines interdisciplinary scientific fields (entomology, epidemiology, ecology, EO, Big Data Analytics, AI/ML, Ensemble Dynamic/Hybrid vs Data Driven models, Data Fusion and Citizen sciences) towards building new directions in applied research and innovative services for public health, such as outbreak forecasting and decision support modeling for vector control applications and other mitigation actions.

EYWA system is the outcome of the co-development conducted by the BEYOND Centre of EO Research and Satellite Remote Sensing of the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing (IAASARS) of the National Observatory of Athens, in collaboration with key core partners, the Ecodevelopment S.A. company specialized in mosquito control and data analytics, and the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics of the University of Patras - Physics Department, and along with important European organisations from Italy, France, Germany and Serbia, that serve research purposes, perform mosquito control activities, belong to health and decision making sectors. The partnership scheme is open to include new partners from other European countries. For the time being it is comprising of the following partners:

Greece

National Observatory of Athens (NOA) – BEYOND Centre of EO Research & Satellite Remote Sensing,

Ecodevelopment S.A

Dimitrios Vallianatos (I.D.Com)

University of Patras – Physics Department - Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics (LapUP)

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

University of Thessaly, Medical School. Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology

Serbia

University of “Novi Sad” Faculty of Agriculture

University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine

Scientific Veterinary Institute "Novi Sad" (NIV)

Germany

German Mosquito Control Association (KABS)

Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine

France

EID Méditerranée

Italy

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe)

Edmund Mach Foundation

University of Trento

Main objectives & outcomes

The main objectives of EYWA lie with the need to offer a scalable, reliable, sustainable and cost-effective Early Warning System (EWS) relying on big Earth Observation (EO) data in conjunction with environmental, climatic and meteorological essential parameters, socioeconomic and population data, ecosystem and morphological related parameters, as well as epidemiological and entomological data to forecast and monitor MBDs.

EYWA’s Data Resources & Acquisitions

Full series of Entomological and Epidemiological Data from the five European countries members of the consortium are integrated so far, including open data introducing environmental essential parameters, time series Meteo, GEOSS portal data e.g. edministrative and socioeconomic data, topographic data, Copernicus Core Service data (C3S, ERA5, IMERG, CLMS, etc.), Copernicus, and Copernicus contributing missions, EO derived proxies from Sentinels, Landsat TM, EOS, SUOMI NPP, NOAA/AVHRR, etc.

EYWA’s models as per February 2021 - Data Driven & Dynamic modeling

The development of EYWA is a continuous action which its estimated activity duration will carry on for at least the next 5 years, as foreseen in the Partnership Agreement signed by the EYWA Consortium. The synoptic picture of the full set of available operational modules is depicted in the following diagram.

Ultimately:

EYWA is a suit of validated epidemiological and entomological models either dynamic, hybrid and/or data driven.
The validated and demonstrated models are considered as operational. Their results are delivered operational for a period of at least six months to receive the feedback from the involved stakeholders for fine tuning.
EYWA is a fully sustainable action capitalizing on open science, open data, and open innovation principles.
During the development phase, the models are adapted to site specificities as according to the types of mosquitoes and disease outbreaks.

In the years to come more countries and diseases will be included in the integrated EYWA system to develop a European/Global Early Warning System.

EYWA Web GIS Platform – Scope and Functionalities

EYWA achieved Technology Readiness Level – TRL 7 (system prototype demonstration in operational environment) in the development of a radically new technique for modelling and predicting mosquito – borne outbreaks across different temporal and spatial scales in Europe. The system reached this milestone and produces results that are published in a Web GIS Platform available to the National Health Organizations and Public Authorities, as well as Research Institutes and Private Companies (end users).

A platform for the benefit of users and society

EYWA GIS Platform is a niche state-of-the-art tool, in the hands of the National Health Organizations and Public Authorities, which publishes knowledge derived from collected data and models in regards to the mosquito population and forecasted risks for mosquito – borne disease outbreaks. Therefore, EYWA is a conducive tool to enhance decision making towards the prevention of outbreaks and mitigation of their impact on local, regional and global scale.

Additionally, the platform is a key lever for organizations involved in mosquito elimination efforts, facilitating the optimal management of the huge combating resources and capacities deployed seasonally (field inspectors, analysts and vehicles, spraying helicopters and drones, thousands of mosquito breeding sites), saving hundreds of millions of Euros for the operations, by indicating targeted actions for implementation.

The platform leveraging European investments and open standards, seamlessly integrating open Data / IP / Hubs / and Portals (e.g. Copernicus Hubs, Copernicus Portals, GEOSS, National Mirror Sites, DIAS, etc.) and delivers information using open OGC standards.

A key tool to the epidemics arsenal

Relying on the advancements in exploiting big EO, and ICT / AI sciences, and leveraging on the use of existing EU investments such as Copernicus, GEO/EuroGEO, and other European infrastructures including existing satellite data hubs and repositories, DIAS platforms, Cloud HPC, Open DataCubes, etc., EYWA becomes a game changer in the domain of epidemics.

In line with the open science and open innovation principles EYWA delivers an innovative, scalable, reliable, transferable, and integrated solution at various spatio-temporal scales (municipality -> regional -> country -> continent level). It consists a fully operational and radically new technique for modelling and predicting mosquito–borne outbreaks across different temporal and spatial scales in Europe with the Technology Readiness Level ranging from 7 – 9 (system prototype demonstration in operational environment).

In the hands of National Health Organizations, Public Authorities and other Users, and through a continuous co-design and co-creation approach, EYWA intends to become a state-of-the-art tool and a European standard in the domain of epidemics for Vector Borne Diseases.