Insect Infestation

Relying on a variety of data sources, including observations by NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Jon Ranson and Paul Montesano of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center conducted a survey of insect-damaged forests in British Columbia. This image shows their assessment of insect damage overlain on a topography map. In this image, red indicates the most severe damage, and green indicates no damage. Gray indicates non-forested areas. Image: NASA.

Definition

Accordingly to the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) programme, insect infestation is classified as biological hazard and described as the pervasive influx, swarming and/or hatching of insects affecting humans, animals, crops, and perishable goods. Examples are locusts, plague and African Bees (IRDR).

Facts and figures

Insects are responsible for significant losses to the world's total crop production annually. Not all insects are pests but a small number are harmful to crops, livestock and humans. One major reason for the occurrence of these pests is the creation of man-manipulated habitats, with crops selected for their large size, high yield, nutritious value, and clustered in a confined area. This provides a highly conducive environment for herbivorous insects (FAO).

Further information

FAO - Insect Damage
FAO Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Related content on the Knowledge Portal

Data Source

Africa GeoPortal
Thematic Exploitation Platform (TEP)
Publishing institution: European Space Agency (ESA)
ESA's Earth Observation Thematic Exploitation Platform (TEP) is a browser for satellite imagery and specific products on an environmental topic. The TEP platforms are divided into 7 categories: Coastal; Forstry; Geohazards; Hydrology; Polar; Urban; and Food Security. Each platform is a collaborative, virtual work environment providing access to EO data and the tools, processors and Information and Communication Technology resources required to work with them. TEP aims to bridge the gap between the users and the data and tools.
AIRBUS data set
Publishing institution: Airbus Defence & Space
Pleidas, TerraSar-X, SPOT and Elevation data available commercially from airbus, certain sample data sets at various locations available for free.
Radiant Earth
Publishing institution: Radiant Earth Foundation
The website: https://www.radiant.earth Help and Tutorials: https://help.radiant.earth/ Demos & Use Cases: https://demos.radiant.earth/
NASA EARTHDATA
Publishing institution: NASA Earth Science Disasters Program
NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is a program for archiving and distributing Earth science data from multiple missions to users.
Sentinel EUMETSAT Mapviewer
Publishing institution: European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)
Map Viewer that allows downloading and time series creation of meteosat products.

Noticias

SERVIR produces maps to support efforts against locust outbreak in Eastern Africa
NDVI Anomaly. Image: NASA

SERVIR, a joint program between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has partnered with relief organizations and the United Nations, including the Desert Locust Information System of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to produce maps that could explain locust behavior. The maps provide useful information on environmental conditions, such as soil moisture and vegetation, that can influence locust life cycles. By identifying the potential conditions under which the locusts hatch and grow, these maps can help governments keep track of the locust swarms, create forecasts of where and how much longer locust outbreaks might occur, as well as prevent other locust infestations from happening.

SERVIR, whose aim is to use satellite images to improve environmental policies in developing nations, has developed a map that shows the average soil moisture over eastern Africa from 14 to 20 January 2020, when the locust invasion... read more

Publishing date: 03/04/2020
Satellite data key part of early warning system for plant pest infestations
African farmers harvesting the crop in South Sudan. Image: FAO/South Sudan.

The Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE), developed by the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International development charity (CABI), combines temperature and weather data provided by satellites with computer models to predict when pest outbreaks are most likely to occur, giving farmers time to prepare.

Farmers are currently notified of pest forecasts through an existing network of so-called "Plant Doctors" and receive WhatsApp messages with weekly warnings at county level during the growing season.

How does it work?

Satellites scanning the Earth can provide accurate land temperature information, which is one of the... read more

Publishing date: 23/01/2019

GP-STAR factsheet

Large‐Area Morphological Characterization of Urban Environments for Exposure Modelling
Mapping of built-up height and share of built-up area for the example of the city of Munich. The estimated average built-up height features a mean absolute error (MAE) of 2.7 m (i.e., less than one floor) and the share of built-up area could be estimated with a MAE of 13.3 %, when compared to a reference data set.
Publishing institution: German Aerospace Center (DLR)
UN‐SPIDER Technical Advisory Mission (TAM)
Publishing institution: United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
After the TAM was conducted in Myanmar, innovative impacts were completed following a recommendation. “Emergency Operation Centre (EOC)”, which is comprised of four units including “Remote Sensing Unit” and “Risk Assessment and Emergency Response Unit” was established in the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief & Resettlement (MSWRR). The capacity building of MSWRR and other related institutes in remote sensing and GIS were strengthened. The Disaster Management Training Centre now conducts courses in remote sensing/GIS. Myanmar has also become the first country in ASEAN to apply for universal access to the International Charter. Myanmar government is aware of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and one map policy that has been initiated by the Ministry of Education is very crucial.  

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