Earth
ID: 4724
The visualization featured on this page showcases the relationship between increase in vegetation and outbreaks of Rift Valley fever (RVF) over Middle East and the African continent for the period of 2000-2018. The data visualized in this animation are: a) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) (low/brown to high/green) over Africa and Middle East and b) locations of Rift Valley fever outbreaks (orange pins). We can see spikes of RVF outbreaks in various regions such as in Middle East, West, East and South Africa. These outbreaks are linked to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections.
ENSO is an irregularly recurring climate pattern characterized by warmer (El Niño) and colder (La Niña) than usual ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, which creates a ripple effect of anticipated weather changes in far-spread regions of our planet. Weather changes associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon result in climate anomalies related to each other, such as rainfall, and vegetation anomaly conditions that trigger outbreaks of infectious diseases of public health concern in different regions around the world. These distant weather effects are called teleconnections. Therefore the effects of ENSO are called ENSO teleconnections, highlighting that warmer or colder than usual ocean temperatures in equatorial pacific with extents (5N-5S, 120W-170W) affect areas far from the source typically 2-3 months after.
During the last 20 years NASA scientist Dr. Assaf Anyamba and colleagues have been studying ENSO teleconnections by monitoring various climate datasets, among them Sea Surface Temperature and precipitation anomaly datasets from NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and vegetation data from NASA’s Earth Observing System Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard the Terra (EOS AM-1) spacecraft. At the same time, the science team has been collecting, cataloguing and analyzing patterns and sources of disease outbreaks worldwide. To learn more, please refer to entry: Sea Surface Temperature anomalies and patterns of Global Disease Outbreaks: 2009-2018 (4K version)
The relationship between ENSO induced anomalous rainfall and disease outbreaks is clearly illustrated by outbreak patterns of Rift Valley fever (RVF). Typically, during El Niño (Eastern Africa) and La Niña (Southern Africa) events, Africa receives persistent and above normal rainfall, which floods habitats of RVF mosquito vectors triggering hatching of RVF virus infected eggs. The above-normal rainfall is followed by an increase in vegetation creating appropriate habitats for the mosquito vectors setting the stage for RVF outbreak activity, which in simple terms means an uptick in mosquito populations that cause infections of domestic livestock and human populations with the RVF virus.
To learn more about the impacts of weather patterns and teleconnections for the region of South Africa during 2008-2011, please see the following data visualizations:
Data Sources:
This visualization was created on October 2019, to support Dr. Assaf Anyamba’s interview and filming of the upcoming documentary titled Connected produced by Netflix. [Citation: "Clouds". Connected - The Hidden Science of Everything, Season 1, Episode 5, 2 Aug. 2020, Netflix]
Supported with funding from the Defense Health Agency-Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch (AFHSB) Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (GEIS) under Project #P0072_19_NS
The rest of this webpage offers frames, layers and colorbar information associated with the development of this data-driven visualization.
Vegetation index anomalies and Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreaks in Africa and Middle East during 2000-2018
ENSO is an irregularly recurring climate pattern characterized by warmer (El Niño) and colder (La Niña) than usual ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, which creates a ripple effect of anticipated weather changes in far-spread regions of our planet. Weather changes associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon result in climate anomalies related to each other, such as rainfall, and vegetation anomaly conditions that trigger outbreaks of infectious diseases of public health concern in different regions around the world. These distant weather effects are called teleconnections. Therefore the effects of ENSO are called ENSO teleconnections, highlighting that warmer or colder than usual ocean temperatures in equatorial pacific with extents (5N-5S, 120W-170W) affect areas far from the source typically 2-3 months after.
During the last 20 years NASA scientist Dr. Assaf Anyamba and colleagues have been studying ENSO teleconnections by monitoring various climate datasets, among them Sea Surface Temperature and precipitation anomaly datasets from NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and vegetation data from NASA’s Earth Observing System Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard the Terra (EOS AM-1) spacecraft. At the same time, the science team has been collecting, cataloguing and analyzing patterns and sources of disease outbreaks worldwide. To learn more, please refer to entry: Sea Surface Temperature anomalies and patterns of Global Disease Outbreaks: 2009-2018 (4K version)
The relationship between ENSO induced anomalous rainfall and disease outbreaks is clearly illustrated by outbreak patterns of Rift Valley fever (RVF). Typically, during El Niño (Eastern Africa) and La Niña (Southern Africa) events, Africa receives persistent and above normal rainfall, which floods habitats of RVF mosquito vectors triggering hatching of RVF virus infected eggs. The above-normal rainfall is followed by an increase in vegetation creating appropriate habitats for the mosquito vectors setting the stage for RVF outbreak activity, which in simple terms means an uptick in mosquito populations that cause infections of domestic livestock and human populations with the RVF virus.
To learn more about the impacts of weather patterns and teleconnections for the region of South Africa during 2008-2011, please see the following data visualizations:
- ENSO Teleconnections and Rift Valley fever (RVF) Outbreaks
- Precipitation Anomaly and Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreaks in South Africa: 2008-2011
- Vegetation Index Anomalies and Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreaks in South Africa region: 2008-2011
Data Sources:
- Disease Outbreak data were collected from the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) and the World Organisation for Animal Health/Organisation mondiale de la santé animale (OIE).
- Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) dataset is derived from NASA’s Earth Observing System Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard the Terra (EOS AM-1) spacecraft. We used the MODIS global monthly Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) products with a spatial resolution of 0.05° x 0.05° (~5.5 x 5.5 km). The data is available here. Reference: Townshend, J. & Justice, Christopher. (2002). Towards operational monitoring of terrestrial systems by moderate-resolution remote sensing. Remote Sensing of Environment. Volume 83, Issues 1-2, Pages: 351-359. 10.1016/S0034-4257(02)00082-2.
This visualization was created on October 2019, to support Dr. Assaf Anyamba’s interview and filming of the upcoming documentary titled Connected produced by Netflix. [Citation: "Clouds". Connected - The Hidden Science of Everything, Season 1, Episode 5, 2 Aug. 2020, Netflix]
Supported with funding from the Defense Health Agency-Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch (AFHSB) Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (GEIS) under Project #P0072_19_NS
The rest of this webpage offers frames, layers and colorbar information associated with the development of this data-driven visualization.
Related
Visualization Credits
Lead Visualizer:
Helen-Nicole Kostis (USRA)
Visualizer:
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
Lead Scientists:
Assaf Anyamba (USRA)
Radina Soebiyanto (USRA)
Science Support:
Jennifer Small (SSAI)
Technical Support:
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Project Support:
Leann Johnson (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
Eric Sokolowsky (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
Helen-Nicole Kostis (USRA)
Visualizer:
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
Lead Scientists:
Assaf Anyamba (USRA)
Radina Soebiyanto (USRA)
Science Support:
Jennifer Small (SSAI)
Technical Support:
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Project Support:
Leann Johnson (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
Eric Sokolowsky (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4724
Data Used:
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
Keywords:
DLESE >> Climatology
SVS >> El Nino
DLESE >> Environmental science
DLESE >> Human geography
SVS >> La Nina
SVS >> NDVI
SVS >> SST Anomaly
SVS >> Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Drought Indices
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Precipitation Indices
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Teleconnections >> El Nino Southern Oscillation
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Human Health >> Diseases/Epidemics
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Human Health >> Public Health
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> Earth Science >> El Nino
SVS >> Seasons >> Vegetation
NASA Science >> Earth
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Atmospheric/ocean Indicators >> Sea Surface Temperature Indices
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Public Health >> Diseases/epidemics
SVS >> Diseases
NASA Earth Science Focus Areas >> Climate Variability and Change
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0
Places you might have seen this:
"Clouds". Connected - The Hidden Science of Everything, Season 1, Episode 5, 2 Aug. 2020, Netflix
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4724
Data Used:
Disease Outbreak Data from the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) also referred to as: ProMED Disease Outbreak Data
ProMED - 2000-2018Disease Outbreak Data from the World Organisation for Animal Health/Organisation mondiale de la santé animale (OIE)
World Organisation for Animal Health/Organisation mondiale de la santé animale (OIE) - 2000-2018NASA/Terra/MODIS/Global Monthly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
2000-2018Keywords:
DLESE >> Climatology
SVS >> El Nino
DLESE >> Environmental science
DLESE >> Human geography
SVS >> La Nina
SVS >> NDVI
SVS >> SST Anomaly
SVS >> Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Drought Indices
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Precipitation Indices
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Teleconnections >> El Nino Southern Oscillation
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Human Health >> Diseases/Epidemics
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Human Health >> Public Health
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> Earth Science >> El Nino
SVS >> Seasons >> Vegetation
NASA Science >> Earth
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Atmospheric/ocean Indicators >> Sea Surface Temperature Indices
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Public Health >> Diseases/epidemics
SVS >> Diseases
NASA Earth Science Focus Areas >> Climate Variability and Change
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0
Places you might have seen this:
"Clouds". Connected - The Hidden Science of Everything, Season 1, Episode 5, 2 Aug. 2020, Netflix
