Environmental Factors Affecting Asthma and Allergies: Predicting and Simulating Downwind Exposure to Airborne Pollen

This slide presentation reviews the environmental factors that affect asthma and allergies and work to predict and simulate the downwind exposure to airborne pollen. Using a modification of Dust REgional Atmosphere Model (DREAM) that incorporates phenology (i.e. PREAM) the aim was to predict concentrations of pollen in time and space. The strategy for using the model to simulate downwind pollen dispersal, and evaluate the results. Using MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), to get seasonal sampling of Juniper, the pollen chosen for the study, land cover on a near daily basis. The results of the model are reviewed

Integration of Airborne Aerosol Prediction Systems and Vegetation Phenology to Track Pollen for Asthma Alerts in Public Health Decision Support Systems

The residual signal indicates that the pollen event may influence the seasonal signal to an extent that would allow detection, given accurate QA filtering and BRDF corrections. MODIS daily reflectances increased during the pollen season. The DREAM model (PREAM) was successfully modified for use with pollen and may provide 24-36 hour running pollen forecasts. Publicly available pollen forecasts are linked to general weather patterns and roughly-known species phenologies. These are too coarse for timely health interventions. PREAM addresses this key data gap so that targeting intervention measures can be determined temporally and geospatially. The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) as part of its Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (EPHTN) would use PREAM a tool for alerting the public in advance of pollen bursts to intervene and reduce the health impact on asthma populations at risk

Integration of Airborne Aerosol Prediction Systems and Vegetation Phenology to Track Pollen for Asthma Alerts in Public Health Decision Support Systems

This slide presentation reviews the study that used a model to forecast pollen to assist in warning for asthma populations. Using MODIS daily reflectances to input to a model, PREAM, adapted from the Dust REgional Atmospheric Modeling (DREAM) system, a product of predicted pollen is produced. Using the pollen from Juniper the PREAM model was shown to be an assist in alerting the public of pollen bursts, and reduce the health impact on asthma populations

Current NASA Earth Remote Sensing Observations

This slide presentation reviews current NASA Earth Remote Sensing observations in specific reference to improving public health information in view of pollen sensing. While pollen sampling has instrumentation, there are limitations, such as lack of stations, and reporting lag time. Therefore it is desirable use remote sensing to act as early warning system for public health reasons. The use of Juniper Pollen was chosen to test the possibility of using MODIS data and a dust transport model, Dust REgional Atmospheric Model (DREAM) to act as an early warning system

Integration of Airborne Aerosol Prediction Systems and Vegetation Phenology to Track Pollen for Asthma Alerts in Public Health Decision Support Systems

No abstract availabl

Integrating Airborne Dust Forecasting and Remote Sensing into Air Quality and Public Health Decision Support Services

No abstract availabl

Evaluating the application and utility of ESSENCE for early event detection

ObjectiveA mixed methods study is being conducted on the statewide EarlyNotification of Community Based Epidemics (ESSENCE) systemin Missouri to identify factors that can improve the timeliness andidentification of outbreaks. This research will provide stakeholderswith guidance on how best to implement and improve ESSENCEusage statewide, and by sharing this research input can be solicitedon the utility of the applied framework as well as future implicationsfrom this body of work.IntroductionIn spite of the noted benefits of syndromic surveillance, andmore than a decade after it started gaining support, the primary usefor syndromic surveillance appears to be largely for seasonal andjurisdictional disease monitoring, event response and situationalawareness as opposed to its intended purpose of early event detection.(1-4) Research assessing the user characteristics and standards appliedat local public health agencies (LPHA’s) for syndromic surveillanceare scarce, and in national surveys epidemiologists frequently tendto utilize their own syndromic surveillance systems as opposed toa national system such as Biosense. While the National SyndromicSurveillance Program (NSSP) has addressed many operationalconcerns from stakeholders, and is in the process of providing accessto the cloud based Biosense platform-along with ESSENCE as a keytool, there is still a paucity of research that exists as to what can bedone to improve the utilization of syndromic surveillance systems forits primary purpose of early event detection.MethodsThis research proposes to evaluate the use of ESSENCE withinMissouri and the surrounding areas, to comprehensively identifyits strengths and limitations, through an assessment of the userexperience. This research will evaluate three key areas: 1) thequality of the data received by the syndromic surveillance system,2) the characteristics of the individuals and organizations utilizingthe system (end-users), 3) the influence and extent of syndromicsurveillance data on public health actions. ESSENCE data will beevaluated directly with special attention to the top three data qualityattributes across the literature, completeness, accuracy and timeliness.(5) A survey will also be administered to ESSENCE system users andpublic health leadership at LPHA’s, to gain insight into perspectives,perceptions and general practices, as well as how they interact withdata from ESSENCE.ResultsThe data for this research is primarily being collected throughoutthe fall of 2016, so the hope is to bring preliminary data to thisconference as a means to validate some of the findings, solicit inputon the proposed framework and share this research in a timely mannerfor the NSSP roll out of Biosense and ESSENCE.ConclusionsThrough a thorough evaluation, the application and utility ofESSENCE for early event detection will be better understood, alongwith the identification of factors that can be targeted in the future(and across syndromic surveillance platforms) for improvement in thetimely identification of outbreaks

Evaluating the application and utility of ESSENCE for early event detection

ObjectiveA mixed methods study is being conducted on the statewide EarlyNotification of Community Based Epidemics (ESSENCE) systemin Missouri to identify factors that can improve the timeliness andidentification of outbreaks. This research will provide stakeholderswith guidance on how best to implement and improve ESSENCEusage statewide, and by sharing this research input can be solicitedon the utility of the applied framework as well as future implicationsfrom this body of work.IntroductionIn spite of the noted benefits of syndromic surveillance, andmore than a decade after it started gaining support, the primary usefor syndromic surveillance appears to be largely for seasonal andjurisdictional disease monitoring, event response and situationalawareness as opposed to its intended purpose of early event detection.(1-4) Research assessing the user characteristics and standards appliedat local public health agencies (LPHA’s) for syndromic surveillanceare scarce, and in national surveys epidemiologists frequently tendto utilize their own syndromic surveillance systems as opposed toa national system such as Biosense. While the National SyndromicSurveillance Program (NSSP) has addressed many operationalconcerns from stakeholders, and is in the process of providing accessto the cloud based Biosense platform-along with ESSENCE as a keytool, there is still a paucity of research that exists as to what can bedone to improve the utilization of syndromic surveillance systems forits primary purpose of early event detection.MethodsThis research proposes to evaluate the use of ESSENCE withinMissouri and the surrounding areas, to comprehensively identifyits strengths and limitations, through an assessment of the userexperience. This research will evaluate three key areas: 1) thequality of the data received by the syndromic surveillance system,2) the characteristics of the individuals and organizations utilizingthe system (end-users), 3) the influence and extent of syndromicsurveillance data on public health actions. ESSENCE data will beevaluated directly with special attention to the top three data qualityattributes across the literature, completeness, accuracy and timeliness.(5) A survey will also be administered to ESSENCE system users andpublic health leadership at LPHA’s, to gain insight into perspectives,perceptions and general practices, as well as how they interact withdata from ESSENCE.ResultsThe data for this research is primarily being collected throughoutthe fall of 2016, so the hope is to bring preliminary data to thisconference as a means to validate some of the findings, solicit inputon the proposed framework and share this research in a timely mannerfor the NSSP roll out of Biosense and ESSENCE.ConclusionsThrough a thorough evaluation, the application and utility ofESSENCE for early event detection will be better understood, alongwith the identification of factors that can be targeted in the future(and across syndromic surveillance platforms) for improvement in thetimely identification of outbreaks