Pathways Of Dispersal for Cholera And Solution Tools (PODCAST)
Lead Research Organisation:
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Department Name: Remote Sensing Group
Abstract
Cholera is a waterborne epidemic disease in humans. It is a major public health threat, affecting 1.3 to 4 million people each year worldwide, with 21,000 to 143,000 reported fatalities. Outbreaks are caused by the bacterial pathogen Vibrio cholerae, found in many coastal, estuarine, and brackish waters around the world. The origin of the current pandemic of cholera was a single population of pathogens in the north-eastern Indian Ocean basin, which spread globally, in several transmission events. Transmission pathways include direct human-to-human infection, and human-environment interactions, including ingestion of contaminated water, aggravated by emerging antimicrobial resistance through release of antibiotics into the environment. Vibrio pathogens are found as free-floating forms or attached to living (plankton) and non-living (sediment) hosts. They flourish under warm temperature, moderate salinity and turbidity. The major environmental reservoirs of Vibrios, their connectivity, how they might be affected by climate variability and the associated impact on human health remain largely unknown. There is a clear imperative to reduce human risk from cholera bacteria to meet Global Goals related to 3-human health, 6-water quality, 13-climate and 14-life under water.
Focusing on the northern Indian Ocean, currently a hotbed of outbreaks of cholera and related diseases, the PODCAST project will pinpoint the impact of large-scale oceanic and climatic processes on the transmission dynamics of cholera (Goals 6, 13, 14) and their impact on public health (Goal 3). Scientists from India, Japan and the UK will work collaboratively to: 1) identify environmental reservoirs of Vibrio cholerae as well as possible advective transport via ocean currents and long-distance transmission routes for cholera outbreaks; 2) characterise the influence of climate perturbations on cholera outbreaks and environmental transmission routes; 3) build an epidemiological model integrating environmental and human-to-human transmission routes; and 4) produce forecasts for cholera outbreaks in coastal regions.
The research will be developed in consultation with end-users, including local communities relying on water resources for livelihoods, income generation and recreation; governments; health services; intergovernmental agencies; and policy makers for whom we will provide tools and Vibrio disease risk map products that will support evidence-based policy decisions and actions to achieve Global Goals.
The work will be organised in four Work Packages. WP1 (Abdulaziz-India; Sathyendranath-UK) will generate new in situ observations of biophysical variables (including Vibrio pathogens and antibiotics) at selected sites in open-ocean and coastal locations; and process satellite data (ocean-colour, salinity, altimeter and temperature) over entire northern Indian Ocean. WP2 (Platt-UK; Clark-UK; Nonaka-Japan), focussing on models and using data from WP1, will develop an epidemiological model including components of human-to-human and environmental transmission routes of cholera outbreaks; a particle-tracking model to study sources and connectivity between environmental reservoirs of Vibrios; and a climate-variability model to generate past and future indices of large-scale patterns of climate variability. WP3 (Racault-UK), based on the influence of environmental conditions, regional circulation and climate variability on risks of outbreaks at coastal locations in the northern Indian Ocean (WP 2), will focus on producing a cholera-outbreak prediction system for coastal regions of the northern Indian Ocean. The user-engagement, policy information and practice interventions will be addressed in WP4 (Menon-India; George-India) in which we will engage with local communities, policy-makers, and intergovernmental agencies (WHO, IPCC) to identify needs, assess benefits, best practices and uptake of results from PODCAST to reduce risks of Vibrio diseases to public health.
Focusing on the northern Indian Ocean, currently a hotbed of outbreaks of cholera and related diseases, the PODCAST project will pinpoint the impact of large-scale oceanic and climatic processes on the transmission dynamics of cholera (Goals 6, 13, 14) and their impact on public health (Goal 3). Scientists from India, Japan and the UK will work collaboratively to: 1) identify environmental reservoirs of Vibrio cholerae as well as possible advective transport via ocean currents and long-distance transmission routes for cholera outbreaks; 2) characterise the influence of climate perturbations on cholera outbreaks and environmental transmission routes; 3) build an epidemiological model integrating environmental and human-to-human transmission routes; and 4) produce forecasts for cholera outbreaks in coastal regions.
The research will be developed in consultation with end-users, including local communities relying on water resources for livelihoods, income generation and recreation; governments; health services; intergovernmental agencies; and policy makers for whom we will provide tools and Vibrio disease risk map products that will support evidence-based policy decisions and actions to achieve Global Goals.
The work will be organised in four Work Packages. WP1 (Abdulaziz-India; Sathyendranath-UK) will generate new in situ observations of biophysical variables (including Vibrio pathogens and antibiotics) at selected sites in open-ocean and coastal locations; and process satellite data (ocean-colour, salinity, altimeter and temperature) over entire northern Indian Ocean. WP2 (Platt-UK; Clark-UK; Nonaka-Japan), focussing on models and using data from WP1, will develop an epidemiological model including components of human-to-human and environmental transmission routes of cholera outbreaks; a particle-tracking model to study sources and connectivity between environmental reservoirs of Vibrios; and a climate-variability model to generate past and future indices of large-scale patterns of climate variability. WP3 (Racault-UK), based on the influence of environmental conditions, regional circulation and climate variability on risks of outbreaks at coastal locations in the northern Indian Ocean (WP 2), will focus on producing a cholera-outbreak prediction system for coastal regions of the northern Indian Ocean. The user-engagement, policy information and practice interventions will be addressed in WP4 (Menon-India; George-India) in which we will engage with local communities, policy-makers, and intergovernmental agencies (WHO, IPCC) to identify needs, assess benefits, best practices and uptake of results from PODCAST to reduce risks of Vibrio diseases to public health.
Planned Impact
Detailed descriptions of the approaches that will be taken to achieve Impact, along with identified beneficiaries from the public, practitioners, third sector, and policy communities are provided in the Pathways to Impact. Here, we explain the Impact that we will generate in relation to the official Targets of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals addressed in the project and to the international dimensions of the consortium:
Goal 3-Health-Targets
Improve knowledge on the diversity and antimicrobial resistance patterns of the Vibrio cholerae pathogens in the northern Indian Ocean: the information will be useful for the health services to help provide the most adapted and efficient treatment for the affected local populations, and to increase chances of recovery.
Improve surveillance systems and strengthen capacity of India and northern Indian Ocean RIM countries to produce early warning and risk maps for cholera outbreaks: the forecast system will be delivered to an agency for operational use and the risk warning will be placed in the public domain to reduce public health risks for the millions of people living in coastal areas.
The Indicators of the Impact generated will be the reduction in the number of people requiring treatment against Vibrio disease, the reduction in mortality rate associated with exposure to contaminated water, and the increase in capacity for disaster mitigation in affected areas.
Goal 6-Water Quality-Targets:
Provide evidence on Vibrio disease hotspots that can help government authorities to identify areas where microbial and antibiotic pollution should be treated as a priority.
Improve knowledge of the transmission routes and dynamics of cholera pathogens in the northern Indian Ocean coastal ecosystem in relation to climate variability and disease outbreaks: this information will develop increased preparedness along the transmission routes, and will integrate locally-targeted water sanitation control measures that will help to interrupt the transmission routes.
The Indicators of Impact will be an increase in the number of actions taken by local administrations to treat sources of pollution, and to engage the local communities in water and sanitation management.
Goal 13-Climate-Targets:
Improve knowledge of the influence of extreme weather events and climate variability on the incidence of cholera outbreaks and the contamination routes of Vibrio pathogens: this will help to prioritise policy measures for health service preparedness and population awareness when high-risk climate events occur, and hence improve cholera-disaster risk mitigation.
Provide evidence of the influence of climate change on the risk of Vibrio diseases for human health for use by the IPCC to inform governments and support development of policy measures to reduce climate-related risk to public health.
The indicators of the Impact will be an increase in the number of countries that recognise the need to integrate climate-related risk in their early warning systems for cholera outbreaks, and in their adaptation and mitigation plans (to reduce impact and risk of cholera outbreaks).
Goal 14-Oceans-Targets:
Provide evidence on the extent to which coastal communities are suffering from Vibrio diseases, that can be used to support development of sustainable management plans.
The Indicator will be an increase in the number of countries that incorporate ecosystem-based management in their stewardship of coastal ecosystems and their resources.
In addition to these elements of impact classify according to the SDGs, a complementary impact will derive from the trilateral collaboration at the international level. The collaboration will grow through reciprocal visits, knowledge exchange and capacity building, as well as through joint work on scientific papers, on follow-up proposals, and on synthesising results for the benefit of society at large.
Goal 3-Health-Targets
Improve knowledge on the diversity and antimicrobial resistance patterns of the Vibrio cholerae pathogens in the northern Indian Ocean: the information will be useful for the health services to help provide the most adapted and efficient treatment for the affected local populations, and to increase chances of recovery.
Improve surveillance systems and strengthen capacity of India and northern Indian Ocean RIM countries to produce early warning and risk maps for cholera outbreaks: the forecast system will be delivered to an agency for operational use and the risk warning will be placed in the public domain to reduce public health risks for the millions of people living in coastal areas.
The Indicators of the Impact generated will be the reduction in the number of people requiring treatment against Vibrio disease, the reduction in mortality rate associated with exposure to contaminated water, and the increase in capacity for disaster mitigation in affected areas.
Goal 6-Water Quality-Targets:
Provide evidence on Vibrio disease hotspots that can help government authorities to identify areas where microbial and antibiotic pollution should be treated as a priority.
Improve knowledge of the transmission routes and dynamics of cholera pathogens in the northern Indian Ocean coastal ecosystem in relation to climate variability and disease outbreaks: this information will develop increased preparedness along the transmission routes, and will integrate locally-targeted water sanitation control measures that will help to interrupt the transmission routes.
The Indicators of Impact will be an increase in the number of actions taken by local administrations to treat sources of pollution, and to engage the local communities in water and sanitation management.
Goal 13-Climate-Targets:
Improve knowledge of the influence of extreme weather events and climate variability on the incidence of cholera outbreaks and the contamination routes of Vibrio pathogens: this will help to prioritise policy measures for health service preparedness and population awareness when high-risk climate events occur, and hence improve cholera-disaster risk mitigation.
Provide evidence of the influence of climate change on the risk of Vibrio diseases for human health for use by the IPCC to inform governments and support development of policy measures to reduce climate-related risk to public health.
The indicators of the Impact will be an increase in the number of countries that recognise the need to integrate climate-related risk in their early warning systems for cholera outbreaks, and in their adaptation and mitigation plans (to reduce impact and risk of cholera outbreaks).
Goal 14-Oceans-Targets:
Provide evidence on the extent to which coastal communities are suffering from Vibrio diseases, that can be used to support development of sustainable management plans.
The Indicator will be an increase in the number of countries that incorporate ecosystem-based management in their stewardship of coastal ecosystems and their resources.
In addition to these elements of impact classify according to the SDGs, a complementary impact will derive from the trilateral collaboration at the international level. The collaboration will grow through reciprocal visits, knowledge exchange and capacity building, as well as through joint work on scientific papers, on follow-up proposals, and on synthesising results for the benefit of society at large.
Organisations
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory (Lead Research Organisation)
- Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (Collaboration)
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Collaboration)
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Collaboration)
- European Space Agency (Collaboration)
- Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (Collaboration)
- École des ponts ParisTech (Collaboration)
- Indian Nat Ctr for Ocean Info Services (Project Partner)
Publications
Campbell AM
(2020)
Cholera Risk: A Machine Learning Approach Applied to Essential Climate Variables.
in International journal of environmental research and public health
Ogata T
(2021)
Climate Precursors of Satellite Water Marker Index for Spring Cholera Outbreak in Northern Bay of Bengal Coastal Regions.
in International journal of environmental research and public health
Racault
(2019)
Environmental Reservoirs of Vibrio cholerae: Challenges and Opportunities for Ocean-Color Remote Sensing
in Remote Sensing
Ratnam JV
(2020)
A machine learning based prediction system for the Indian Ocean Dipole.
in Scientific reports
Smail E
(2019)
An introduction to the 'Oceans and Society: Blue Planet' initiative
in Journal of Operational Oceanography
| Description | The project has permitted: 1) to improve the characterization geographical and seasonal variations in water quality and particularly the distribution and antimicrobial resistance of Vibrio cholerae at coastal sites in India. Sample collection from coastal waters of Chennai during the three seasons - monsoon, post monsoon and pre-monsoon and from the coastal waters of Kochi during monsoon and post monsoon has been completed. Preliminary analyses showed that multiple antibiotic resistance to be more prevalent among V. cholerae isolated from Kochi compared to Chennai; 2) to advance understanding of some of the key drivers of Vibrio cholerae abundance in coastal waters of India, e.g., the analyses of in-situ samples from the project showed that V. cholerae can be found across large range of temperature and salinity (synergy with UKRI Revival project in lake waters); 3) to generate a new compilation of clinical data for Cholera and Acute Diarrheal Disease from the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme of India (IDSP) which can be used in epidemiological and Machine-Learning-based models of cholera risks in the region; 4) to improve characterisation of the ecological status of the waters through statistical classification of optical data from satellites, for use in identifying ecological niches of V. cholerae bacteria in oceanic waters, i.e., specifically, satellite Sentinel-3 data at 300m resolution have been collected for the Kochi study area and processed to the level of optical water classes. The optical classes have been tuned for the region, to ensure that the same set of classes work across the coastal waters and the adjacent Vembanad Lake (a potential source of Vibrio bacteria into the coastal waters). The analysis of remote sensing data for the Kochi study area, in conjunction with Acute Diarrheal Diseases (ADD see point 3) above) data from the Kerala Directorate of Health shows a high degree of correlation between the membership of some of the optical classes, and the number of reported cases in the two adjoining districts of Alappuzha and Ernakulam. Initial results indicate that ocean-colour data could be used with a two-month lead time, to forecast ADD cases. The results are being cross-checked and analysed further; 5) to develop a generic, open-source particle tracking model (synergy with UKRI plastic debris project) that can be apply at various sites in the northern Indian Ocean to produce short-term forecasts of dispersion of particles (e.g., Vibrio bacteria) away from source regions. The project allowed a direct coupling to the operational model system run by INCOIS, thus enabling the tools to be used operationally in future work; 6) to demonstrate a novel application of machine learning for cholera risks in coastal India based on the analyses of clinical cholera data (see point 3) above) and climate data records of seven satellite-based Essential Climate Variables and their respective lagged values. The Machine Learning model achieved 89.5% model accuracy, meaning that 89.5% of outbreaks could be correctly identified across all coastal Indian district reporting cholera outbreaks, and showed that the variables contributing most strongly to the cholera-risk prediction included the one-month and two-month lagged values of chlorophyll-a concentration, sea surface salinity, land surface temperature and sea level anomalies. This cholera-risk model further showed the first usage of remotely-sensed sea surface salinity data in machine learning analyses of a combination of Essential Climate Variables to detect the risk of cholera outbreaks (see paper Campbell et al., 2021); 7) to generate a two decade-long remote-sensing observations of a Satellite Water Marker (SWM) index which is useful indicator of favourable conditions for V. cholerae in northern Indian Ocean coastal areas (paper Racault et al., 2019); 8) to identify climate drivers of favourable oceanic conditions for V. cholerae (using remote-sensing observations of SWM index, see point 7) above) and increase prediction lead time of Spring cholera risk in northern Bay of Bengal from 2 to 5 months (see paper Ogata et al., 2021). Outbreaks are devastating to affected communities and their prospects for development. The development of systems with high sufficient predictive lead time and high accuracy is key to support preparedness and public health response and hence reduce health risks and impacts of cholera outbreaks in the affected communities. Furthermore, this new research on climate drivers of habitat suitability for V. cholera further showed a new characterization of relationships between monsoon-El Niño & regional climate mode on interdecadal time scale; 9) to improve information on number and types of waterborne diseases, place and time of outbreaks, sanitation facility problems, and type of sewage reception and treatment in coastal areas in India. Specifically, a household sanitation survey was undertaken in the coastal areas of Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts in Kerala. These areas are vulnerable to improper human waste disposal and seawater intrusion, which can compromise the supply of clean drinking water. A total of 119 households were surveyed using a questionnaire covering four main topics: demographics, drinking water availability, sanitation practices, and disease incidences. Furthermore, data on sanitation and disease incidences were also collected from the primary health centres and public health officials of Ernakulam district. Key impacts and engagements include: 1) presentations at international meetings, e.g., AGU, Ocean & Human Health symposium, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts workshop, UN Climate Week NYC; 2) key collaborations with ESA Climate Office, Future-Earth Office, GEO BluePlanet, UNOCHA, IPCC; 3) PODCAST project findings on cholera-risk model developments have been cited as key evidence in policy-relevant Climate Report of the IPCC AR6 WGII (published Feb 2022) and supported the COP26 UK-led presidency Climate Adaptation session on COP26 Earth Info Day (held in Glasgow in Nov 2021); 4) PODCAST project P-I and findings are also contributing Health policy-relevant information to the UN Humanitarian Anticipatory Action program UNOCHA Getting Ahead of Cholera to improve accuracy and prediction lead time of cholera-risk forecasts (PODCAST P-I Racault is a member of the UN Cholera Rollout Task Team). Further key findings and impacts will be reported as they arise during the course of the project (still active until May 2022). |
| Exploitation Route | The cholera-risk models showed promising results when tested on individual districts in coastal India and in coastal waters in Bangladesh, underlining the potential to improve development of forecast models that can predict cholera-risk accurately in coastal waters with large climatological differences evident spatially. In the future, the present novel analyses may be refined and the models continued to be tested using different cholera surveillance datasets and in diverse locations, to improve and broaden their applicability in other cholera endemic regions. Further model developments, accounting for socio-economic conditions, are anticipated to help us to improve model performance in seasons affected by confounding factors, such as during the monsoon when intense rainfalls place high pressure on populations' access to safe drinking water, and availability of sanitation and drainage systems. Future efforts would also need be directed in supporting long-term, continuous, accurate ECV observations in coastal areas and cholera surveillance programs, which are crucial for model validation, and to improve mechanistic understanding of environmental processes influencing cholera outbreaks. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism |
| URL | https://www.pml.ac.uk/Research/Projects/PODCAST |
| Description | To be completedCitations in policy documents - Citations in IPCC AR6 WGI (published 2021) and Citations in IPCC AR6 WGII (published 2022) Implementation letter to Ministry level - Policy Brief COP26 universities network briefing June 2021 and Plenary presentation on Adaptation PODCAST project during UK-led EarthInfo presidency session in Nov 2021 at COP26 Glasgow Participation in a guidance/advisory committee - Provided expert advice on Cholera risk models to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2021) Implementation letter to French Ministry of Environment - Provided expert advice on Climate Impacts and Adaptation to French Minister of Environment on March 2022 Membership of a guideline committee - JAMSTEC project partner Co-sponsored WMO international conference to discuss the effects of climate on the spread of COVID-19 (2020) (see further details in ResearchFish sections Influence on Policy, Practice, Patients & the Public and Presentations) |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Environment |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Citation in IPCC AR6 WGII |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg2/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FinalDraft_Chapter02.pdf |
| Description | Citation in IPCC AR6 WGII |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg2/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FinalDraft_Chapter03.pdf |
| Description | JAMSTEC project partner Co-sponsored WMO international conference to discuss the effects of climate on the spread of COVID-19 |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| URL | https://public.wmo.int/en/events/meetings/covid-19-symposium |
| Description | Policy Brief COP26 universities network briefing / June 2021 |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| URL | https://www.iass-potsdam.de/sites/default/files/2021-06/COP26%20Ocean%20Briefing.pdf |
| Description | Providing expert advice on Climate Impacts and Adaptation to French Minister of Environment on 5 Mar 2022 |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| URL | https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/agenda-barbara-pompili |
| Description | 'Water-Associated infectious Diseases in India: digital Management (WADIM)' led by Dr. Shubha Sathyendranath, Dr. Anas Abdulaziz, Dr. Nandini Menon and Dr. Grinson George |
| Amount | £508,827 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 226091/Z/22/Z |
| Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2023 |
| End | 03/2028 |
| Description | ESA project 'Waterborne Infectious Diseases and Global Earth Observation in the Nearshore (WIDGEON)' led by Dr. Shubha Sathyendranath and Dr. Nandini Menon |
| Amount | € 249,981 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | ESA RFP/3-17328/21/I-DT-lr |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 11/2021 |
| End | 10/2024 |
| Description | ESA-Future Earth COP26 Demonstrator |
| Amount | € 24,914 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | ESA-2020-04 |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 09/2020 |
| End | 08/2021 |
| Description | Grant for Scoping Meeting of Working Group on Earth Observations for Ecology and Epidemiology of Water-associated Diseases |
| Amount | € 9,780 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | http://www.ocean-partners.org/earth-observation-ecology-and-epidemiology-water-associated-diseases |
| Organisation | Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans, POGO |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2018 |
| End | 03/2019 |
| Description | Open Network for WAter-Related Diseases (ONWARD) |
| Amount | £151,809 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/T003820/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2020 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | Risks and Solutions: Marine Plastics in Southeast Asia - RaSP-SEA |
| Amount | £72,633 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | NE/V009362/1 |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2020 |
| End | 10/2023 |
| Title | Sanitation survey for coastal-based households and for public health department in India |
| Description | Questionnaires have been designed to collect information on number and types of waterborne diseases, place and time of outbreaks, sanitation facility problems, and type of sewage reception and treatment in coastal-based households in India |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | 94 houses on the banks of Vembanad Lake and 104 houses along the coast in Kerala districts have been surveyed using questionnaire. Medical survey has been on hold due to priority of health workers on COVID treatment and prevention. |
| Title | Survey on use of EO in cholera-risk forecasts |
| Description | User consultation: A mapping of stakeholders and end users has been carried out to identify and prioritize target users and the main dissemination channels to reach them for the user consultation. Specifically, a survey was designed and carried out to: 1) define users' requirements (ranging from data resolution, web tool options to risk uncertainty requirements), and 2) establish the value and limitations of the proof-of- concept products and web-based tools to support policy information and practice interventions. The online survey was conducted using cloud-based software. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Request for further participation and involvements, e.g., invitation for plenary presentation at the UK-led presidency COP26 Earth Info Day session at COP26 in Glasgow; invitation for presentation at the ESA 11th Colocation meeting; invitation for presentation and registration as project example to the GEO Space for Climate Observatory. In addition, the survey has been presented to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Cholera Rollout Team and has permitted to have direct engagement with practitioners and decision makers (e.g., WHO, Red Cross, UNEP, UNOCHA...). |
| URL | https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/EarthObservationCholera/ |
| Title | 16S rRNA gene sequence of 129 isolates are available at NCBI database |
| Description | 16S rRNA gene sequence of 129 isolates are available at NCBI database with accession # MT982924 - 960, MW934454 - 469, MW934490 - 526, MZ008365 - 399, ON652403 - 405 and OM909024 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Request for further participation and involvements from other researchers who will be using the genome sequence once published in publicly available repository at NCBI |
| URL | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
| Title | 16S rRNA gene sequences of 93 isolates of Vibrio collected from coastal waters in India |
| Description | 16S rRNA gene sequences of 93 isolates of Vibrio collected from coastal waters in India were submitted to NCBI (accession no. MZ008365- OM909024) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Request for further participation and involvements from other researchers who will be using the genome sequence once published in publicly available repository at NCBI https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
| Title | 176 isolates of bacteria isolated from the study area are maintained at Marine Microbial Reference Facility |
| Description | 176 isolates of bacteria isolated from the study area are maintained at Marine Microbial Reference Facility with MMRF # 1355 to 1445, 1740 to 1760, 1920 to 1956, 2266 to 2291 and 2096 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Datasets available upon request to Marine Microbial Reference Facility |
| Title | Clinical dataset of cholera incidence in coastal district in India |
| Description | Surveillance data of cholera outbreaks at the district level in India over the period July 2009 to December 2019 were collected from publicly available weekly epidemiological reports published in Portable Document Format by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme of India (IDSP). Each report describes the incidences of communicable diseases for a given week with detailed information per state and district on the disease, number of cases, number of deaths, start date, reporting date, current status and comments related to each outbreak. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The epidemiological datasets of have been used has a core input for the development of machine learning model to produce environmental cholera-risk forecast based on combination satellite climate data records. We have demonstrated a novel application of machine learning for cholera risks in coastal India. The algorithm identified correctly 89.5% of outbreaks across all coastal Indian district reporting cholera outbreaks. We are investigating potential for transfer of model to other regions and possible inclusion of socio-economic data. Peer-reviewed article has been published in Dec 2020 in the peer-reviewed journal Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. Amy Campbell is first author, and Dr Racault is corresponding author. The results have been presented by Amy Campbell at the International Symposium Ocean & Human Health 2-3 Dec 2020. The paper has achieved an altimetric score of 57 (In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric). The paper has been taken up by more than 7 news outlets including the BBC world news. The results have also been presented in a press release by ESA https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/Space_for_Earth/Space_for_health/Cholera_outbreaks_predicted_using_climate_data_and_AI |
| URL | https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9378 |
| Title | Computer code for generating connectivity metrics around the north-east African coastline |
| Description | Includes setup scripts and model outputs for connectivity around the north-east African coastline which were generated to study the dispersal of vibrio cholerae. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | None yet, but we expect the results to form a publication on cholera dispersal. |
| Title | Metagenome of 25 water samples from PODCAST project sampling |
| Description | Metagenome of 25 water samples collected from PODCAST study area has been submitted to NCBI with accession numbers: BioSample Accession: SAMN33623825 - 849 In addition, bioproject accession # PRJNA811957 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Request for further participation and involvements from other researchers who will be using the genome sequence once published in publicly available repository at NCBI |
| URL | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
| Title | PyLag - A tool for modelling particle transport and dispersion in the the marine environment |
| Description | PyLag is a new particle tracking tool that is written in a mixture of the programming languages Python and Cython. Written using object orientated design principles, it is readily extensible, and can in principle simulate the transport of a range of different particulates, ranging from marine pollutants such as microplastics, to fish larvae. It presently includes support for two different hydrodynamic models: FVCOM and GOTM. However, it is relatively easy to add support for different hydrodynamic models, and it is anticipated support for NEMO will be added in the near future. The model has also been parallelised, and can be used on both desktop computers and modern super computers. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The model has been used to simulate the transport and dispersal of microplastics around the SW UK coastline, and used to inform field sampling work. Outputs from the model have been used as background material in two Masters projects on microplastics. The model is currently being used by a PhD student at the University of Exeter to simulate the dispersal of Sea Fan larvae. It has also been used to simulate the dispersal of dredged material from various proposed dumping sites near to Plymouth, with results presented to both Cefas and the Marine Management Organisation. |
| URL | http://www.pml.ac.uk/Modelling/Models/Physical_models_and_couplers |
| Title | PyLag v0.4 - A particle tracking model for marine applications |
| Description | This is the latest release of the particle tracking model PyLag, which has been under development since 2015. New features include support for a greater array of input data types, including data defined on global or regional rectilinear or curvilinear Arakawa A-grids, and data generated by the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS). Support for simulating particle behaviour has also been implemented. A conda package for the model has been developed, and support for continuous integration added using Travis CI. Finally, documentation has been added and integrated with GitHub using readthedocs. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The latest version of PyLag is being incorporated into a Coastal Observatory for the Tamar estuary and surrounding channel waters. The observatory will provide real time pollution tracking tools for end users through a web interface. The interface will go live in June 2021. The model has also supported publication, and is being used in a number of ongoing projects to track the movement and fate of particles of different types through the marine environment. |
| URL | https://pylag.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ |
| Title | PyLag-tools - A plotting library for analysisg PyLag model outputs |
| Description | PyLag-tools provides a set of classes and functions to help with plotting and analysing output from the particle tracking tool PyLag. It is written in Python and is stored under version control in a git repository hosted by PML. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The tool has been used by a PhD student at the University of Exeter in his project looking at the dispersal of sea fan larvae, and to produce plots for Masters students, who then incorporated these into their theses. |
| URL | http://www.pml.ac.uk/Modelling/Models/Physical_models_and_couplers |
| Title | Web portal developed for the 'PODCAST-DEMO' project |
| Description | As part of a collaborative research work between ESA and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML, UK), we have demonstrated a novel application of machine learning to detect cholera-risk in coastal districts in India based on analyses of clinical data and a suite of climate variables measured by satellites (published in Campbell et al., 2021). A web portal has been developed as a proof-of-concept to provide indicators and information on cholera risk in coastal regions of India. The web-portal prototype is based on Open Geospatial Consortium standards, and was built on existing functionality within an open source web-GIS portal that had been developed at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML, UK). To improve usability, the data products are presented using well known variable names, which can be selected from drop down lists sorted by high level metadata, such as location, district, as well as keywords like environmental suitability, climate and health indicators, and common grouping such as model, satellite or clinical data. |
| Type Of Material | Data handling & control |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The web-portal has been presented at the UNFCCC COP26 Earth Information Day and has received interests from policy/decision makers, e.g., request for further information from one of the India COP26 government delegates. |
| URL | https://podcast.eofrom.space/ |
| Title | Whole genome of Vibrio cholerae isolated from marine environment submitted to NCBI with accession numbers |
| Description | Whole genome of Vibrio cholerae isolated from marine environment submitted to NCBI with accession numbers: • BioSample Accession: SAMN26364794 • SRA: SRR18191316 • Genome Assembly: JAKXML000000000 In addition, bioproject accession # PRJNA811957 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Request for further participation and involvements from other researchers who will be using the genome sequence once published in publicly available repository at NCBI |
| URL | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
| Title | Whole genome sequence of Vibrio cholerae isolated from coastal waters in India |
| Description | Whole genome sequence of Vibrio cholerae isolated from coastal waters submitted to NCBI ( Bioproject accession no: PRJNA811957, Biosample accession no: SAMN26364794, SRA: SRR18191316). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Request for further participation and involvements from other researchers who will be using the genome sequence once published in publicly available repository at NCBI https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
| Description | Climate Change instruction/training for French Members of Parliament |
| Organisation | The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Prepared/wrote brief letters on climate change issues and key messages from IPCC AR6 WGII and Summary for Policy Makers. Participated in Climate Change information day in June 2022 in Paris and met with and informed newly elected as well as returning French Members of Parliament. |
| Collaborator Contribution | N/A |
| Impact | Uptake of newly published assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation solution from IPCC AR6 WGII has been provided in person and in brief letters to French MPs. Following on this, a mandatory training/instruction course about IPCC outcomes is being developed for members of French government. This is initiative is led by Léa Falco at the Ecole de Ponts ParisTech. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Climate Change instruction/training for French Members of Parliament |
| Organisation | École des ponts ParisTech |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Prepared/wrote brief letters on climate change issues and key messages from IPCC AR6 WGII and Summary for Policy Makers. Participated in Climate Change information day in June 2022 in Paris and met with and informed newly elected as well as returning French Members of Parliament. |
| Collaborator Contribution | N/A |
| Impact | Uptake of newly published assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation solution from IPCC AR6 WGII has been provided in person and in brief letters to French MPs. Following on this, a mandatory training/instruction course about IPCC outcomes is being developed for members of French government. This is initiative is led by Léa Falco at the Ecole de Ponts ParisTech. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Collaboration between PML and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services |
| Organisation | Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | INCOIS began experimenting with the ocean circulation model FVCOM for their near--cast modelling work. On an informal basis, PML have provided some assistance to INCOIS with setting up FVCOM. This builds on the relationship between PML and INCOIS which was established during the PODCAST project, and FVCOM modelling work undertaken by as part of several projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | INCOIS have been setting up FVCOM for their purposes. |
| Impact | INCOIS plan to have implemented FVCOM by the year 2023, and to run it with biogeochemistry by 2024 (see https://incois.gov.in/documents/TechnicalReports/ESSO-INCOIS-MDA-TR-04-2020.pdf). The collaboration is not multi-disciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | ESA Climate Office YGT collaboration on Cholera Risk: A Machine Learning Approach Applied to Essential Climate Variables |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Department | Harwell Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | PML Dr Racault has been the supervisor of Amy Campbell during her 1-year Young Graduate Trainee fellowship from the European Space Agency. PML has brought in expertise on usage of Artificial Intelligence with PML Data Scientist Stephen Goult as part of NERC-NEODAAS. PML has also provided Clinical data on cholera outbreaks in coastal districts of India. The clinical data on cholera from IDSP India were curated by PML scientist Angus Laurenson as part of UKRI-PODCAST project. PML Racault has provided expertise on cholera risk analyses and development of forecast systems using ECVs from satellite observations. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ESA Climate Office / YGT Amy Campbell have brought in satellite observations of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) produced by the ESA Climate Change Initiative program. The data have been obtained for the period from 2009 to 2019. |
| Impact | We have used machine learning techniques to analyse in combination satellite climate data records and epidemiological data to produce environmental cholera-risk forecast. We have demonstrated a novel application of machine learning for cholera risks in coastal India. The algorithm identified correctly 89.5% of outbreaks across all coastal Indian district reporting cholera outbreaks. We are investigating potential for transfer of model to other regions and possible inclusion of socio-economic data. Peer-reviewed article has been published in Dec 2020 in the peer-reviewed journal Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. Amy Campbell is first author, and Dr Racault is corresponding author. The results have been presented by by Amy Campbell at the International Symposium Ocean & Human Health 2-3 Dec 2020. The results have been published in a press release by ESA https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/Space_for_Earth/Space_for_health/Cholera_outbreaks_predicted_using_climate_data_and_AI And by more than 7 news outlets, including the BBC World News with the page translated in many languages: https://www.bbc.com/arabic/science-and-tech-56185703 https://www.bbc.com/hausa/labarai-56184840 https://www.bbc.com/tigrinya/news-56179528 https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/majalah-56178147 https://www.bbc.com/pashto/science-and-technology-56192581 |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Working Group on Earth Observation for Ecology and Epidemiology of Water-associated Disease |
| Organisation | Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) |
| Department | National Institute Of Oceanography (NIO) |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Activities 2019/20: Following outputs/impacts have been achieved: 1) Working Group activities have been described and reported in peer-reviewed publication Smail et al. 2019, doi:10.1080/1755876X.2019.163495; 2) Review article on Earth Observations for monitoring of Vibrio cholerae bacteria and cholera outbreak has been published in peer-reviewed journal. This forms a contribution to the WG (Racault et al., 2019, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11232763); and 3) News article contribution about WG activities in the GEO Blue Planet newsletter at: https://mailchi.mp/e04fcd2fa550/geo-blue-planet-up date-january-4143313?e=fca568b64e Activities 2018/19: Establishment of a core group of scientists with common interests in water-associated diseases, with expertise and interest in microbiology, genetics, epidemiology of infectious diseases, remote sensing and epidemic modelling, as a basis for international collaboration on public health issues related to water quality. The new GEO Blue Planet Working Group aimed to identify benefits, best practices and feasibility of incorporating Earth observation measurements into early-warning systems for water-associated diseases. It will provide a forum to exchange useful information, share data and coordinate activities where feasible, to maximise benefits to society. This initiative has been recognised as an important GEO Blue Planet activity under Theme 2 'Healthy Ecosystems and Food Security' and with societal relevance to public health, food security, water management, biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability, and disaster resilience. The WG activities are further adding value to GEO health community of practice and AquaWatch initiatives. Racault, M-F, Sathyendranath, S and Platt, T have initiated the Working Group. Racault, M-F has successfully obtained funding from Partnership for Observations of the Global Oceans (POGO) to hold a Scoping Meeting in Abingdon, UK, in August 2018. The meeting was organised over two days, and was structured around a series of presentations followed by discussion sessions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Activities 2019/20: WG members Racault, Sathyendranath, Platt, Abdulaziz, Menon, and George have published new review article in peer-reviewed journal. Reference: Racault M-F, Abdulaziz A, George G, Menon N, Jasmin C, Punathil M, McConville K, Loveday B, Platt T, Sathyendranath S, Vijitha V (2019) Environmental Reservoirs of Vibrio cholerae: Challenges and Opportunities for Ocean-Color Remote Sensing. Remote Sensing 11, 2763 Activities 2018/19: A total of 18 participants from six countries participated in the meeting. Several invitees were unable to attend, but expressed interest in staying engaged with the working group. All participants prepared a presentation to introduce their research interests on the topics of EO and water-associated diseases, state what they hoped to see as outcomes from the scoping meeting, and also express their aspirations for the proposed working group. WG partners and countries: Argentina: NFRDI; Brazil: INPE; India: NIO, NERCI; Japan: JAMSTEC, GSAIS Kyoto University; South Africa: SMRA, University of Pretoria; UK: Cefas, PML, Reading University, Wellcome Sanger Institute, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine LSTHM; USA: Maryland University, West Virginia University |
| Impact | Activities 2019/20: 1) Working Group activities have been described and reported in peer-reviewed publication Smail et al. 2019, doi:10.1080/1755876X.2019.163495 2) Review article on Earth Observations for monitoring of Vibrio cholerae bacteria and cholera outbreak has been published in peer-reviewed journal. This forms a formal contribution to the WG. Reference: Racault et al., 2019, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11232763 3) WG activities have been reported in the GEO Blue Planet newsletter at: https://mailchi.mp/e04fcd2fa550/geo-blue-planet-update-january-4143313?e=fca568b64e Activities 2018/19: The following Milestones and Deliverables have been achieved: 1) Funding awarded by POGO to hold Scoping Meeting of the WG 27/06/2018 2) Poster presentation of the WG at the GEO Blue Planet Symposium 04/07/2018 3) WG webpage available on GEO Blue Planet website 01/08/2018 https://geoblueplanet.org/blue-planet-activities/wg_eo_water-associated_diseases/ 4) Scoping Group Meeting held 30/08/2018 5) WG formation agreed by attendees of the Scoping Meeting 31/08/2018 6) Poster presentation of the WG at the UK National Earth Observation Conference 07/09/2018 7) Scoping Group Meeting report circulated to participants for feedback 23/10/2018 8) Presentation of the GEO BP WG by NCEO/GEO at the GEO plenary exhibition 2018 29/10/2018 8) POGO Report submitted 12/11/2018 http://www.ocean-partners.org/earth-observation-ecology-and-epidemiology-water-associated-diseases 9) WG report presentation at the POGO Annual Meeting 21/01/2019 10) WG contribution to the GEO Blue Planet Implementation 2020-2022 submitted 28/02/2018 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Working Group on Earth Observation for Ecology and Epidemiology of Water-associated Disease |
| Organisation | Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology |
| Country | Japan |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Activities 2019/20: Following outputs/impacts have been achieved: 1) Working Group activities have been described and reported in peer-reviewed publication Smail et al. 2019, doi:10.1080/1755876X.2019.163495; 2) Review article on Earth Observations for monitoring of Vibrio cholerae bacteria and cholera outbreak has been published in peer-reviewed journal. This forms a contribution to the WG (Racault et al., 2019, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11232763); and 3) News article contribution about WG activities in the GEO Blue Planet newsletter at: https://mailchi.mp/e04fcd2fa550/geo-blue-planet-up date-january-4143313?e=fca568b64e Activities 2018/19: Establishment of a core group of scientists with common interests in water-associated diseases, with expertise and interest in microbiology, genetics, epidemiology of infectious diseases, remote sensing and epidemic modelling, as a basis for international collaboration on public health issues related to water quality. The new GEO Blue Planet Working Group aimed to identify benefits, best practices and feasibility of incorporating Earth observation measurements into early-warning systems for water-associated diseases. It will provide a forum to exchange useful information, share data and coordinate activities where feasible, to maximise benefits to society. This initiative has been recognised as an important GEO Blue Planet activity under Theme 2 'Healthy Ecosystems and Food Security' and with societal relevance to public health, food security, water management, biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability, and disaster resilience. The WG activities are further adding value to GEO health community of practice and AquaWatch initiatives. Racault, M-F, Sathyendranath, S and Platt, T have initiated the Working Group. Racault, M-F has successfully obtained funding from Partnership for Observations of the Global Oceans (POGO) to hold a Scoping Meeting in Abingdon, UK, in August 2018. The meeting was organised over two days, and was structured around a series of presentations followed by discussion sessions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Activities 2019/20: WG members Racault, Sathyendranath, Platt, Abdulaziz, Menon, and George have published new review article in peer-reviewed journal. Reference: Racault M-F, Abdulaziz A, George G, Menon N, Jasmin C, Punathil M, McConville K, Loveday B, Platt T, Sathyendranath S, Vijitha V (2019) Environmental Reservoirs of Vibrio cholerae: Challenges and Opportunities for Ocean-Color Remote Sensing. Remote Sensing 11, 2763 Activities 2018/19: A total of 18 participants from six countries participated in the meeting. Several invitees were unable to attend, but expressed interest in staying engaged with the working group. All participants prepared a presentation to introduce their research interests on the topics of EO and water-associated diseases, state what they hoped to see as outcomes from the scoping meeting, and also express their aspirations for the proposed working group. WG partners and countries: Argentina: NFRDI; Brazil: INPE; India: NIO, NERCI; Japan: JAMSTEC, GSAIS Kyoto University; South Africa: SMRA, University of Pretoria; UK: Cefas, PML, Reading University, Wellcome Sanger Institute, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine LSTHM; USA: Maryland University, West Virginia University |
| Impact | Activities 2019/20: 1) Working Group activities have been described and reported in peer-reviewed publication Smail et al. 2019, doi:10.1080/1755876X.2019.163495 2) Review article on Earth Observations for monitoring of Vibrio cholerae bacteria and cholera outbreak has been published in peer-reviewed journal. This forms a formal contribution to the WG. Reference: Racault et al., 2019, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11232763 3) WG activities have been reported in the GEO Blue Planet newsletter at: https://mailchi.mp/e04fcd2fa550/geo-blue-planet-update-january-4143313?e=fca568b64e Activities 2018/19: The following Milestones and Deliverables have been achieved: 1) Funding awarded by POGO to hold Scoping Meeting of the WG 27/06/2018 2) Poster presentation of the WG at the GEO Blue Planet Symposium 04/07/2018 3) WG webpage available on GEO Blue Planet website 01/08/2018 https://geoblueplanet.org/blue-planet-activities/wg_eo_water-associated_diseases/ 4) Scoping Group Meeting held 30/08/2018 5) WG formation agreed by attendees of the Scoping Meeting 31/08/2018 6) Poster presentation of the WG at the UK National Earth Observation Conference 07/09/2018 7) Scoping Group Meeting report circulated to participants for feedback 23/10/2018 8) Presentation of the GEO BP WG by NCEO/GEO at the GEO plenary exhibition 2018 29/10/2018 8) POGO Report submitted 12/11/2018 http://www.ocean-partners.org/earth-observation-ecology-and-epidemiology-water-associated-diseases 9) WG report presentation at the POGO Annual Meeting 21/01/2019 10) WG contribution to the GEO Blue Planet Implementation 2020-2022 submitted 28/02/2018 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Title | Design of mobile application 'CLEANSE' for sanitation survey in coastal areas of southern Kerala and Chennai, India |
| Description | Statistics have shown that the overall proportion of Indian households with access to improved water sources increased from 68% in 1992-93 to 89.9% in 2015-16. However, lack of improved sanitation facilities and open defecation are still unresolved problems in India. Under the project PODCAST, steps are taken to study the sanitation status of the population in the coastal areas of southern Kerala and Chennai. Specifically, the mobile application named 'CLEANSE' has been developed to collect information on the source of drinking water, availability of clean drinking water, seasonal variations in the incidence of disease, use of antibiotics, sanitation habits etc. Sanitation survey has received sanction from Dept. of Health, Kerala State, India. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | No impact yet. Designing and fine tuning of the mobile application is done and App is ready to use. The App has been tested and found to be free of errors. Education of the local population about the app and data retrieval will start from mid-March 2020 onwards. The data entered in the app will be stored in google docs and retrieved for analysis by NERCI-Kochi who is the custodian of the data. By filling the questions in the App, the public will get a first-hand experience of the environmental deterioration in their vicinity. |
| Title | PyLag - and offline particle tracking model |
| Description | PyLag is an offline particle tracking model for marine applications. It was initially designed to work with the Finite Volume Community Ocean Model, and to target near coast applications. However, it was recently be extended to support a broader range of model grids (2020). |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | The model code has now supported 5 publications. The software is being used in multiple (> 5) on going projects and has supported several PhD and Masters projects. As of 2 March 2022, the software has been starred 4 times on GitHub and has been downloaded 122 times from Anaconda Cloud. |
| URL | https://pylag.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ |
| Description | BBC World News Article about paper on cholera and AI and ECVs |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The BBC World News wrote an article about PODCAST project and peer-reviewed paper on Cholera Risk: A Machine Learning Approach Applied to Essential Climate Variables by Campbell, Racault, Goult and Laurenson, published in the journal Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health in Dec 2020. The BBC news article has been translated in many languages: https://www.bbc.com/arabic/science-and-tech-56185703 https://www.bbc.com/hausa/labarai-56184840 https://www.bbc.com/tigrinya/news-56179528 https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/majalah-56178147 https://www.bbc.com/pashto/science-and-technology-56192581 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.com/arabic/science-and-tech-56185703 |
| Description | COP26 Public Youth Climate Discussion Event organised by the Youth-focussed hub Extreme hangouts and ESA on 7 Nov 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The ESA Climate Office is also partnering with youth-focussed hub, EXTREME which aims to give youth a voice at COP26 and the chance to share their vision of a green sustainable future. On 7 Nov 2021, PODCAT project team member and Young Graduate Trainee Amy Campbell joined the COP26 Public Event in Glasgow to discuss the impact of climate on health and how she is using satellite data to investigate future changes in water-borne diseases such as Cholera as part of the work that she carried in PODCAST project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.extremehangoutevents.com/live-stream-catch-up |
| Description | Carbon Brief Press Release on the Voices of IPCC AR6 WGII authors about the Climate Change Report 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Carbon Brief is a UK-based website which has a worldwide audience and is covering the latest developments in climate science, climate policy and energy policy. Following the public release of the IPCC AR6 WGII Climate Change report 2022, Carbon brief has published a news article on "Scientists react: What are the key new insights from the IPCC's WG2 report?" featuring IPCC Co-Chair and several Lead Authors including Dr M-F Racault. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.carbonbrief.org/scientists-react-what-are-the-key-new-insights-from-the-ipccs-wg2-report |
| Description | Collaborative visit to JAMSTEC |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Dr Racault made collaborative in August 2022 to JAMSTEC project partner. Specifically, the purpose of the visit was to continue research work on Vibrio bacteria satellite-water marker index and climate indices (paper in preparation with Ogata, Nonaka and Behera PODCAST JAMSTEC team); review recent research achievements and new developments on the study of climate influence on marine microbes; and discuss potential future collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | ESA on Instagram: "Predicting Cholera outbreaks from space?" - Post got more than 49K likes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The ESA posted on Instagram about PODCAST project and peer-reviewed paper on Cholera Risk: A Machine Learning Approach Applied to Essential Climate Variables by Campbell, Racault, Goult and Laurenson, published in the journal Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health in Dec 2020. The post received more than 49,000 likes and more than 350 comments as of 4 Mar 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.instagram.com/p/CJUBiRGAY5S/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link |
| Description | Financial Times news article about IPCC Ar6 WGII Climate Change report 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The Financial Times wrote a news article interviewed and quoted Dr M-F Racault about her work as Lead Author in the IPCC AR6 WGII Climate Change 2022 Summary for Policy Makers and Chapter 3 on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability in the Oceans. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://on.ft.com/3pu5s0F |
| Description | Guest lecture by student Amy Campbell at University of Southampton, January 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Guest lecture by PhD student Amy Campbell from PODCAST research team at University of Southampton, January 2023; Title of talk: Identifying and forecasting the effect of climate change on water-borne diseases |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Household survey with local communities in Kerala, India |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Household survey has been initiated in the coastal districts of Ernakulam and Alappuzha districts of Kerala using the questionnaire during the months of 2020. A total of 94 houses on the banks of Vembanad Lake have been covered. Both urban and rural areas have been sampled by India partners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | IPCC Press release on Climate change: a threat to human wellbeing and health of the planet release on 28 Feb 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The IPCC AR6 WGII produced a press release following the acceptance of the Climate Change Report 2022 on Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability in which Dr M-F Racault is a Lead Author in the Summary for Policy makers, the Technical Summary and Chapter 3: Oceans and Coastal ecosystems and their services. The report is citing and using as evidence research findings published in papers by authors M-F Racault, B Wright and C Le Quéré who are funded by the UKRI NERC in the project PODCAST (P-I Racault) and Marine Frontiers (P-I Le Quéré). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/resources/press/press-release |
| Description | Invited seminar presentation at the University of East Anglia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In this seminar, Dr M-F Racault presented results on the study of climate impacts on marine ecosystem resources, the oceanic carbon cycle, and microbial ecology, and how these results contributed to the IPCC AR6 WGII 2022 report. The results presented are from NERC PODCAST and Frontiers as well as further complementary projects. First, she provided examples of my research in phytoplankton phenology (study of the phases of the seasonal cycle of ocean's primary producers) using satellite and model observations, and how these have allowed new insights on the reproductive success of marine organisms and their availability for fisheries at global and regional scales. Next, she presented assessments of the impacts of extreme climate perturbations such as El Niño on the productivity and phenology of oceanic phytoplankton, and the implications for key biogeochemical processes such as carbon export from the surface mixed layer of the ocean. Finally, she showed new research outputs on the bacteria Vibrio cholerae using genomics, climate observations and AI, and how they permitted to advance our understanding of pathogen-host interactions and improve predictability of cholera disease risks in coastal regions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Monthly provision of seasonal prediction through the JAMSTEC/APL website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Quasi real-time seasonal prediction was provided every month through the JAMSTEC/APL website (http://www.jamstec.go.jp/aplinfo/sintexf/e/seasonal/outlook.html) In particular, the early-warning for the 2019 extreme positive Indian Ocean Dipole was widely reported by the media (newspapers, TV program). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
| URL | http://www.jamstec.go.jp/aplinfo/sintexf/e/seasonal/outlook.html |
| Description | News web-article/ Press Release by Plymouth Marine Laboratory and NERC about NERC TaSE Initiative funded projects |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project Pathways of dispersal for cholera and solution tools (PODCAST) funded under the NERC Directed International was presented in the news article published in the PML website (https://www.pml.ac.uk/News_and_media/News/PODCAST_project_seeks_solution_for_cholera_outbrea), the article was linked to the news story published by NERC presenting the funded project in the the call "Towards a Sustainable Earth" (TaSE) published at https://nerc.ukri.org/press/releases/2019/07-tase/ The project PODCAST is a multi-lateral collaborative project involving partners from Japan JAMSTEC and India NIO, NERCI and CMFRI. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.pml.ac.uk/News_and_media/News/PODCAST_project_seeks_solution_for_cholera_outbrea |
| Description | Online Lecture for ONWARDS Module 3: Case studies on Earth Observations for Human Health 26 July 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Under the auspices of ONWARD (Open Network on Water-Related Diseases) project, an international training course has being organised on monitoring water quality using remote sensing and geospatial analyses for human health. Dr Racault was invited to give a lecture on "Cholera risk and climate observations: case study in coastal regions of the northern Indian Ocean". She presented reserach outcomes from the PODCAST project and results from the IPCC AR6 WG22 cross-chapter box on water-brne diseases and adaptation that Dr Racault led. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Online Lectures on "International training on monitoring microbial quality of water" 11-28 Feb 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Under the auspices of the NERC GCRF and with contributions from UKRI NERC PODCAST project Co-Is Dr Sathyendranath, Dr Nandini Menon, Dr Anas Abdulaziz, an international online virtual training course has been organised on monitoring the microbial quality of water using remote sensing and in-situ measurements during the period 11-28 Feb 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://www.onwardnetwork.net/pdf/training_brochure.pdf |
| Description | PODCAST project Annual Meeting, Plymouth, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | PODCAST project Annual Meeting, was held 8 July 2020 online due to Covid home working guidance and international travel restrictions. The meeting was attended by 12 participants, three from Japan, five from UK, three from India. The meeting was organised with first a round-table short intro and summary of activities in PODCAST by each project partner. Then, the meeting was organised around the following topics: 1) Guest presentation: Cholera Risk from ECVs and Machine Learning; 2) Update on datasets (in-situ sampling, satellite observations, epidemiological); 3) Preliminary work on satellite Optical Water Classification; 4) Update on epidemiological model; 5) Update particle tracking and ocean circulation model; 6) Preliminary analyses of links between climate variability and cholera outbreaks; and 7) Project issues and Extension possibilities. The presentations were followed by questions/ discussions among participants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | PODCAST project Kick-Off Meeting, Plymouth, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | PODCAST project Kick-Off Meeting, was held 4-6 June 2019 in Plymouth UK. The meeting was attended by 10 participants, two from Japan and five from UK attended in-person, three India participants attended remotely due funding decision/sanction which had not yet been processed by DBT India. The meeting was organised with first a round-table presentation of institutes and role in PODCAST by each project partner. Then, the meeting was arranged in four sessions along the themes: 1) Data collection; 2) Model Development; 3) Cholera-outbreak forecast system for coastal regions; 4) User participation, engagement and requirements; and 5) Project Management. A series of presentations followed by questions/ discussions were given by participants in each of the sessions. In addition to the KO meeting on 6 June, Japan participants visited the Plymouth Marine Laboratory five science areas' facilities, and the Continuous Plankton Recorder facility at the Marine Biological Association institute in Plymouth. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | PODCAST-project presentation at UKRI-led Towards a Sustainable Earth (TaSE) Programme Meeting 13-14 Jan 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | Talk about PODCAST project as part of the UKRI-led Towards a Sustainable Earth (TaSE) Programme. The presentation highlighting progress, any key outcomes so far, impacts of COVID. It was presented to international funders from NERC, UKRI, UKRI India, UKRI China, India-UK Multilateral Division, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) UK, Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agriculatural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS) Sweden, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Japan, and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) China; and to researchers from interdisciplinary fields from UK, Japan, India, China and Sweden. Discussions included 1) lessons learnt on the SDG synergies and how to manage any trade-offs in achieving multiple conflicting SDGs; 2) Ideas exchange on feeding project findings into the SDG processes at national or international level and links to COP26; and 3) What is the future of research around SDG? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://nerc.ukri.org/research/partnerships/international/tase/ |
| Description | Presentation and expert panel member at the COP25 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dr Marie-Fanny Racault participated in the COP25 UK Pavilion Earth Observation Side Event 'Earth Observation and Climate Change: A Critical Capability in Understanding Our Changing World'. The event was led by moderator Prof Gideon Henderson (Defra CSA) who addressed audience to introduce the event and speakers, and gave a keynote speech, followed by six speaker presentations (including Dr Racault), and an audience discussion. Dr Racault's presentation focused on Earth Observations in the Oceans, and showed how Earth Observations provide a unique capability to monitor the oceans on both global and local scales. She presented examples of her research on marine phytoplankton and fisheries, and new applications to water-borne diseases (such as cholera) monitoring and human health. Finally, she reported on the potential opportunities for Earth observations to support ocean-based measures for the Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contributions in the areas of adaptation and mitigation. Outcomes/Impacts: - Request for media radio interview for the BBC World Service Tech Tent show; broadcast Friday 13th December and is on the programme's website; Dr Racault's segment starts at around 11´30" into the programme. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csymtd - Request for further engagements: 1) European Space Agency invitation to give keynote talk at international symposium; 2) contributed to news article for NCEO webpage https://www.nceo.ac.uk/article/un-climate-change-c onference-december-2019-cop25/; and 3) NCEO (NERC) and Space4Climate group, Dr Racault reported about activities at COP25 and interests/potential opportunities for further engagements at COP26 with Defra, ESA, and GEO. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.nceo.ac.uk/article/un-climate-change-conference-december-2019-cop25/ |
| Description | Presentation at 11th ESA CCI Colocation Meeting 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation "Cholera risk and climate observations: ESA CCI application" by Marie-Fanny Racault, A Campbell, S Goult, O Marcone, A Laurenson, T Ogata, M Nonaka, S Behera, D Clewley, O Clement at the 11th CCI Colocation / CMUG meeting on 2021/10/08 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://climate.esa.int/en/events/11th-cci-colocation-meeting/ |
| Description | Presentation at AGU Fall Meeting 2020 on 16 Dec 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation "Climate precursors of satellite water marker index for spring cholera outbreak in Bengal Delta region" by Ogata T, Racault M-F, Nonaka M, Behera S, at AGU Fall Meeting 2020, 2020/12/16. This is novel work, which is part of PODCAST project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Presentation at AGU Fall Meeting 2021 on 17 Dec 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation "Statistical prediction of satellite water marker index for spring cholera outbreak in northern Bay of Bengal coastal regions" by Ogata T, Racault M-F, Nonaka M, Behera S, at AGU Fall Meeting 2021, 2020/12/17. This is novel work, which is part of PODCAST project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation at ESA Living Planet Symposium 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Grinson George, Nandini Menon, Anas Abdulaziz, Gemma Kulk, Bror Jönsson, Shubha Sathyendranath. 2022. Space technology and citizen science for building resilience and implementing mitigation measures in a vulnerable tropical coastal region. Poster presented at the Living Planet Symposium 2022 at Bonn, Germany. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Save_the_date_Living_Planet_Symposium_2022 |
| Description | Presentation at ESA Living Planet Symposium 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | ? Nandini Menon N, Sreya M, Ranith R, Grinson George, Anas Abdulaziz, Shubha Sathyendranath. 2022. CLEANSE - A mobile application to assess the sanitation status and health of the population. Poster presented at the Living Planet Symposium 2022 at Bonn, Germany. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Save_the_date_Living_Planet_Symposium_2022 |
| Description | Presentation at International Webinar 23 Apr 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation "Cholera risk and climate observations: case study in coastal regions of the northern Indian Ocean" by Marie-Fanny Racault, A Campbell, S Goult, A Laurenson, T Ogata, M Nonaka, S Behera at the Space Climate Observatory International Webinar on 2021/04/23 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation at International Workshop on 18 Nov 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation "Climate precursors of cholera outbreak" by Ogata T, Racault M-F, Nonaka M, Behera S, at Workshop: Approaches for Hydrospheric-Atmospheric Environmental Studies in Asia-Oceania, 2021/11/18. This is novel work, which is part of PODCAST project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation at North Atlantic Microplastic Centre Annual Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of work to identify hotspots of microplastic in the Bergen Fjord System. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation at virtual conference AQUA360-Water for All-Emerging Issues and Innovations, University of Exeter on 2 Sep 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A poster presentation by Nandini Menon N, Anas Abdulaziz, Sreya Murali, V. Sajin, Grinson George, V. Sreepriya, Shubha Sathyendranath and Trevor Platt (2021) on "Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and related practices in the coastal areas of Kerala, India" has been presented at the virtual conference AQUA360-Water for All-Emerging Issues and Innovations, organised by the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, 31 August to 2 September, 2021 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation by student Amy Campbell at Cefas Science Conference "Understanding the past, predicting the future" 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Oral presentation by PhD student Amy Campbell from PODCAST research team at Cefas Science Conference "Understanding the past, predicting the future", October 2022, Title of talk: Uncovering evolutionary dynamics of emergence to predict future pandemics: Vibrio parahaemolyticus ST3 | Session: Understanding our aquatic environment |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Presentation by student Amy Campbell at ESA Living Planet Symposium, May 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Poster presentation by PhD student Amy Campbell from PODCAST research team at Living Planet Symposium, May 2022, Title: Exploring climate drivers of pandemic variant emergence for Vibrio, using EO time-series data| Session: D2.11 Earth Observation for Health |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://earth.esa.int/eogateway/events/living-planet-symposium-2022 |
| Description | Presentation by student Sara Xavier at the Trevor Platt Foundation International Symposium 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A presentation by student Sara Xavier from NERCI Cochin India on PODCAST research about "A study on the bio-optical characteristics of the coastal waters off Kochi and Chennai ". In collaboration with PODCAST team members Nandini Menon, Ranith R, Anas Abdul Aziz, Shubha Sathyendranath, Marie-Fanny Racault, and Grinson George. Talk abstract: The in-situ bio-optical properties of the coastal waters off Chennai (east coast) and Kochi (west coast), India were examined during three seasons during 2019-2022. The bio-optical properties studied were: chlorophyll concentration, absorption coefficients of particulate matter, detrital matter, phytoplankton and coloured dissolved organic matter, along with phytoplankton taxonomy and numerical abundance. The results showed some similarities in the bio-optical properties of the two study sites, irrespective of the differences in seasons. For example, detrital matter was the major contributor to the absorption budget in both coasts. Also, diatoms were the dominant phytoplankton in both the coasts throughout the study period. But the variability of chlorophyll off Kochi was higher, ranging from 0.45 to 16.5µg/l, compared with that off Chennai (0.23 to 6.5 µg/l). Off Kochi, the highest phytoplankton density was observed during the monsoon season, whereas off Chennai, it was during post-monsoon season. Regression analysis showed that chlorophyll concentration had a positive relation with phytoplankton absorption (r2=0.86) during the monsoon season at the stations off Kochi, whereas in the stations off Chennai, high correlation was observed during the post-monsoon season (r2=0.76). The study concerning the variability in, and interconnections among, bio-optical properties is a contribution to our efforts to improve our understanding of the ecological conditions at these study areas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation by student Sebin John at Trevor Platt Foundation international Symposium 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A presentation by student Sebin John on PODCAST research about "Assessing the cumulative impact of regional weather events on the cholera outbreaks in india using geostatistical methods ". In collaboration with PODCAST team members Nandini Menon, Ranith R, Angus Laurenson, Midhuna Thayyil Mandodi, Grinson George, Anas Abdulaziz, Bror Jönsson, Marie-Fanny Racault, and Shubha Sathyendranath. Talk abstract: Extreme weather events are increasing due to human-driven and climate-change impacts. Epidemic outbreaks often follow extreme/catastrophic weather events. Changing weather patterns such as increase in surface temperature and rainfall are known to influence the density of pathogenic micro-organisms such as Vibrio cholerae natural water bodies, contributing to cholera outbreaks. This study provides some initial results on the connections between Cholera outbreaks and climate. A state-wise database of the water-borne disease occurrences in India for the period 2009-2020 was created using information from the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). The IDSP dataset was quality checked to minimize errors, missing values, and duplicate data entry. Spatio-temporal variability in the prevalence of various water-borne diseases was then plotted as choropleth maps using Python. State-wise information on monthly rainfall data obtained from the Indian Meteorological Department database was overlaid on the spatio-temporal Cholera outbreaks. Increased Cholera outbreaks (number of cases) and spatial spread along different states of India during the study period was related to major tele-connection patterns and regional weather events along West Bengal (cyclone in May 2009, October 2013), Rajasthan (July 2010-intense rainfall) and the NW/SW states (June-July 2016, El-Nino/Flash floods) in India. Understanding the influence of climate change and extreme weather events on enteric diseases is crucial, because even a minor increase in the risk for Cholera can have significant effects at the global scale. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation on cholera and AI at ECMWF-ESA Workshop on Machine Learning for Earth System Observation and Prediction |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Talk given by my postgraduate student Amy Campbell as part of the PODCAST project. The talk was on the topic of "Artificial Intelligence in ESA Contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) : An Overview". The talk was presented during the Virtual Event: ECMWF-ESA Workshop on Machine Learning for Earth System Observation and Prediction 8-10 October 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Presentation to FutureEarth Health KAN network on 24 June 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Webinar presentation "Cholera risk and climate observations" by Marie-Fanny Racault, A Campbell, O Marcone, T Ogata, M Nonaka, S Goult, A Laurenson, S Behera to the Health KAN FutureEarth international network on 2021/06/24 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Presentation#1 at 1st International Symposium on Human Health and the Ocean in a changing world 2-3 Dec 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | E-poster presentation on the topic of "Surveillance of Environmental Reservoirs of Vibrio cholerae: challenges and Opportunities for Ocean-Colour Remote Sensing" was presented at the 1st International Symposium on Human Health and the Ocean in a changing world 2-3 Dec 2020. A 3-min video about the poster was posted on the Symposium webportal and made accessible for viewing by all participants for a period of 3 months. The Symposium was attended by more than 200 participants from around the world. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | http://www.oceanhealthmonaco.org/ |
| Description | Presentation#2 at 1st International Symposium on Human Health and the Ocean in a changing world 2-3 Dec 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | E-poster presentation on the topic of "Exploring the potential of CCI-ECV data and machine learning for environmental cholera risk forecasting" was presented by my postgraduate student Amy Campbell at the 1st International Symposium on Human Health and the Ocean in a changing world 2-3 Dec 2020. A 3-min video about the poster was posted on the Symposium webportal and made accessible for viewing by all participants for a period of 3 months. The Symposium was attended by more than 200 participants from around the world. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | http://www.oceanhealthmonaco.org/ |
| Description | Press release by ESA on "Cholera outbreaks predicted using climate data and AI" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release has been published by European Space Agency about the PODCAST project and peer-reviewed paper on Cholera Risk: A Machine Learning Approach Applied to Essential Climate Variables by Campbell, Racault, Goult and Laurenson, published in the journal Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health in Dec 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/Space_for_Earth/Space_for_health/Chole... |
| Description | Press release by ESA on "Satellites support latest IPCC climate report" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release has been published by European Space Agency about the IPCC AR6 WGII Climate Change 2022. Specifically, the press release highlights the important contributions of Dr M-F Racault to the Climate Change 2022 report, in her role as Lead Author and her research outputs within UKRI NERC and ESA projects. Dr Racault's research work led to key assessment of climate change impact on phytoplankton phenology in the global oceans in the Chapter 3 of the IPCC Climate Change Report 2022, and contributed to support evidence of climate impact and adaption options to reduce risks of climate-sensitive waterborne diseases such as cholera in Chapter 2 of the IPCC Climate Change Report 2022. The Press Release was published on 3rd March 2022 and within 1 week of publication it has reached > 2200 views. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Space_for_our_climate/Satellites_support_latest... |
| Description | Press release by PML on "Major UN report stresses the need for urgent action on climate change" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release has been published by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory about the IPCC AR6 WGII Climate Change 2022. Specifically, the press release highlights the important contributions of Dr M-F Racault to the Climate Change 2022 report, in her role as Lead Author and her research outputs within UKRI NERC. Dr Racault's research work led to key assessment of climate change impact on phytoplankton phenology in the global oceans in the Chapter 3 of the IPCC Climate Change Report 2022, and contributed to support evidence of climate impact and adaption options to reduce risks of climate-sensitive waterborne diseases such as cholera in Chapter 2 of the IPCC Climate Change Report 2022. The Press Release was published on 28 Feb 2022 and include quote from M-F Racault. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://pml.ac.uk/news/Major-UN-report-stresses-the-need-for-urgent-actio |
| Description | Press release by UEA and Phys.org on "IPCC report says climate change is causing dangerous disruption to nature" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release has been published by the University of East Anglia and the Phys.Org about the IPCC AR6 WGII Climate Change 2022. Specifically, the press release highlights the important contributions of Dr M-F Racault to the Climate Change 2022 report, in her role as Lead Author and her research outputs within UKRI NERC and as part of UEA. Dr Racault's research work led to key assessment of climate change impact on phytoplankton phenology in the global oceans in the Chapter 3 of the IPCC Climate Change Report 2022, and contributed to support evidence of climate impact and adaption options to reduce risks of climate-sensitive waterborne diseases such as cholera in Chapter 2 of the IPCC Climate Change Report 2022. The Press Release was published on 1st March 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://phys.org/news/2022-03-ipcc-climate-dangerous-disruption-nature.html#google_vignette |
| Description | Press release by the United Nations on "Women Scientists on the Forefront of Climate Action" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release has been published by United Nations Climate Action program on International Women's Day on 8 March 2022. The new web article features women lead Authors in the IPCC AR6 WGII Climate Change 2022 and highlights their important contributions. Dr M-F Racault was interviewed and is quoted in the new article. Dr Racault is presented along with several women climate scientists as role models to help to raise the uptake of women in STEM. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/women-scientists-forefront-climate-action |
| Description | Radio interview for BBC World Service |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Radio interview for the BBC World Service Tech Tent show; broadcast Friday 13th December, interview is available on the programme's website as well; Marie-Fanny Racault's segment starts at around 11´30" into the programme. The radio interview took place following my presentation at the UK Pavilion event on Earth Observations for Climate during COP25 in Madrid, Spain, Dec 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csymtd |
| Description | Space4Climate Blog on Forecasting cholera outbreaks from space published 23 Aug 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Space4Climate posted a blog on "Forecasting cholera outbreaks from space" written by author Amy Campbell about the peer-reviewed paper: on Cholera Risk: A Machine Learning Approach Applied to Essential Climate Variables by Campbell, Racault, Goult and Laurenson, published in the journal Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health in Dec 2020. The blog was published on 23rd August 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://space4climate.com/forecasting-cholera-outbreaks-from-space/ |
| Description | Talk at Chudleigh primary school (2022) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Visited a school to give a presentation and lead an interactive session on marine science. The session was attended by ~ 60 children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |