(Introduction) Using NASA Satellites for the Study of the Environment and Implications for Weather and Public Health

Objective: Health providers/researchers need environmental data to study and understand the geographic, environmental, and meteorological differences in disease. Satellite remote sensing of the environment can fill the gaps of environmental, spatial, and temporal data for tracking disease. This presentation demonstrates the need for collaborations between multi-disciplinary research groups to develop the full potential. NASA will discuss some of their on-going Public Health Projects and also discuss how the program is moving forward with some new innovative research. Relevance/Significance The session is directly related to GIS Mapping and Global Health Surveillance and will present research results of the remote sensing environmental observations of earth and health applications which can contribute to the public health research. Satellite earth observations present a vantage point of the earth's environment from space which offers a wealth of health applications for weather and public health researchers Approach/Methodology NASA has used satellite remote sensing of the environment to provide a method for bridging gaps of environmental, spatial, and temporal data for tracking disease. This session will provide an overview of projects dealing with pandemic influenza, malaria, famine and how geographic and racial difference affect stoke patients.

Conclusions and Recommendations This session provides a venue where the results of both research and practice using remote sensing to study weather and how it can be applied to public health. This session will continue to show the progress that has been made studying the effects of weather and the environment has on public health applications. This session will emphasize the growth of the NASA Public Health Program and the importance of studying weather and the environment in providing answers for many of today's public health issues.