EO4Health Resilience

The EO4Health Resilience project aims to evaluate the suitability of Earth Observation (EO) imagery in supporting public health decision-making, scenario analysis, and impact and risk assessments. By addressing scientific gaps and challenges while aligning with the needs of key stakeholders, the project seeks to conceptualize a practical, long-term initiative that integrates EO technology into health resilience strategies.
Building on extensive knowledge from previous ESA activities, EO4Health Resilience focuses on developing and implementing value-added services that use EO data and Artificial Intelligence to identify patterns for accurately predicting the spatio-temporal dynamics of two types of diseases: Vector-Borne Diseases (VBD) and Water-Borne Diseases (WBD).
The VBD service is focused on the implementation of a model originally developed for Italy, which assesses the probability of West Nile Virus circulation under suitable conditions. In EO4Health Resilience, this model has been expanded to cover a broader Area of Interest, encompassing significant parts of North Africa and Europe. Its outputs are validated using ground truth data from official sources.
In the WBD domain services focus on environmental risks associated with cholera, Escherichia coli, flooding in Vembanad Lake, and non-cholera Vibrio infections in the Baltic Sea region. These services enhance existing models with geospatial data, offering valuable insights often underutilized in public health risk assessments.
The project also explores novel applications of very high-resolution imagery for both VBD and WBD themes. Preliminary results demonstrate the potential for spatially detailed insights, strengthening the links between environmental conditions and disease emergence.
On the engineering front, EO4Health Resilience is advancing public health capabilities through the “Resilience & Earth Observation Virtual Observatory.” This web-based platform serves as a centralized hub for project activities. It provides access to EO and health-related data, supports the full implementation of VBD and WBD services, and integrates additional tools for analyzing patterns associated with emerging diseases. Designed to be user-friendly, the observatory enables even non-specialists in EO and geographic data to access and utilize critical information, promoting the wider uptake of project outputs.
Through innovative EO applications, strategic partnerships, and user-centric tools, EO4Health Resilience is paving the way for a more resilient public health system equipped to anticipate and mitigate disease risks globally.