Preparations and Activities Necessary for Aerial Mosquito Control After Hurricanes

Vector Disease Control International (VDCI) has a long history of aiding mosquito control efforts necessary for recovery after natural disasters like hurricanes and major floods. As waters associated with these events begin to recede, both nuisance and vector mosquito species surge in abundance and consequently play an increased role in public health. When these situations arise, state and county agencies implement emergency response plans and many rely on Federal Emergency Management Agency or private contractors for assistance in reducing mosquito populations that can alter arbovirus transmission cycles, cause intolerable stress, hamper reconstruction efforts, and disrupt normal community functions. Vector Disease Control International owns the largest fleet of fixed-wing aircraft dedicated specifically to mosquito control and has worked every major storm event since Hurricane Bonnie in 1998. This article describes the logistics and operations required for implementing VDCI's emergency management plan, including the relocation of equipment, adult mosquito surveillance, delivery of pesticides, assessment of efficacy, and filing of low-level waivers and congested-area plans with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Spatial deconvolution of aerial radiometric survey and its application to the fallout from a radiological dispersal device

Mapping radioactive contamination using aerial survey measurements is an area under active investigation today. The radiometric aerial survey technique has been extensively applied following reactor accidents and also would provide a key tool for response to a malicious radiological or nuclear incident. Methods exist to calibrate the aerial survey system for quantification of the concentration of natural radionuclides, which can provide guidance. However, these methods have anticipated a spatial distribution of the source which is large in comparison to the survey altitude. In rapid emergency-response aerial surveys of areas of safety concern, deposits of relatively small spatial extent may be expected. The activity of such spatially restricted hot spots is underestimated using the traditional methods. We present here a spatial deconvolution method which can recover some of the variation smoothed out by the averaging due to survey at altitude. We show that the method can recover the true spatial distribution of concentration of a synthetic source. We then apply the method to real aerial survey data collected following detonation of a radiological dispersal device. The findings and implications of the deconvolution are then discussed by reference to a groundbased truckborne survey over the same contamination.