Several research teams have recently been funded to develop ways to
use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify mosquito larvae and the
environments they prefer. To do that, scientists need tens of
thousands of photos of mosquito larvae and their habitats to train,
validate, and test predictive models developed using machine learning.
To help give
scientists the photos they need to reach their goals, GLOBE Observer
is hosting the Mosquito
Habitat Photo Challenge (July 25 – August 25, 2021). During the
challenge, the public is encouraged to take observations of mosquito
habitats and any larvae found, then photograph the land cover
surrounding the identified habitat. Photos that you upload using the
Mosquito Habitat Mapper and Land Cover tools within the GLOBE Observer
app will contribute to the cutting edge of computational science research.
Interested
researchers from NASA’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive
Research (EPSCoR) include teams from the University of Vermont, the
University of Wyoming, New Mexico State University, and the University
of Puerto Rico. They will be conducting collaborative research through
Goddard’s AI Center for Excellence and will be using your land cover
and mosquito habitat photos to develop automated image recognition
systems. Another project, funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF), is focusing on the development of automated image recognition
systems to identify mosquito species that are vectors of diseases (http://mosquitoAI.org). In this
project, Dr. Ryan Carney and Dr. Sriram Chellappan from the University
of South Florida will analyze mosquito larvae photos submitted through
the GLOBE Observer app’s Mosquito Habitat Mapper tool.
“The most important thing is that as much of the larva’s anatomy as
possible is in focus,” suggests Dr. Carney. Detailed instructions and
tips on how to take useful photos can be found in GLOBE Observer’s
latest science blog, “Machine
Learning and Your Citizen Science Data.”
To participate
in the larvae photograph part of the challenge, you will need to
obtain a clip-on microscope or magnifier (with 60x or better
magnification) for the camera on your smartphone or tablet. While
magnified larvae photos are optional, they are the most critical data
collected during this challenge. However, all observations are welcome
and appreciated, with or without larvae photos. Even if larvae are not
present, habitat and land cover photos (from all GLOBE countries) does
contribute valuable data.
Besides taking and submitting observations, there are a variety of
ways the public can learn, create and engage during the challenge
period. View our Challenge
Activity Tracker to see suggestions for activities to
participate beyond collecting data. To learn more about the challenge
and the research it supports, please join us for a free
webinar on 8 July at 2 p.m. ET. An archived recording of the
webinar will be available on the challenge web page after the event.
