Earth Observation (EO) data can be leveraged to estimate environmental variables that influence the transmission cycle of the pathogens that lead to mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs). The aim of this scoping review is to examine the state-of-the-art and identify knowledge gaps on the latest methods that used satellite EO data in their epidemiological models focusing on malaria, dengue and West Nile Virus (WNV). In total, 43 scientific papers met the inclusion criteria and were considered in this review. Researchers have examined a wide variety of methodologies ranging from statistical to machine learning algorithms. A number of studies used models and EO data that seemed promising and claimed to be easily replicated in different geographic contexts, enabling the realization of systems on regional and national scales. The need has emerged to leverage furthermore new powerful modeling approaches, like artificial intelligence and ensemble modeling and explore new and enhanced EO sensors towards the analysis of big satellite data, in order to develop accurate epidemiological models and contribute to the reduction of the burden of MBDs.

This study estimates the impact of dust aerosols on surface solar radiation and solar energy in Egypt based on Earth Observation (EO) related techniques. For this purpose, we exploited the synergy of monthly mean and daily post processed satellite remote sensing observations from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), radiative transfer model (RTM) simulations utilizing machine learning, in conjunction with 1-day forecasts from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). As cloudy conditions in this region are rare, aerosols in particular dust, are the most common sources of solar irradiance attenuation, causing performance issues in the photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) plant installations. The proposed EO-based methodology is based on the solar energy nowcasting system (SENSE) that quantifies the impact of aerosol and dust on solar energy potential by using the aerosol optical depth (AOD) in terms of climatological values and day-to-day monitoring and forecasting variability from MODIS and CAMS, respectively. The forecast accuracy was evaluated at various locations in Egypt with substantial PV and CSP capacity installed and found to be within 5–12% of that obtained from the satellite observations, highlighting the ability to use such modelling approaches for solar energy management and planning (M&P). Particulate matter resulted in attenuation by up to 64–107 kWh/m2 for global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and 192–329 kWh/m2 for direct normal irradiance (DNI) annually. This energy reduction is climatologically distributed between 0.7% and 12.9% in GHI and 2.9% to 41% in DNI with the maximum values observed in spring following the frequent dust activity of Khamaseen. Under extreme dust conditions the AOD is able to exceed 3.5 resulting in daily energy losses of more than 4 kWh/m2 for a 10 MW system. Such reductions are able to cause financial losses that exceed the daily revenue values. This work aims to show EO capabilities and techniques to be incorporated and utilized in solar energy studies and applications in sun-privileged locations with permanent aerosol sources such as Egypt.

Cyprus plans to drastically increase the share of renewable energy sources from 13.9% in 2020 to 22.9% in 2030. Solar energy can play a key role in the effort to fulfil this goal. The potential for production of solar energy over the island is much higher than most of European territory because of the low latitude of the island and the nearly cloudless summers. In this study, high quality and fine resolution satellite retrievals of aerosols and dust, from the newly developed MIDAS climatology, and information for clouds from CM SAF are used in order to quantify the effects of aerosols, dust, and clouds on the levels of surface solar radiation for 2004–2017 and the corresponding financial loss for different types of installations for the production of solar energy. Surface solar radiation climatology has also been developed based on the above information. Ground-based measurements were also incorporated to study the contribution of different species to the aerosol mixture and the effects of day-to-day variability of aerosols on SSR. Aerosols attenuate 5–10% of the annual global horizontal irradiation and 15–35% of the annual direct normal irradiation, while clouds attenuate 25–30% and 35–50% respectively. Dust is responsible for 30–50% of the overall attenuation by aerosols and is the main regulator of the variability of total aerosol. All-sky annual global horizontal irradiation increased significantly in the period of study by 2%, which was mainly attributed to changes in cloudiness.

Radar Interferometry is a widely used method for estimating ground deformation, as it provides precision to a few millimeters to centimeters, and at the same time, a wide spatial coverage of the study area. On 9 July 1956, one of the strongest earthquakes of the 20th century in the area of the South Aegean, occurred in Amorgos, with a magnitude of Mw = 7.7. The objective of this research is to map ground deformation in Amorgos island, using InSAR techniques. We conducted a multi-temporal analysis of all available data from 2003 to 2019 by exploiting historical ENVISAT SAR imagery, as well as the dense archive of Sentinel-1 SLC imagery. Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PS) and Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) methods were implemented. Results of both data-sets indicate a small-scale deformation on the island. A multi-track analysis was implemented on Sentinel-1 data to decompose the line of sight velocities to vertical and horizontal. The central south coast is experiencing horizontal movement, while uplift of a maximum value of 5 mm/y is observed in the southeastern coast. The combination of the good spatial coverage achievable via InSAR, with GPS measurements, is suggested an important tool for the seamless monitoring of Amorgos island towards tectonic hazard estimation.

Criticality has been proposed as a suitable framework to study the nonlinear system of the Earth's magnetosphere. The magnetic field variations observed by the midlatitude HellENIc GeoMagnetic Array with respect to the most intense magnetic storms (Dst <− 150 nT) of the current solar cycle (i.e., 17 March, 23 June, and 20 December 2015) are analyzed using the method of critical fluctuations. We show that the application of method of critical fluctuation to the HellENIc GeoMagnetic Array time series reveals the existence of intermittency‐induced criticality in the range of 6 to 45 hr prior to the onset of these events. The results suggest that the underlying dynamical processes in the magnetosphere prior to intense magnetic storms present dynamics analogous to those of thermal systems undergoing second‐order phase transition. Our findings demonstrate that the proposed method can be very relevant for the analysis of critical fluctuations in the framework of space systems.