Google Cloud Powers Local Mosquito Forecast

<p>Google Cloud is teaming up with SC Johnson to power its national mosquito forecast by zip code for its OFF&excl; repellent brand&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mosquitoes can infect more than <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;sciencedirect&period;com&sol;science&sol;article&sol;pii&sol;B9780128123652000032" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener" data-analytics-onclick&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;event&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;page interaction&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;category&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;in-article links&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;action&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;link click&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;label&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;sciencedirect&period;com&sol;science&sol;article&sol;pii&sol;B9780128123652000032&quot&semi;&rcub;">700 million people a year<&sol;a> with dangerous diseases like Zika&comma; Malaria&comma; Dengue Fever&comma; and Yellow Fever&period; Prevention is the best protection&comma; and stopping mosquito bites before they happen is a critical step&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p data-block-key&equals;"8eu0q">Google Cloud has teamed up with one of the leading pest control brands&comma; OFF&excl;&comma; to develop a new publicly available&comma; predictive model of when and where mosquito populations are emerging nationwide&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p data-block-key&equals;"buv05">As the planet warms and weather changes&comma; OFF&excl; noticed month-to-month and year-to-year fluctuations in consumer habits at a regional level&comma; due to changes in mosquito populations&period; Because of these rapid changes&comma; it’s difficult for people to know when to protect themselves&period; The <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;off&period;com&sol;en&sol;mosquitoforecast" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener" data-analytics-onclick&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;event&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;page interaction&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;category&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;in-article links&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;action&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;link click&quot&semi;&comma;&quot&semi;label&quot&semi;&colon;&quot&semi;https&colon;&sol;&sol;off&period;com&sol;en&sol;mosquitoforecast&quot&semi;&rcub;">OFF&excl;Cast Mosquito Forecast<&sol;a>&comma; built on Google Cloud and available now&comma; will predict mosquito outbreaks across the United States&comma; helping communities protect themselves from both the nuisance of mosquitoes and the dangers of mosquito-borne diseases — with the goal of expanding to other markets&comma; like Brazil and Mexico&comma; in the near future&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p data-block-key&equals;"ykmjo">OFF&excl;Cast Mosquito Forecast is the world’s first public technology platform that predicts and shares mosquito abundance information&period; By applying data that is informed by the science of mosquito biology&comma; OFF&excl;Cast accurately predicts mosquito behavior and mosquito populations in specific geographical locations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p data-block-key&equals;"be34n">Starting now&comma; anyone can easily explore OFF&excl;Cast on a desktop or mobile device and get their local seven-day mosquito forecast for any zip code in the continental United States&period; People can also sign up to receive a weekly forecast&period; To make this forecasting tool as helpful as possible&comma; OFF&excl; modeled its user interface after popular weather apps&comma; a familiar frame of reference for consumers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p data-block-key&equals;"b1ru3">To create this first-of-its-kind forecast&comma; OFF&excl; stood up a secure and production-scale Google Cloud Platform environment and tapped into Google Earth Engine&comma; our cloud-based geospatial analysis platform that combines satellite imagery and geospatial data with powerful computing to help people and organizations understand how the planet is changing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p data-block-key&equals;"4f8j8">The OFF&excl;Cast Mosquito Forecast is the result of multiple data sources coming together to provide consumers with an accurate view of mosquito activity&period; First&comma; Google Earth Engine extracts billions of individual weather data points&period; Then&comma; a scientific algorithm co-developed by the SC Johnson Center for Insect Science and Family Health and Climate Engine experts translates that weather data into relevant mosquito information&period; Finally&comma; the collected information is put into the model and distilled into a color-coded&comma; seven-day forecast of mosquito populations&period; The model is applied to the lifecycle of a mosquito&comma; starting from when it lays eggs to when it could bite a human&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;