DMCii Helps ASAL In Predicting The Spread Of Locust Plagues Across North Africa

The Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) is reportedly getting some help from the DMC International Imaging (DMCii) in predicting the spread of locust plagues across North Africa.

With locust plagues threatening to decimate crops and endanger the countries’ food, the satellite imagery that DMCii is providing helps a lot in predicting the locations of locust breeding grounds through assessing vegetation conditions.

“The use of satellite imagery has helped us in the past, during the invasion period, to identify and control areas at risk of locust swarms,” said the International Cooperation Director of the Algerian Space Agency, Karim Houari. “This year, in terms of locust risk prediction in remission period, we used DMCii data for the ecological assessment of locust breeding areas (biotopes). It is an important contribution for the rationalisation of local response and to reduce damage of this destructive phenomenon.”

“The ability to get timely imagery of large areas is vital because locust swarms can develop quickly and travel about 100 kms a day. Our 650 kms-wide images allow large areas of land, spanning multiple countries, to be rapidly monitored, helping the local authorities combat locust swarms before they can migrate across the continent,” DMCii Director of Sales and Marketing, Paul Stephens said.

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