Sizing up human health through remote sensing: uses and misuses

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Geospatial Science
• Public Health Informatics

Background:

• Remote sensing (RS) has been utilized in human health research for 30 years, with increasing image availability and quality.
• Despite theoretical potential, practical applications of RS in health are limited by technical complexities and model development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct an exhaustive review of RS applications in human health.
• To highlight the current limitations and underutilization of RS in health research.
• To discuss the potential of RS for human health and guide health scientists in data selection and analysis.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of RS applications in human health.
• Analysis of health issues, remotely sensed data, and interpretation processes.
• Identification of barriers hindering RS implementation in health.

Main Results:

• RS is underutilized in health research due to technical barriers and inappropriate data selection (price, availability over suitability).
• Integration of RS-derived environmental variables with other geospatial data for health investigations is often oversimplified.
• Current RS applications do not fully leverage available high-resolution and spectral data for health issues.

Conclusions:

• Fundamental barriers impede the full implementation of RS in health applications.
• Health scientists require guidance on selecting relevant RS data and analysis procedures for spatial-temporal health dynamics.
• Overcoming technical and data-related challenges is crucial to realize the expected potential of RS in public health.