Application of radar rainfall estimates for surveillance of Aedes taeniorhynchus larvae

A preliminary investigation of land-based radar rainfall estimates for surveillance of Aedes taeniorhynchus larvae was conducted from January 1 to May 21, 1991 in Collier County, FL. Rainfall estimates from the National Weather Service RADAP II radar system, supplemented with tide gauge data, served as criteria for larval inspection. Rain, rain+tide and tide, respectively, triggered 48, 26 and 26% of the 14 proposed inspection trips. This system detected 7/8 larval broods found by Collier Mosquito Control District surveillance; the only brood not detected consisted of stragglers from an earlier brood exposed to cool weather and methoprene. A QUICKBASIC program that extracts Cartesian coordinates and rainfall estimates from RADAP II B-SCAN data was developed.