Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems to Study Risk Areas of Malaria in Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand

Malaria is still a major health problem in Thailand. The morbidity rate has been reported each year and showed a high infection in the areas where located at Thailand- Myanmar, Malaysia, Lao PDR, and Cambodia borderlines. Ubon Ratchathani province is located at the northeast of Thailand where the area along the Thailand-Cambodia-Lao PDR borderlines. The morbidity rate of malaria in Ubon Ratchathani province has been still reported. This study aim to analyze the risk area of malaria by using the remote sensing. The classification of land used cover by The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The data was overlaid and intersect the maps of value using the extension Spatial Analyst. The results showed that Ubon Ratchathani had the very high risk area where covered 4,014.86 square kilometers. The high, moderate, and low risk areas covered 6,034.42, 3,155.15, and 2,206.06 square kilometers, respectively. The remote sensing model is the good tool to predict the epidemic malaria and this tool could be a valuable to decision, solve a problem, surveillance, and control the malaria in the risk area.