Assessment of ecological conditions associated with the 1980/81 desert locust plague upsurge in West Africa using environmental satellite data

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor were analysed to document the vegetation biomass dynamics associated with the regional desert-locust upsurge in West Africa during 1980/81, which affected an area of some 600 000 km2 in Mali, Niger and Algeria. Comparisons were made among locust population survey reports, rainfall records from eighteen stations in the same area, and the satellite data in vegetation index format. The satellite-recorded temporal and spatial distributions of desert vegetation biomass were closely correlated with both the locust population surveys and the available rainfall data. An attempt was made to develop a quantitative relationship between a satellite-derived potential breeding activity factor (PBAF) and the observed desert locust populations. Analysis of the multitemporal satellite data set indicates that, had the NOAA/AVHRR vegetation index data been operationally available in June 1980, effective preventive control measures would have only been necessary for an area of 600 km2.