Tiger Mosquito Climatic Season Length
Background Information
The Tiger Mosquito Climatic Season Length index is relevant to human health. The tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is an invasive species from south-east Asia favoured by a warmer climate and represents a serious threat as it transmits vector-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya. Environmental factors, among which weather conditions, affect both the potential presence and seasonal activity of the tiger mosquito.
A higher value indicates a longer season and thus a higher risk to human health.
Definition
The season length of the climatic suitability of tiger mosquito presence (Days). The Tiger mosquito's climatic suitability seasonal presence is determined by temperature thresholds and hours of sunlight (photoperiod) during spring (when egg hatching occurs) and autumn (a period of suspended development or diapause). In spring the temperature should be above 10.5°C and the photoperiod above 11.25 hours and in autumn the temperature should be below 9.5°C and the photoperiod below 13.5 hours. The latter is conditioned by the ability of the mosquito to survive the winter combined with a threshold on annual rainfall. Survival conditions are considered as unsuitable for January temperatures below 0°C and annual rainfall below 500 mm.
Data Sources
The data was assembled on behalf of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) based on climate projections hosted on the C3S Climate Data Store (CDS). The Index is calculated from a set of eight bias-corrected multi-model simulations from the EURO-CORDEX experiment. These simulations have a spatial resolution of 0.11° x 0.11°, a daily output, and cover scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The data covers the period 1971 to 2099 and statistics are averaged for 30 years in overlapping time periods of 10 years apart. Finally, the time series are averaged for the model ensemble. More information about the dataset can be found in the corresponding CDS documentation resources.
Supporting Information
Further information about this application can be found in the Product User Guide (PUG) of the application in the documentation resources of the CDS. Related information can also be found on other sections of the EEA site:
- Vector-borne diseases and climate change: a European perspective (link).
Data download
The aggregated data shown on the map can be downloaded as csv files.
Visualisation and Navigation
The application has an interactive map on the left side with a set of drop down menus to select the regions (NUTS, Transnational regions or Europe Zones), the time span and the emission scenario (RCP4.5 or RCP8.5). By clicking on the map, a scrolling panel appears on the right side displaying interactive plots corresponding to spatial and temporal averages over the selected region. Hover over the plots to see the values.
Content in the European Climate Data Explorer pages is delivered by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented by ECMWF. Disclaimer