Sample A: Cover Page of Thesis, Project, or Dissertation Proposal

2.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Based on the literature review provided in the preceding sections, the research
objectives of this dissertation are:
1) To identify potential RVF competent vectors in Virginia.
A comprehensive review of RVF vector competency studies will be accomplished. The
bioecology of RVF vectors with known distributions in Virginia will be summarized.
2) To develop a Virginia mosquito surveillance database.
Since the presence, distribution and abundance of vectors are critical factors in the risk of
spread of any introduced mosquito-borne disease, mosquito surveillance data in sampled
areas of Virginia will be analyzed and summarized. The database will aid the state in future
studies of mosquito-borne diseases and in allocation of resources to areas with larger
mosquito populations and potentially greater vector-borne disease risk.
3) To evaluate the correlation between mosquito density in Virginia and the Normalized
Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and other environmental and climatic attributes.
As discussed in Section 2.3, NDVI is particularly useful for landscape level study of
populations since the index captures the combined effects of several climatic variables
(temperature, humidity, elevation, soils, land-use, and precipitation) that influence vegetation
and the prevalence and distribution of vectors that transmit disease (Linthicum et al. 2007).
High NDVI values reflect increases in vegetation greenness or greenness anomalies
associated with rainfall and warmth which affect mosquito populations. Spatial and temporal
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