Research from a savannah area in Mali shows that satellites can reveal the environmental factors that trigger the biological cycles of both the Plasmodium falciparum parasite and its host the Anopheles mosquito. Remote sensing data of vegetation accurately predicted climate trends affecting both the parasite and the mosquito and could therefore forecast the severity of a malaria outbreak.

The risk of Plasmodium falciparum infection is variable over space and time and this variability is related to environmental variability. Environmental factors affect the biological cycle of both vector and parasite. Despite this strong relationship, environmental effects have rarely been included in malaria transmission models.