Why Create Locations?

Locations represent where your vector specimens were collected. This geographic information supports population studies and mapping of collection sites.

What You Need:

• Location Name: A descriptive name (e.g., "Kilifi Research Station")
• Coordinates: Latitude and longitude (GPS coordinates)
• Description: Additional details about the collection site

What is Metadata?

Metadata describes the scanning session (instrument settings and collection conditions) for a batch of spectra. Set Specimen scanned to Anopheles or Simulium so the matching model runs. Do not enter predicted age or species labels.

Key Information Required:

Upload spectral files

Now it's time to upload your spectral data files. VectorPredictor supports multiple file formats and can handle multiple files simultaneously.

Supported File Formats:

Quality Check Your Data

Before running predictions, it's important to check the quality of your spectral data. VectorPredictor provides automated quality filters and visualisation tools.

Quality Filters Available:

• Low Intensity: Identifies spectra with insufficient signal
• Abnormal Background: Detects baseline irregularities
• Atmospheric Interference: Finds water vapour contamination

Run predictions

Use trained models to classify spectra according to the specimen you scanned. Anopheles returns age-bin and species labels; Simulium is a PCR pre-screen (Onchocerca-consistent signal). Reported research accuracy was achieved on laboratory specimens; performance on your data may differ. Each result includes model-assigned probabilities or screening scores.

Available predictions:

• Anopheles age & species: Age bins (1–17 day range) and species labels (Deep CNN v9)
• Simulium PCR pre-screen: Onchocerca-consistent signal (Keras cm24_tf; public beta, not production-ready)
• Specimen scanned: Choose the insect before you predict so the matching model runs