Consider an oriented manifold $X$. To calculate its Euler characteristic, one might integrate the Euler class. Now if $X$ were a complex manifold, and given as a section of some complex bundle $E$ over $Y$, we would have

$\chi(X) = \int\limits_X \mbox{ } c_* (TY) / c_* (E)$

where $c_*(\cdot)$ is the total Chern class.

Can anything of the sort be said if $X$ is a real manifold?

Presumably, if one wants only the mod-2 Euler characteristic modulo 2, one can use the Stiefel-Whitney classes instead of the Chern classes. On the other hand, it seems to me that the topology of $TY$ and $E$ as bundles over $Y$ cannot suffice to carry the information of the Euler characteristic of the zero locus of a section of $E$. So I guess what I'm really asking is:

What should I know about a section $\sigma:Y\to E$ in order to know the Euler number of its intersection with the zero section, assuming this is transverse?

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Consider an oriented manifold $X$. To calculate its Euler characteristic, one might integrate the Euler class. Now if $X$ were a complex manifold, and given as a section of some complex bundle $E$ over $Y$, we would have

$\chi(X) = \int\limits_X \mbox{ } c_* (TY) / c_* (E)$

Can anything of the sort be said if $X$ is a real manifold?

Presumably, if one wants only the mod-2 Euler characteristic, one can use the Stiefel-Whitney classes instead of the Chern classes. On the other hand, it seems to me that the topology of $TY$ and $E$ as bundles over $Y$ cannot suffice to carry the information of the Euler characteristic of the zero locus of a section of $E$. So I guess what I'm really asking is: