Enabling Data Access for Environmental Monitoring: SERVIR West Africa

SERVIR is a join effort between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development to form regional partnerships and bring satellite-based earth monitoring and geographic information technologies to bear on environmental issues. The recently established SERVIR node for West Africa aims to "connect space to villages" and enable response to environmental change at the national and local level through partnering with a network of organizations in the region. Comprehensive services—data streams, analysis methods and algorithms, and information products for decision making—to support environmental monitoring of five critical issues identified by West African network members are being designed and developed: ephemeral water, charcoal production, locusts, groundwater, and land use/land cover change. Additionally, climate change information is critical for planning and context in each of these issues. The selection of data and methods is a collaborative effort, with experts in the region working with experts at NASA and the scientific community to best meet information monitoring requirements. Design and delivery of these services requires capacity development in a number of areas, including best practices in data management, analysis methods for combining multiple data streams, and information technology infrastructure. Two research centers at Columbia University are implementing partners for SERVIR West Africa, acting to support capacity development in network members through a combination of workshops, training, and implementation of technologies in the region. The presentation will focus on efforts by these centers to assess current capabilities and improve capacity through gathering requirements, system design, technology selection, technology deployment, training, and workshops.