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Downstream Service/Application Development for Monitoring of Environmental Indicators (Africa)

Point of contact
Hannes Taubenböck
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Münchener Str. 20
82243 Weßling
Phone: +49-8153-282480


The objective of the action was to identify remote sensing-based indicators to be used by researchers, public authorities, decision makers and other stakeholders for evaluating and monitoring the dynamics, locations and types of settlement development in fast growing African cities, as well as to attract new Copernicus users in the African context.

By using the Copernicus Sentinel data, the opportunity is given to have large-area, cost-free and consistent coverage of high-resolution satellite data. In the context of this action, the objective was to identify and define useful parameters and indicators for localizing and characterizing the living environments of the urban poor in African cities.

The work of this action transferred existing conceptual knowledge on the living environments of the urban poor to the African situation. It developed and provided an application based on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data. The application was tested and demonstrated for cities distributed across Africa. The action was guided by the needs of the users and its practical applicability. This was ensured by a thorough analysis of the user requirements and a feedback mechanism during the course of the project. First, a user requirement workshop was organized in the starting phase of the action with stakeholders and users in Africa. This initial workshop gathered the interests of local stakeholders and stimulated an exchange between user communities. A joint conceptual understanding of applications was key to design and develop a transferable approach. Second, a user uptake workshop was organized at the final project phase. Those two-core workshop frame the start and end of the overall user consultation process which was pursued during the entire action lifetime.

The user requirement workshop “Urbanization and Migration: Capabilities of remote sensing for monitoring in Africa” was organized on 24 March 2021. In total, 12 participants from 12 institutions attended the workshop. The programme included both presentations and interactive discussions. Three presentations were made by DLR: (1) an introduction to the main objectives of the Copernicus mission, the products, and future satellite launches, (2) an overview of DLR activities conducted in Africa, and (3) applications of Earth Observation for urbanization and migration, which was used as a basis to discuss at a later stage with the participants potential applications for Africa in the framework of this action, based on their needs and requirements. The discussion on requirements and needs showed that in general, participants were interested in land use/land cover (LULC) change, urban growth and slum mapping, which confirmed that these products and indicators will be a valuable and relevant asset in the African context.

Thereby, based on the suggestions from participants of the user requirement workshop, an application tool has been developed. The aim of the tool is to produce up-to-date geo-information on urban areas in Africa relying on Copernicus Sentinel data, as well as provide users with an operational application that can be executed over time and on several locations. The tool produces high-resolution (10 meter) annual maps of built-up areas in Africa using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data using the full Sentinel archive, which can be applied to monitor urban growth in African cities with high resolution in a straightforward way, a process that has been complex so far.

The tool has been developed as a cloud-based service in Google Earth Engine (GEE); therefore, it does not require neither downloading satellite imagery, specific software, nor needs computing capacity, and can be executed online, facilitating its use. In addition, two other approaches which combine the use of Earth Observation (EO) geo-information with other data sources, such as social media data or refugee camps, were conducted.

Finally, one of the main outputs of the project was the user uptake workshop titled “Monitoring remote sensing-based indicators in fast growing African cities”, which was organized on the 25 April 2023. In total, 42 participants from 33 institutions attended the workshop. The programme included both presentations and user’s feedback on the tool. Three presentations were made by DLR: (1) Copernicus Sentinel data for monitoring African cities: an application concept, (2) Complementing Earth Observation with social media for migration studies in Africa, and (3) Insights into recent remote sensing-based research in Africa. After the presentation of the tool attendees were invited to ask any questions and/or provide their feedback, where the majority agreed that they would use the tool for their practical work and would recommend the tool to others.

Outputs and Results:

  • User requirement workshop
  • Downstream application concept development to support the monitoring of the slum growth of cities
  • Demonstration of feasibility and benefit analysis
  • User uptake workshop