As part of its mandate to build capacity and foster synergies in the realm of Earth observation, RCMRD in partnership with Digital Earth Africa (DEA), under Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) and Africa project, has encouraged knowledge transfer through online training course on the DEA platform.
Four young people during their internship under GMES and Africa successfully completed an online training on 'Introduction to Sandbox' https://learn.digitalearthafrica.org. This has provided the interns with a unique opportunity to access Digital Earth Africa's continental analysis-ready data (ARD) and a suite of continental services, including 'Water Observation from Space.' With the acquired skills, they supported the GMES and Africa program, notably in the services of Land Degradation Monitoring and Assessment, as well as Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment.
In their words,
Catherine Nanjala, ‘This project has had a profound impact on my professional growth, expanding my skills in the field. I have gained valuable hands-on experience with technologies and tools used for analysis. By leveraging Google Earth Engine and Digital Earth Africa, I have been able to delve into extensive satellite and geospatial data analysis, significantly enhancing my technical abilities.
Kerich Denis, 'I underwent a comprehensive training on utilizing the Digital Earth Africa sandbox with the Python programming language, and I've since leveraged these newfound skills to actively monitor and evaluate wetland ecosystems. The combination of the extensive datasets accessible through Digital Earth Africa and the analytical capabilities of Python has empowered me to explore the intricacies of wetland ecosystems, providing me with invaluable insights into their dynamic nature. I'm enthusiastic about the prospect of continuing my work and continually improving the methodologies and tools at my disposal to make a substantive contribution to the ongoing endeavors in wetland conservation and land degradation monitoring across Eastern and Southern African'.
Willy Sibomana, ‘the valuable opportunity has exposed me to new knowledge and technical skills in Earth Observation, specifically utilizing DEA and GEE, which I had not previously acquired. These tools enable me to effectively map resources for development through the application of GIS and Remote Sensing.’.
Mary Isabella Okoth- ‘Under GMES and Africa, I was delegated to collate, publish and manage various geospatial datasets, ensuring their accuracy, currency and accessibility within the GMES and Africa Geoportal. This helped in the creation of a comprehensive, reliable and up to date geoinformation repository. Trainings on cloud-computing platforms such as Digital Earth Africa and Google Earth Engine helped me gain an understanding of the significance of Earth Observations, exploring the available datasets and implementation of python and JavaScript for processing and analyzing remotely sensed data.
