Environmental Monitoring Hub opens in West Africa

A new environmental monitoring program has been launched in West Africa to improve space-based observations in the management of climate-sensitive issues facing Africa.

The environmental monitoring program, called SERVIR-West Africa, was formally opened by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID.

SERVIR-West Africa, which is based in Niamey, Niger Republic, is one of the four NASA-USAID sponsored centers operating in developing regions of the world.

The SERVIR center is the newest facility for a growing global community of scientists and decision-makers who are using publicly available data from space to manage climate-sensitive issues, such as food security, water resources, land use change and natural disasters.

According to NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden, who took part in the facility’s official opening on Thursday, "NASA is deeply committed to Earth science and the value it provides people around the globe.

Bolden said that "Together with USAID, we are continuing the effort to bring space-based science down to Earth for real time, real world uses that are changing people’s lives where they live."

Also the Director of USAID’s West Africa Regional Office, Alex Deprez, explained that SERVIR-West Africa will engage scientists across the region to partner with one another to address the greatest challenges in the region.

SERVIR is a joint NASA-USAID development initiative that operates internationally in partnership with leading regional organizations to train developing countries in the use of data from space to become better stewards of the planet and its resources, while also meeting the societal needs. Programs in each region focus on issues and needs most critical to their local populations.

Culled from NASA

Edited by Nahimat