As part of the Air Quality Work Group activities, this workshop will introduce attendees to available Earth observation data supporting air quality research and management, with a focus on capabilities and applications in Africa. This workshop aims to provide tools for accessing and analyzing these data, and will also point to resources for future capacity building.
Part 1 (Presentation of Resources) of this workshop will review the air quality situation in Africa, summarize available sources of Earth observations for air quality, and offer a discussion about the strengths and limitations of different data sources, especially satellite remote sensing data and in-situ monitoring. It will provide an overview of data analysis techniques relevant for air quality research and management, including how to combine in-situ measurement with remote sensing.
Part 2 (Data Access Demonstrations) of this workshop will provide two demonstrations related to data access and analysis. First, we will demonstrate how Google Earth Engine can be used to visualize different types of Earth observation data relevant to understanding air quality and the sources of air pollution. Then, we will demonstrate how remote sensing data can be accessed and analyzed using Python code and Jupyter notebooks.
Audience: Air quality scientists, air quality managers, graduate students, public health officials
Organizers/Contributors: Bertrand Tchanche (Alioune Diop University, Senegal), Carl Malings (NASA GSFC & Morgan State University), Jules Kouatchou (NASA GSFC & SSAI), Patrick Reddy (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Pawan Gupta (NASA GSFC), Junhyeon Seo (NASA GSFC & Morgan State University)
Part 1: Presentation of Resources
Day/Time: January 13, 2026 from 11am-12pm EST (16:00-17:00 UTC)
16:00-16:10: Overview of the air quality situation in Africa (Bertrand Tchanche)
16:10-16:50: Summary of Earth observations for air quality and data analysis approaches (Carl Malings)
16:50-17:00: Presentation on upcoming HAQAST activities for Africa (Pawan Gupta & Junhyeon Seo)
Part 2: Data Access Demonstrations
Day/Time: January 14, 2026 from 11am-12pm EST (16:00-17:00 UTC)
16:00-16:30: Demonstration: Data visualization in Google Earth Engine (Patrick Reddy)
16:30-17:00: Demonstration: Remote sensing data access with Python (Jules Kouatchou)