The F2F course of the EO AFRICA R&D Facility will take place 7-11 April 2025 in Abuja, Nigeria in close collaboration with the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).
This course aims to introduce participants to a wide variety of relevant datasets, platforms and analysis tools to monitor the state and dynamics of agriculture based on satellite Earth Observation data. The training includes face-to-face lecturing combined with reading material to provide the theoretical background. Hands-on exercises will demonstrate the available tools (cloud computing, programming) and provide examples of potential applications of the methods.
Upon completion of this course, the participant will:
- Be aware of both the advantages and limitations of satellite EO data for the purpose of agricultural monitoring.
- Know how to select, access and use the right open-access data and tools for applications related to agricultural monitoring.
- Be able to gain insights into agricultural droughts using low resolution satellite data.
- Derive crop type, phenology, biomass and yield information at parcel scale using high resolution satellite data.
- Understand key crop growth simulation model input variables, such as actual evapotranspiration, and how differing EO platforms can be leveraged to retrieve them.
- Understand the role of digital twins such as crop growth simulation models in assessing agricultural droughts.
- Have practiced the use of open-source software and cloud computing in VREs for image processing.
ABOUT
AGRICULTURAL MONITORING FROM SPACE
CAN I APPLY?
Who can participate?
Space is limited to max. 30 participants. Participants will be selected on the basis of their academic background, work experience and motivation to participate. If you are selected you will receive a confirmation e-mail with further information at March 17, 2025.
Participants should reside in one of the African countries, should have an academic background related to, Agriculture, Food Security, Ecology or similar, and have knowledge of basic Earth Observations techniques and principles. Young researchers in this field are encouraged to apply!
Registration:
Schedule
Each day will consist of morning and afternoon sessions with total duration of 6 hours. The sessions will focus on the introduction to relevant concepts, methods, data, platforms and cloud computing. Theoretical lectures will be intertwined with practical exercises. Participants will be asked to shortly present their own EO related work during the last day.
- Morning session: 9:00 – 12:00 – 3 hours.
- Lunch break: at 12:00 – 13:00.
- Afternoon session: 13:00 – 16:00 – 3 hours.
Certificate of Attendance
All participants who have been actively present during the workshop will be issued a Certificate of Attendance issued by the EO Africa R&D Facility.
Technical requirements
Participants are requested to bring their own (updated) laptop.
It is strongly advised that the participants follow the 2 online courses of the EO AFRICA R&D Space Academy (Principles of and advances in Earth Observation and Cloud Computing and algorithms for EO analyses). Participants will get access to these online coruses upon acceptance for this Face to Face course.
Cost
Attendance to the training course is free of charge.
Participants will need to arrange and pay their own travel, subsistence and accommodation. Lunch and coffee/tea breaks will be provided during the workshop.
For those not living in Abuja the Facility can sponsor for a limited number of participants up to EUR 200 to cover such expenses. Should you want to apply for this funding, please indicate it in the application form. Payment of the 200 Euro (max) will go via bank transfer and will be arranged after completion of the workshop. Candidates which are (partially-)sponsored by NASRDA participants are not eligible for this small travel grant.