Page 50 - CIWA Water Data Revolution Overview Report

to facilitate the use of RS data across the Nile Basin. These case studies underscore the potential
for widespread adoption of RS data and tools to improve water management across Africa.

5.2 Data Platforms and Analytical Tools for Water Management

RS data is available from various sources and space agencies, such as the European Space Agency
(ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in a variety of resolutions
(both temporal and spatial). However, the data must be downloaded and transformed into an
analysis-ready format to be usable in models, tools, or applications for WRM. Users of the raw
RS data must be familiar with working with various data formats, which often requires expertise
in data analysis. In addition, downloading and processing the large-scale data requires substantial
storage and computational capacity. These challenges can inhibit the ability of decision-makers
to access and utilize RS data. Moreover, the procedure for collecting and processing the RS data
must be done continuously for real-time decision-making to occur using the data. This in-depth
process of acquiring the RS data from the source continuously and transforming the RS data into
an analysis-ready format is a critical, necessary function of data products that enables decision-
makers across Africa to utilize RS data.

New data platforms offer open-source data hosting and analysis opportunities. Google Earth
Engine (GEE), for example, is a cloud-based platform providing access to large-scale, geospatial
datasets in analysis-ready formats. The Engine provides users with high performance computing
power necessary for processing and analysing large-scale datasets. A variety of global issues have
been investigated via GEE, such as investigations into the changing rates of deforestation globally
and efforts to characterize global surface water resources over time and space. Digital Earth
Africa (DEA) is another leading operational data product which aims to assist decision-makers in
Africa with accessing current and historical analysis-ready RS data. Similar to GEE, DEA is a cloud-
based platform which provides access to analysis-ready RS data, computational power, and
analytics. Through the Water Observation from Space (WOfS) service, DEA facilitates decision-
makers with mapping the temporal and spatial distribution of water sources across Africa. DEA
also provides decision-makers with analysis tools to assist with understanding various
environmental scenarios, including changes to water quality due to algal blooms and monitoring
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of crop health.
In addition to data platforms (such as GEE and DEA) which are providing access to analysis-ready
data, many organizations are developing analytical tools to translate RS data into information for
decision-making. Table 2 describes differences between data platforms and analytical tools.
Table 2: Comparison of data platforms and analytical tools.
Data Platforms Analytical Tools
Facilitate the collection, storage, and management of Provide analysis of data to achieve specific objectives
RS data. May also transform RS data into analysis- relevant for WRM.
ready formats. Some also offer analytical capacity for
WRM.

12 https://www.digitalearthafrica.org/platform-resources/analysis-tools
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