Seven Zambian institutions have identified practical ways to apply satellite data to national priorities, following a four-day capacity-building workshop delivered by Digital Earth Africa and Zambia\u2019s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC). The proposed projects range from monitoring water quality along the Kafue River to tracking land degradation, mapping ecological change and strengthening agricultural forecasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Held virtually from 21 to 24 September 2026, the workshop comprised daily three-hour sessions and attracted more than 80 registered participants from government agencies and universities. Participants represented organisations including the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), the Zambia Meteorological Department, the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats), the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU), the University of Zambia (UNZA), the University of Lusaka (UNILUS), Copperbelt University and Rusangu University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The training builds on the partnership between DE Africa and NRSC Zambia designed around Zambia\u2019s priorities in agriculture, water management, land degradation and disaster risk reduction, with a focus on helping institutions access and analyse satellite data for their own work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Applying satellite data to national priorities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Participants began by exploring satellite sensors, analysis-ready data and the Open Data Cube technology that powers DE Africa. They worked with GeoMAD, DE Africa Maps and the DE Africa Sandbox, and learned how to connect DE Africa services with their own geographic information system (GIS) software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Agriculture-focused sessions introduced participants to the 10-metre Cropland Extent Map, Fractional Cover, Mean NDVI Climatologies and Enhanced Vegetation Index composites. These datasets can help users examine crop health, growth stages and seasonal patterns in rainfed and irrigated systems. In Sandbox Jupyter notebooks, participants extracted time-series data and calculated vegetation statistics for farmland around Mazabuka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Water sessions focused on using Water Observations from Space to examine historical flooding and the Waterbodies tool to track changes in surface area. Participants also explored Sentinel-2 band ratios to estimate turbidity and chlorophyll-a. A case study on the Kafue River and Basin brought these methods together, with participants analysing past flood events and exporting water-body outlines for hydrological reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seven proposed projects put learning into practice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the final day, institutions used DE Africa\u2019s Use Case Submission Framework to propose projects they will develop with technical support and mentoring from the programme:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The projects are proposed applications, rather than completed studies. Their next stage will be supported by DE Africa technical mentors, helping participating institutions continue developing their analyses beyond the workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Building on the training<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Participants highlighted the practical value of the Sandbox notebooks and the availability of free, open satellite data, which can reduce cost barriers for institutions. They also said the training reflected environmental and agricultural challenges they encounter in their work. Some participants found the live coding difficult to follow step by step and requested more hands-on practice. Future sessions will therefore include slower, guided walkthroughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n