Space-based technologies for climate change management in Africa

Abstract:

Climate change management is the sum total of policy decisions, and technical developments and actions needed to address problems resulting from rising sea levels, temperature changes, precipitation changes and extreme climatic events. It also includes the infrastructural capabilities and capacities such as ecosystems, energy, water, food security, human health, settlement, and society, needed to achieve sustainable socio-economic development. Space-based assets such as satellites can positively impact climate change management at every phase - from monitoring and prediction to mitigation and adaptation - by providing data that enables better informed decision-making with regards to socio-economic conditions, climate process drivers, climate change indicators, and impacts and vulnerability. The focus of this study is the African continent because of its known high vulnerability to climate change. Africa is an agrarian economy with inadequate monitoring infrastructure, poor data harvesting, and low adaptive capacity, as well as poor techniques for prediction and mitigation. Improvements in these conditions will let policy professionals and key decision makers more accurately weigh the value of their actions and inactions. This paper discusses these tools and the conditions necessary for effective climate change management in Africa.