How Africa’s new ‘Eye in the Sky’ is helping governments prepare for disasters

Africa is quietly building one of the world’s most powerful open satellite data platforms, and it is already helping governments predict floods, track crops and monitor water across the continent.

Through the platform run by Digital Earth Africa, policymakers, scientists and businesses can now access more than 6 petabytes of satellite data,  a massive digital archive that translates images from space into practical tools for managing climate change, agriculture and water resources.

The platform, backed by partners including Amazon Web Services, the The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and the Australian Government, has grown rapidly over the past six years. 

Today it serves a community of more than 29,000 users, 6,500 developers and 1,300 trained professionals across Africa.

According to the organisation’s acting managing director and lead scientist, Lisa-Maria Rebelo, the goal is to transform raw satellite imagery into “decision-ready” information.

“Our goal is to empower African communities with knowledge and technology, equipping them with the tools to efficiently manage vital resources,” Rebelo said.

At the heart of the initiative are several continent-wide services that analyse decades of earth-observation data.

One of the most powerful tools is the Coastlines service, which tracks how Africa’s shorelines change over time. 

Using satellite imagery dating back to 2000, the system can identify erosion hotspots and forecast areas at risk from rising sea levels.

The tool proved particularly useful after the 2022 floods in Durban, when authorities used the data to map shoreline changes and guide long-term coastal resilience planning.

Another service, Water Observations from Space, translates satellite imagery into detailed insights about water availability across the continent. Researchers in Botswana used the data to track fluctuations in Lake Ngami, helping guide sustainable water management in the region.

The platform is also transforming how governments monitor agriculture.

Its Cropland Extent Map provides a high-resolution view of where crops are grown across Africa, critical information in a continent where much farming happens on small plots.

Meanwhile, tools like Mean NDVI and Anomalies track vegetation health month by month, allowing experts to predict crop yields and detect early signs of drought.

The data is already being used in wildlife conservation as well. Environmental scientists are combining satellite insights with advanced mapping tools to design wildlife corridors for elephants, helping reduce human-wildlife conflict.

One of the most ambitious services tracks more than 700,000 water bodies across Africa.

The Waterbodies Monitoring Service provides detailed statistics about the size and seasonal changes of lakes, rivers and reservoirs, offering governments critical data for flood risk planning, irrigation management and drought preparedness.

Researchers are even using the information to build a digital twin of the Limpopo Basin, a virtual model that helps simulate water management scenarios before decisions are made on the ground.

Beyond providing data, Digital Earth Africa is developing workflows that allow solutions created in one country to be replicated across others.

“Our continental-scale infrastructure allows us to prototype workflows for one country and then scale them across the continent,” Rebelo explained.

As Africa faces growing climate pressures, from rising sea levels to unpredictable rainfall, the platform is increasingly becoming a key tool for governments seeking data-driven solutions.

Experts say that by making satellite intelligence freely accessible, the initiative is helping close a long-standing data gap that has slowed environmental planning across the continent.

With billions of satellite observations now just a few clicks away, Africa may be entering a new era where decisions about land, water and food security are guided not just by policy, but by evidence from space