The Status of Space Weather Infrastructure and Research in Africa

Paul Baki (1) , Babatunde Rabiu (2) , Christine Amory-Mazaudier (3) , Rolland Fleury (4, 5) , Pierre J Cilliers (6) , Joseph Adechinan (7) , Anas Emran (8) , Aziza Bounhir (9) , Claudio Cesaroni (10) , J. Bienvenue Dinga (11) , Patricia Doherty (12) , Idrissa Gaye (13) , Hassen Ghalila (14) , Franck Grodji (15) , John-Bosco Habarulema (6) , Bruno Kahindo (16) , Ayman Mahrous (17) , Honoré Messanga (18) , Patrick Mungufeni (19) , Bruno Nava (20) , Melessew Nigussie (21) , Joseph Olwendo (22) , Patrick Sibanda (23) , René Tato Loua (24) , Jean Uwamahoro (25) , Naima Zaourar (26) , Jean-Louis Zerbo (27)

1 TUK - Technical University of Kenya
2 ARCSSTE-E - African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English
3 LPP - Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas
4 Lab-STICC_PIM - Equipe PIM
5 IMT Atlantique - MO - Département Micro-Ondes
6 SANSA - South African National Space Agency
7 UAC - Université d’Abomey-Calavi = University of Abomey Calavi
8 ,CRASTE-LF - Centre Régional Africain des Sciences et Technologies de l'Espace en Langue Française
9 UCA - Université Cadi Ayyad [Marrakech]
10 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
11 UMNG - Université Marien-Ngouabi [Université de Brazzaville] = Marien Ngouabi University [University of Brazzaville]
12 BC - Boston College
13 UIDT - Université Iba Der Thiam [Thiès]
14 LSAMA - Laboratoire de Spectroscopie Atomique, Moléculaire et Applications
15 Laboratoire des Sciences de la Matière de l'Environnement et de l'Energie Solaire (LASMES), UFR SSMT, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny d'Abidjan, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
16 UNIKIN - University of Kinshasa
17 E-JUST - Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology [Alexandrie]
18 University of Ebolowa
19 Physics Department, Muni University, Arua City
20 ICTP - Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics [Trieste]
21 BDU - Bahir Dar University
22 PU - Pwani University
23 KNUST - Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
24 National Institute of Meteorology, Conakry
25 Department of Mathematics, University of Rwanda, Kigali 4285, Rwanda
26 USTHB - Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumediene = University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene [Alger]
27 UNB - Université Nazi Boni (Bobo-Dioulasso)

Space weather science has been a growing field in Africa since 2007. This growth in infrastructure and human capital development has been accompanied by the deployment of ground-based observing infrastructure, most of which was donated by foreign institutions or installed and operated by foreign establishments. However, some of this equipment is no longer operational due to several factors, which are examined in this paper. It was observed that there are considerable gaps in ground-based space-weather-observing infrastructure in many African countries, a situation that hampers the data acquisition necessary for space weather research, hence limiting possible development of space weather products and services that could help address socio-economic challenges. This paper presents the current status of space weather science in Africa from the point of view of some key leaders in this field, focusing on infrastructure, situation, human capital development, and the research landscape.

Mots clés: space weather infrastructure; space weather capacity building in Africa; space weather infrastructure

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

Paul Baki, Babatunde Rabiu, Christine Amory-Mazaudier, Rolland Fleury, Pierre J Cilliers, et al.. The Status of Space Weather Infrastructure and Research in Africa. Atmosphere, 2023, 14 (12), pp.1791. ⟨10.3390/atmos14121791⟩. ⟨hal-04714607⟩