Commentary: AfriqAir’s Mission Towards Cleaner Air for Africa and a Call to Action

Weathering Saharan dust beyond the Spanish Mediterranean Basin: An interdisciplinary dialogue

“…There is comparatively less monitoring infrastructure on the ground in North and Central Africa, with South Africa receiving some coverage via SAAQIS, 1 though the situation is changing with sensor networks like AfriqAir in Ghana set up in 2020 (Giordano and Jaramillo, 2021). Atmospheric scientist Eloise Marais informed me that satellite observations show where pollution hotspots are and it is possible to parse the atmosphere for the “unique signal” of dust from the Sahara, detecting where dust clouds came from (back trajectory models) and where they are going (forecasting).…”

To Share or Not To Share? Academic Incentives May Hamper Public Good

“…Supporting local knowledge and open data access in such communities is already demonstrated in monitoring efforts around the world, including AfriqAir, GHAir, SAMOSA, , and Belmont (Ohio, United States), as well as in open-access publishing, such as the new PLOS policy on inclusion in global research. Encouraging the publishing of locally generated data sets in the appropriate repositories also builds research capacity, increases the visibility of contributions from the Global South contributions, and broadens the pathway to gain citations for those contributions . We also recognize the importance of source apportionment applications and discussions about health and policy implications, which requires genuine partnerships with experts in these areas.…”

“…Encouraging the publishing of locally generated data sets in the appropriate repositories also builds research capacity, increases the visibility of contributions from the Global South contributions, and broadens the pathway to gain citations for those contributions. 1 We also recognize the importance of source apportionment applications and discussions about health and policy implications, which requires genuine partnerships with experts in these areas. Partnerships can provide the necessary reference instruments and filter-based monitoring that is necessary for source apportionment.…”

“…We continue to support ongoing efforts to promote knowledge transfer among Global South, underserved, or underresourced communities. Supporting local knowledge and open data access in such communities is already demonstrated in monitoring efforts around the world, including AfriqAir, GHAir, SAMOSA, , and Belmont (Ohio, United States), as well as in open-access publishing, such as the new PLOS policy on inclusion in global research. Encouraging the publishing of locally generated data sets in the appropriate repositories also builds research capacity, increases the visibility of contributions from the Global South contributions, and broadens the pathway to gain citations for those contributions .…”

Editorial: The powerful potential of low-cost sensors for air quality research in Africa

“…These three commentaries highlight studies where LCS are being used for higher spatial and temporal resolution monitoring for later comparison with satellite data and models (Giordano and Jaramillo, 2021), for public awareness and stakeholder engagement for pollution mitigation (Sewor et al 2021), and epidemiological studies and investigating household air pollution (Wernecke et al 2021). The efforts highlighted here are focused on measuring ambient particulate matter mass concentrations (PM); however, it is important to note that other pollutants, especially ozone (O 3 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), are also major environmental concerns.…”