World-class environmental research platforms for a sustainable society
South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) is a long-term environmental observation and research facility of the National Research Foundation (NRF). SAEON’s three focus areas are environmental observation, data management and education outreach. The Department of Science and Innovation provides core funding for these activities.
SAEON has a distributed network of seven nodes, three research infrastructures and a national office. The research network covers the major terrestrial and marine ecosystems in South Africa and supports well over 100 researchers and students a year.
Title: The SAEON Terrestrial Observations Monitor: Near-Real-Time Data, System Diagnostics, and Open Access
Presenter: Dr. Marc Pienaar (NRF-SAEON uLwazi Node)
Access to raw, near-real-time environmental data is essential for scientific research, decision-making, and system diagnostics. The ability to retrieve and analyse data as it is recorded enables researchers and technicians to detect trends, respond to environmental changes, refine data pipelines, and develop further systems. The SAEON Terrestrial Observations Monitor was developed to ensure rapid access to raw environmental data while also serving as a diagnostic tool for monitoring the health of automated data collection systems. By tracking data availability, sensor performance, and site maintenance needs, the system strengthens long-term data provisioning and supports the development of data-sharing networks. Developed through a collaboration between SAEON’s uLwazi Node and SAEON and EFTEON technicians, the system ingests, archives, and provides structured access to raw environmental data from LoggerNet-enabled weather stations, flux towers, and terrestrial sites. It operates at three key levels: 1) Near-real-time access & public data availability, 2) System diagnostics & sensor health monitoring and 3) Interoperability & future data integration Built on React, Express.js, and PostgreSQL, its design allows continuous expansion as more monitoring sites and datasets are integrated. The platform is publicly available at https://observationsmonitor.saeon.ac.za/home, with plans for expanded coverage and improved data processing capabilities. Although the system continues to evolve, it provides an adaptable foundation for data provisioning. This talk will explore the importance of real-time data access, how diagnostics improve data provisioning, and how this system shapes the future of SAEON’s data-sharing infrastructure with new and existing global collaborations.
GIS for Educators and Learners: free online learning programme aligned to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements.
Presenters: Kogie Govender, Caitlin Ransom, Keneilwe Hlahane, and Rion Lerm
SAEON encompasses seven Research Nodes throughout South Africa and a National Office that is located in the country’s political capital of Pretoria.
SAEON manages three research infrastructures developed by the Department of Science and Innovation as part of the South African Research Infrastructure Roadmap (SARIR).
EFTEON aims to provide and operate a network of instrumented landscape-level platforms for the South African environmental research community, focused on socially relevant terrestrial landscapes and their coupled hydrological systems.
The SMCRI provides an array of instruments and physical research platforms around the coast of South Africa and its sub-antarctic islands to collect long-term reliable data for scientific research to help decision makers formulate appropriate environmental policies to lessen the risk and vulnerability of the coastal zone to climate and global change.
The SAPRI is designed as a consortium hosted at the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON). The ultimate objective of SAPRI is to enable balanced research growth across the polar disciplines, and to maintain and further expand the world-class long-term observational datasets already established.
SAEON facilitates and conducts research through platforms and these have grown into a diverse array of sites, instruments, infrastructure, datasets, models and staff, widely distributed across both marine and terrestrial environments.
The National Research Foundation (NRF) invites members of the media to the 14th International Conference on Southern Hemisphere Meteorology & Oceanography (ICSHMO) from 31 March to 4 April 2025 @ the Cape Town International Convention Centre
Marine scientists from the NRF-SAEON and NRF-SAIAB as well as other South African institutions* participate in the first leg of the Around Africa Expedition, a collaborative expedition endorsed as a contribution to the United Nations Ocean Decade.
NRF-SAEON hosted its first-ever Employee Recognition Awards, celebrating the achievements of our remarkable team. We would like to congratulate all the awardees for their contributions and excellence.
