Building JONAM: Using Copernicus Earth Observation Data to Help Restore Lake Victoria's Fisheries

"What if satellite data could help protect the livelihoods of millions who depend on Africa's largest lake?" Our team JONAM had the privilege of participating in the Kijani Space Hackathon, where we proudly secured 3rd place while tackling Challenge 2: Sustainable Fisheries & Blue Economy. Rather than building another dashboard, we wanted to solve a real problem affecting millions of people around Lake Victoria: declining fish stocks caused by worsening water quality. Lake Victoria supports millions of people through fishing, transportation, agriculture, and tourism. However, over the years the lake has experienced: Increasing water pollution Poor water quality Frequent algal blooms Reduced fish breeding habitats Declining fish populations For fishing communities, these are not just environmental issues—they directly affect livelihoods, food security, and local economies. Our question became: Can Earth observation data help communities understand where water conditions are becoming unsuitable for fish before the problem becomes critical? Our Solution: JONAM JONAM is an AI-powered web application that combines satellite-derived environmental data with machine learning to monitor water quality and provide insights into conditions that may contribute to declining fish stocks. Instead of relying solely on manual sampling—which is expensive and only covers small areas—our platform continuously analyses satellite observations covering the entire lake. Why Copernicus? To build JONAM, we integrated the KijaniBox API, which provides access to environmental datasets from the Copernicus Programme. Copernicus is the European Union's Earth observation programme. It uses a constellation of Sentinel satellites together with in-situ observations to monitor Earth's atmosphere, land, and oceans. For our project, we focused specifically on live water telemetry variables available through the KijaniBox platform. Water Temperature Satellites measure the thermal radiation emitted from th