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Geospatial Climate and Health Intelligence Platform

Welcome to the PALs Portal

The PALs Portal is an evolving climate-health data science and training platform. It brings together research pipelines, exposure models, analytic workflows, data resources and learning materials into one accessible space. Use the portal to discover, learn, run and reuse climate-health tools emerging from our research — whether you are a researcher, trainee, data scientist, policymaker or decision-maker working to turn climate and environmental evidence into public health action.

Tools & Platforms
HE²AT Centre
Environmental Exposure Catalogue

An open platform for researchers to explore 35+ environmental exposure variables shaping the health of mothers and newborns across Sub-Saharan Africa. The reference inventory for climate-and-health analysis in the region — environmental data only, personal health information excluded.

9 Countries 74K+ Participants Heat & Health Climate
View Catalogue
PRECISE Network
Environmental & Social Determinants of Maternal Health

An open geospatial catalogue mapping the environmental and social determinants of maternal health across three PRECISE sites (health outcome data included), with a built-in AI assistant to query the participant dataset directly — linking place to maternal outcomes.

Kenya Mozambique The Gambia GIS Maternal Health
View Catalogue
Climate & Maternal Health
Landscape Fire Smoke & Pregnancy Risk

Maps daily landscape-fire smoke (PM₂.₅) across Africa and links it to pregnancy risk — turning satellite fire and smoke signals into an exposure measure for maternal health. An openly available view of wildfire smoke and pregnancy at continental scale.

Wildfire Smoke PM₂.₅ Africa-wide Maternal Health
Open Dashboard
Geospatial Analysis
Africa Road Network Density

Africa-wide H3 hexagon map of road density from OpenStreetMap — a continent-scale proxy for traffic-related air-pollution exposure at ~5 km². An openly available layer of its kind for the whole continent.

H3 Res 7 OpenStreetMap Africa-wide
Open Map
Geospatial Analysis
Africa Road Proximity

Distance to the nearest highway and major road for every H3 cell in Africa, with population-weighted admin summaries — a ready proxy for traffic pollution and road access. Continent-wide and openly available.

H3 Res 7 WorldPop Africa-wide
Open Map
Tools
CHEAQI-MNCH
SPECTRA

Turns raw GPS tracks and wearable-sensor readings into personal, minute-by-minute environmental exposure — indoors vs outdoors, where and when. Makes individual exposure measurable in African epidemiology, not just modelled.

R Shiny GPS Trajectory Wearable Sensors
Open App
CHEAQI-MNCH
GIPEX

Generates satellite-derived exposure indicators — surface heat, NO₂, PM₂.₅, vegetation, built-up intensity and night-lights — for any study area lacking ground monitors. Puts exposure science within reach where no monitoring network exists.

Satellite-derived Air Pollution Earth Engine
Open App
HarmonAIze
Geolocation Validation

AI-assisted geocoding and coordinate validation that turns messy facility and address records into research-ready locations. Built for the low-resource settings where reliable geocoding is otherwise out of reach.

AI-assisted Geolocation Open Source
Open App
Geospatial Extraction
PALSearth

Point-and-extract environmental data for any location and date — NDVI, land-surface temperature, rainfall, elevation, soil and more, delivered analysis-ready. Puts continental Earth-observation data one click from a coordinate list.

Earth Engine Climate Africa
Open PALSearth
Zimbabwe Programme
Zimbabwe Address Database (ZAD)

A geocoding registry built from our Zimbabwe fieldwork, turning addresses and facility records into research-ready coordinates. Documentation and open access are on the way.

Coming Soon Geocoding Zimbabwe
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Data Access
PostgreSQL · API Token
Big Table API Access

Request a personal API token for programmatic access to the PALs Lab research database — authenticated queries against the PRECISE Big Table from the Hub, notebooks, or any HTTP client.

API Token PostgreSQL Authentication
Request Access
DuckDB · High-Speed
Fast Query Access (DuckDB)

Fast in-process analytical access to the PRECISE Big Table via DuckDB. Receive a Python or R connection snippet ready for your PALSlab notebook — designed for large queries across ~3.2M records.

DuckDB Python / R 3.2M Records
Request Access
Workflow
PALs Lab
PALSlab Hub

The shared analytical environment for the PALs Lab research group — Python and R kernels, pre-loaded libraries, shared data directories, and direct database connectivity for collaborative analysis.

JupyterHub Python R Shared Workspace
Open Hub
Courses
Free · Certificate
GeoAI for Climate, Environment & Health

A free, open-enrolment course on geospatial data science, satellite-derived environmental exposures, and AI-powered data querying — built around real Zimbabwe DHS 2015 birth records. ~3 hours, self-paced, across 6 browser-based notebooks, no local setup or prior GIS experience required.

42 learners have completed this course
6 Modules Jupyter Notebooks No Setup Required
Enrol Now
Free · Certificate
Health Geography — A Short Course

How geography mediates health outcomes and disease patterns — from disaggregating health data in space to designing more precise, locally-tailored public health interventions. Built on PALs' own published research.

916 learners across 4 continents have completed this course
2 Hours Certificate at 80% Global Health Network
Access Course
Free · Certificate
Geographical Access in Healthcare

How GIS is used to quantify spatial access to care, measure disparities across populations, and support evidence-based health service planning.

340 learners across 4 continents have completed this course
50 Minutes Certificate at 80% Global Health Network
Access Course
Our Team
Tendai Shangwa Perkins Watambwa
Collaborators & Partners

Place Alert Labs works with research institutions, implementation partners and funders across Africa and beyond to build and sustain this open data and research infrastructure.

Research & Implementation Partners
PRECISE Network DS-I Africa IBM Research CSAG University of the Witwatersrand CeSHHAR Zimbabwe King's College London University of British Columbia CISM African Academy of Sciences AREF Midlands State University Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Funders
US National Institutes of Health Wellcome Trust Gates Foundation UKRI / GCRF Grand Challenges Canada Google
Get in touch

Interested in collaborating, accessing data, or learning more about our research? Reach out to the Place Alert Labs team — we'll get back to you directly.

Profiles & Contact