Satellite Data: Visualizing Air Pollution and Socioeconomic Inequality
From March 6 to 11, 2025, the European statistics bureau Eurostat organized the fifth European Big Data Hackathon in Brussels. A total of 28 teams from various EU countries participated in this event. CBS also participated with a team of three researchers. They won the first prize for their research to create a dashboard using satellite data, illustrating the relationship between air pollution and socioeconomic inequality in the Netherlands and Slovenia.Air pollution is a major global issue. In 2021, 8.1 million people died prematurely due to it. This is according to the report State of Global Air, to which UNICEF contributed. Approximately 300,000 people die annually on the European continent, despite various EU policy measures. For the organizers of the European Big Data Hackathon, this was a reason to have various teams from EU statistical offices investigate this problem using advanced satellite data from organizations such as the European Space Agency ESA and the Copernicus Earth observation program, which studies our planet and the environment.
Dashboard
Shaya van Houdt works in the Environmental Accounts team at CBS and studied ecology and nature management. She also studied Conservation Management of African Ecosystems at the University of Glasgow. Van Houdt conducted research in the UK and Africa. Since March 2023, she has been working at CBS. This was her first time participating in a hackathon. How did she prepare with her team? We didnt know in advance what our assignment would be. However, we brainstormed twice about how we could approach an assignment. On Thursday, March 6, we arrived in Brussels and received a presentation in which the assignment was mentioned. We had to create a dashboard from an existing statistic or a completely new statistic, using satellite data. We focused on improving an existing statistic from the European Environment Agency.
Specializations
Chris Lam was also part of the CBS team that participated in the European Hackathon. He studied Technical Informatics at TU Eindhoven. After an internship at the Methodology department of CBS in Heerlen, he applied for a vacancy at the same department and started working there. I mainly focus on ICT and artificial intelligence for innovating statistical processes, for example, in the field of primary observation. This was also Lams first time signing up for a hackathon. We had a good team. Everyone has their specialization, and based on those specializations, we divided the tasks before the hackathon. That worked very well. The first two days—from 8:00 AM to 2:00 AM—we brainstormed and experimented intensively, but then it turned out that our idea already existed. After that, we had to quickly come up with a new concept.
Better Policy Making
Athithya Loganathan is from India. After his masters in Geo-information Sciences and Earth Observation at TU Twente, he started working in January 2023 in the region and space team at CBS. There, he works with the Geographic Base Register and is involved in GEOS-subsidized statistical projects, aimed at creating the Land Use Database. He has a lot of experience participating in hackathons. I have participated several times in the past, including hackathons from NASA and Copernicus. I love the idea of brainstorming about societal problems and coming up with solutions. The question is: how can we make better policy using data?
Air Inequity Dashboard
During the European Hackathon, Loganathan and his two colleagues investigated the relationship between air pollution and several socioeconomic factors for the Netherlands and Slovenia. Using data from the TROPOMI sensor aboard the Sentinel-5P satellite of Copernicus, we mapped the air pollution situation in our country and Slovenia. We also used Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures per NUTS 3 region (NUTS 3 is a European regional division that corresponds to the forty COROP areas in the Netherlands, ed.). We wanted to see if there was a connection between air quality and GDP. The question was: do regions with a higher GDP have better air quality and vice versa? We wanted to display this connection in a dashboard, the so-called Air Inequity Dashboard.
Deterioration of Health
The Air Inequity Dashboard shows the unequal impact of air pollution on the population, for example, on health per region. Van Houdt: Air pollution is an invisible threat. We have discovered that it not only affects the environment and nature, but it is also a social problem. Despite various EU policies—think of the Zero Pollution Action Plan 2030—for cleaner air and a fairer distribution of burdens, we see that especially lower-income groups are affected. They often live near industries or busy roads, contributing to the deterioration of their health.
High Quality and Innovative Submissions
A total of 28 teams participated in the Eurostat Hackathon. The level was high, and the submissions were innovative. The independent jury of the European Hackathon was very impressed with the CBS teams performance. Lam: There were five criteria on which the work was assessed: relevance to specific policy goals, methodological clarity, innovative approach, replicability, and communication. We scored the highest in all these areas. That ensured we won the first prize. The CBS team was surprised by this award; they did not expect it. When they returned to the CBS offices in The Hague and Heerlen after the Hackathon, it was immediately clear that everyone found it a great achievement. Lam: There was cake and many congratulations! Van Houdt and Loganathan were also overwhelmed by all the compliments and reactions from their supervisors and colleagues.
