CUHRS Study

Urbanization, climate change, and health in Uganda

CUHRS: Climate Change, Urbanization, and Health in Uganda Using Remote Sensing

Launched: March 2025
Study Site: Uganda
Lead Institutions: EBPI – University of Zurich & Makerere University
Principal Investigators: Andrea Farnham, Harriet Mayanja-Kizza

Project Overview

Africa is urbanizing faster than any other region in the world. In Uganda, this rapid urban growth—combined with climate change—has profound consequences for public health. Cities face rising temperatures, pollution trapped by geography, and increasing rates of diseases affected by environmental changes.

The CUHRS study explores how climate change and urbanization interact to influence population health in Uganda, using remote sensing, health survey data, and spatial statistical modeling.

Goals & Research Questions

The CUHRS study seeks to answer:

  1. How have climate-related and environmental changes occurred in Uganda over the past decade?
  2. How do these changes correspond with health outcomes such as respiratory illness, waterborne disease, malaria, and life expectancy?
  3. Are individuals living in climate-impacted areas more likely to experience specific illnesses?

Data Sources

Health Data: - Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) - Cross-sectional primary data from Shamim Katusabe’s PhD project

Environmental & Urbanization Data: - Pollution: Sentinel-5P (NO₂, SO₂, CO) - Vegetation & Fire: MODIS, FRIMS - Meteorology: ERA5 - Land Use: LANDSAT - Urban Dynamics: Global Settlement Grid, WorldPop

Methods

  1. Environmental Mapping:
    Remote sensing data will be processed in Google Earth Engine, QGIS, and ArcGIS Pro to map trends in temperature, vegetation loss, air quality, and urban sprawl.

  2. Data Integration:
    Temporal alignment of datasets enables the linkage of environmental trends with health outcomes across Uganda’s districts.

  3. Statistical Modeling:
    Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) will assess nonlinear relationships between environmental change and health outcomes, with spatial random effects to capture clustering.

  4. Hotspot Identification:
    GIS techniques will be used to identify and visualize climate-vulnerable zones.

Outputs

  • 🧠 Policy recommendations for urban planning and health resilience
  • 🌍 A digital tool (e.g., dashboard or app) for real-time climate-health tracking
  • 📄 Peer-reviewed scientific article on environmental-health interactions
  • 🎥 Teaching videos for transferring CUHRS methods to other settings

Team & Roles

  • Andrea Farnham (EBPI, UZH): PI, supervision, integration
  • Harriet Mayanja-Kizza (Makerere Univ.): Co-PI, local expertise
  • Shamim Katusabe (IDI, Makerere): Health data integration
  • Nirwan (WRI India): Remote sensing and spatial analysis

The CUHRS study builds on methodology developed by Nirwan, as published in Scientific Reports, and incorporates participatory validation with local stakeholders.

References

  1. World Health Organization (2023). Climate Change and Health: Key Facts.
  2. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2021). Sixth Assessment Report.
  3. Global Urban Observatory (2022). Urbanization Trends in Africa.

For more information, contact
📧 andrea.farnham@uzh.ch
🌍 andrea-farnham.gitlab.io

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