Meet Dr Ndiema, the man who identified the exact location of eclipse

On November 3, 2013 thousands of tourists and astronomers from all over the world flocked Kenya to witness a rare phenomenon in Equatorial Africa: total solar eclipse.

But according to America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), while other parts of Kenya would experience a partial eclipse, only a small region would have the opportunity to experience the eclipse in its totality.

There was therefore the possibility of people gathering somewhere and the total eclipse passing through elsewhere.

Someone had to get the exact coordinates of the exact position and time that the eclipse would be experienced.

Dr Emmanuel Ndiema, a senior research scientist at the National Museums of Kenya and the Field Director at the Koobi Fora research and training program is the man who plotted the coordinates to identify the exact point where the hybrid total solar eclipse would be viewed from in Kenya.

To Dr Ndiema, this was not an ordinary task.

This was partly because of its complexity but mostly because of the implication it would have to the country and the tourists who had travelled from all over the world to witness this rare phenomenon.

CHECKED ALL FACTS

“I had checked all the facts available before plotting the centre line from where we shall view the total solar eclipse.

And since facts don’t lie, we were definitely going to see the total solar eclipse,” Dr Ndiema told the Nation.

And at 5.00pm, the stage was set, with both the actors and the spectators ready for the show.

The moon could be seen moving slowly from west and the sun from the east, ready for a real showdown.

But about 10 minutes from the much waited moment, whirling winds started blowing from Lake Turkana, causing a heavy cloud cover as if in an attempt to steal the thunder.

But just as disappointed spectators started moving into their vehicles accusing scientists of orchestrating a conspiracy, the sun drifted past the clouds followed by 15 seconds of darkness, and Dr Ndiema became the man of the moment.

Although Dr Ndiema has not trained in astronomy, his expertise in mapping and remote sensing coupled with his vast research experience in the Turkana Basin made him the most appropriate person to undertake this delicate assignment.

WORKED WITH NASA

“It was a humbling experience for me to work with my colleagues from NASA and the Kenya Wildlife Service to come up with the exact point from where the total eclipse would be viewed from,” says Dr Ndiema.

He admits that coming up with the coordinates where the eclipse would be viewed from was a combination of heavy astronomical logics and complex mathematical modeling which is beyond his expertise.

This was done by NASA.

But through his connections with NASA, he was able to access the coordinates and then employed his experience in geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing to come up with the actual points on the ground.

“I have always had a close working relationship with NASA who funded my training in GIS and remote sensing at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida as part of my PhD training,” says Dr Ndiema.

“This made it easy for me to access the coordinates,” he adds.

The process of determining the centre line was a combination of rigorous field work and careful desktop simulations, says Dr Ndiema.

“Missing a single point would mean straying kilometers into wilderness or even worse, into Lake Turkana.

Therefore, I took a lot of the time on my computer before proceeding to field for ground truthing,” explains the Scientist.

COMPUTER SIMULATION

His computer simulation landed him in Rocodoni area in Sibiloi National Park, Marsabit County.

And with the support of the KWS, he flew to the area, a distance of more than 800km armed with his coordinates for the actual plotting.

The field work took him only two days and he was ready to wait for the eclipse as any other excited Kenyan and tourist.

“The first point I got was across Lake Turkana but the second and the most important was at the edge of Sibiloi National Park.

By joining the two points, we were able to get the centre line,” he says.

From the line, Dr Ndiema and his team embarked on Northern and Southern limits from where the eclipse would visible.

“From Rocodoni where the total eclipse would be 100 per cent, 12.5km to the North and to the South would receive at least 45 per cent of the eclipse.

This is what we call the limits,” Dr Ndiema explains.

Unlike the sun that moves from east to west, Dr Ndiema notes that the eclipse moves in the opposite direction.

KENYA BEST PLACE FOR VIEW

He says that there were a number of factors that made Kenya the best place to view the eclipse from despite the fact that it passed through several other countries neighbouring Kenya.

“The line followed by the eclipse passes the Democratic Republic of Congo into Uganda, then into Kenya and then exits to Ethiopia.

But in DRC it passes through dense forests and thus increases the chances of experiencing heavy clouds,” says the scientist.

“A similar problem is chanced in Uganda.

But the clear skies in Marsabit and the entire Turkana Basin leave an 80 per cent chance of successful viewing.

Again as it exists into Ethiopia, it’s already dark,” he adds.

Dr Ndiema says that this eclipse was a big deal for Kenya especially in promoting tourism and opening up of the North circuit.

He says that it marks a beginning of a new form of interesting tourism.

“This eclipse marks the opening of the Northern Kenya as a tourist destination.

15 SECONDS DARKNESS

Owing to the number of local and international tourists who have toured the region waiting for the 15 seconds of darkness, heritage tourism will become a very important industry in this nation,” he says.

He challenges the Kenya Tourism Board to invest in promoting heritage tourism saying that the Sibiloi National Park plays home to several heritage sites which if publicised would help diversify Kenyan tourism from the coastal beaches.

“Scientists and researchers believe that Koobi Fora is the origin of humankind and as such people all over the world should be encouraged to pay a pilgrimage at least once in their life time.

The scientist who has spent 13 years at the Koobi Fora Museum in Sibiloi is the Field Director at the Koobi Fora Research and Training Program.

It is managed by the National Museums of Kenya in collaboration with various Universities in the world.

Dr Ndiema holds a Master of Arts Degree in Anthropology and doctorate in the same field specialising in land use changes by pastoralist communities.

He trained in GIS and remote sensing at Kennedy Space Station, Florida as part of his PhD training in a fellowship funded by NASA.