[5] SAEON is a comprehensive, sustained, coordinated and responsive South African environmental observation network that delivers long-term reliable data for scientific research and informs decision-making; for a knowledge society and improved quality of life.

[10] Nodes are geographically distributed across South Africa to provide good coverage of biomes or subsets thereof.

The SAEON focuses on question-driven in situ monitoring to gather time-series data at multiple scales with a view to understanding environmental change guided by a Core Science Framework.

[2] Schools and universities are beneficiaries of a programme designed to produce potential future Earth observation scientists.

[13] Monitoring projects, winter schools, training workshops, teacher support, science events and a graduate student network are some of the activities of the SAEON.