GDA-Water Resources

Funding: ESA-funded project (February 2023 – September 2024)
https://gda.esa.int/thematic-area/water-resources/


Global Development Assistance - Agile EO Information Development (GDA AID)’s latest initiative on Water Resources kicked off on February 9, 2023 with the participation of both the European Space Agency - ESA GDA team and members from the consortium led by EOMAP (Germany).
https://gda.esa.int/2023/02/activity-launch-gda-aid-water-resources/

Description

Water plays a crucial role in sustainable development, serving as a vital component in socio-economic growth, energy and food production, and maintaining healthy ecosystems. Despite its significance, over 40% of the world's population is affected by water scarcity, a problem that is expected to be aggravated by climate change.

Earth Observation (EO) is increasingly recognized as a crucial source of information that can supplement national data and assist countries in gathering regular information for effective integrated water resource management.

This initiative focusing on Water resources is part of the GDA AID programme by ESA, which covers eleven thematic sectors in individual initiatives, among others Disaster resilience, Agriculture, Forest Management and Urban sustainability. Moreover, five cross-cutting activities link the thematic initiatives by facilitating Communications and Monitoring & Evaluation as well as supporting them by additional solutions like Data Processing & Analytics and Knowledge & Capacity building.

The international consortium, which includes companies and a research centre from Austrian (GeoVille), the Czech Republic (Gisat), Germany (EOMAP, Brockmann Consult, and UFZ), Spain (GMV), and Switzerland (Stucky Gruner), will provide EO services and products to support International Financial Institutions (IFI) activities, namely World Bank and Asian Development Bank, related to water management, specifically in the following areas:

  • Water supply and demand
  • Water infrastructure planning
  • Groundwater monitoring
  • Flood mapping and risk assessment
  • Drought forecasting
  • Freshwater quality monitoring
  • Freshwater biodiversity monitoring
  • Monitoring of river and delta morphology

Through the GDA AID Water Resources initiative, the consortium aims to enhance global water resource management and contribute to sustainable development efforts. The UFZ role consists of supporting water demand modelling in use cases and extending the benefits of monitoring solutions towards a solid foundation for science-based management.

For more details, contact: Dr. Seifeddine Jomaa