Water Quality

Environmental issues are increasingly challenging for global governments, societies, and industries. Most relevant freshwater resources are limited, and face increasing pressures due to increased population or are influenced by effects due to climate changes. Protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems is a global concern.

Monitoring freshwater water quality with satellite data is providing comparable assessments at transnational and global geographical scale. The main freshwater water quality and physical parameters derived from multispectral satellite data include turbidity, chlorophyll-a, potentially harmful cyanobacteria, secchi depth and water surface temperature.

Satellite-based water quality data provides large scale, comparable overviews on drinking, bathing and wastewater status and change for freshwater ecosystems such as rivers and lakes. It allows to identify areas affected by cyanobacteria, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), growth of phytoplankton biomass using satellite retrieved chlorophyll-a concentration. Next to the actual monitoring of the development of an algal bloom, Earth Observation can aid in identifying regions more prone to potentially harmful algal blooms. With the possibility of gaining remotely sensed data about these key indicators, costly in situ measurement campaigns can be better planned and even reduced.

Water quality assessment also allows the assessment of shrimp pond productivity and the health of cultured species, as they are closely tied to key water quality parameters. This is particularly true for turbidity, which reflects the concentration of suspended particles and potential contaminants. Monitoring these conditions helps detect early signs of stress in the aquatic environment and supports better pond management, ultimately leading to improved yield and environmental sustainability.

Stakeholders can benefit from the service for the support of sustainable and resilient water management with exact localisation of emerging or existing algae blooms, easily accessible information through online platform and customised reporting tools with no huge mobilisation efforts and no safety and health risks.