News

Introductory Webinar: Sea Level Change Tools for Planning and Decision Support

June 10 & 17, 2025 11:00-12:30 (Session A) or 14:00-15:30 (Session B) EDT (UTC-4)

Global sea level has been rising at a rate of 3 mm/yr, and this rate is projected to continue to increase sea level over the next century. Scientists use observations from the ground, air, and space, along with theoretical models and scenarios of future emissions, to monitor and study past, present, and future sea-level rise. This information is a fundamental basis for mitigation, adaptation, and risk management planning in all parts of the world and across many elements of society and ecosystems. This two-part introductory webinar series will focus on NASA products and tools available to assess historical sea-level rise, access and understand projections of sea level, and investigate impacts. Participants will be exposed to the causes behind regional and global sea-level changes and explore climate and analysis tools to access, visualize, and perform statistical analysis using NASA data.

Register

A call for Research Proposals is Open!!

In partnership with the African Union Commission, the European Space Agency – ESA through the EO AFRICA R&D Facility is pleased to announce the launch of a new call for proposals.     This initiative aims to support collaboration between African & European research teams in developing innovative, reusable, and open-source Earth Observation (EO) algorithms and applications. These solutions will be specifically tailored to address key African challenges in water & foodsecurity and climate resilience, utilizing cutting-edge cloud-based data access and computing infrastructure

Deadline for submission: June 15, 23h59 CET

Find out more here

The GEO AquaWatch Early Career Society is seeking partners to support us with resources and funding for an innovation event (Hackathon).

The innovative bootcamp Hackathon is designed to empower early career scientists in tackling water quality challenges using Earth observation data and innovative technologies. Participants will collaborate, gain hands-on experience, work in start-up style teams, receive mentorship from domain experts, and win prizes. The top-rated solutions will be presented in a GEO AquaWatch-hosted “Demo Day”.

The Early Career Society seek funding partners to support this initiative by providing financial sponsorship, in-kind contributions (e.g., advice on relevant funding calls, organisational support, satellite data, software licenses, location for in-person venue) and mentorship. Your support will play a pivotal role in advancing water quality research and nurture early career scientists from underrepresented regions as next generation of environmental scientists.​ The ECS welcomes any kind of sponsorship to support this Hackathon.

We ask for your expressions of assistance by April 20th (in time for the next ECS planning meeting).  Please fill out this form to detail your level of support for this event and we will reach out with more details.   If you have any questions please reach out to Christopher Wanjohi christophernyaga411@gmail.com or Harriet Wilson harriet.wilson@stir.ac.uk

Introductory Webinar: Monitoring Global Terrestrial Surface Water Height using Remote Sensing

May 13 & 15, 2025 10:00-12:30 EDT (UTC-4) Oceans, lakes, and rivers are major components of Earth’s surface water. Freshwater lakes and rivers are primary sources of water supply for drinking, agriculture, energy, and transportation, and support aquatic ecosystems and wildlife. A series of NASA satellites (e.g., TOPEX-Poseidon, Jason 1, 2, 3, & 6) with altimeter observations have been used to estimate ocean surface and inland lake surface heights (> 50 km2) since 1992. The latest NASA mission, Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), which was launched on December 16, 2022, allows the first ever mapping of global surface freshwater components, including rivers, lakes, and wetlands, with high-resolution measurements (~200 m). Environmental changes, land use, and other water supply and demand changes affect these freshwater sources. Particularly, rivers spanning multiple countries or states within countries pose challenges in estimating water availability and usage. The SWOT data provides unique capability of monitoring changes in freshwater, including river and lake level elevations, river width, slope, and discharge. This training will focus on introducing SWOT freshwater data products and their applications for water resources and disaster management. Register

Webinar Introductorio: El Monitoreo Global del Nivel de la Superficie del Agua Terrestre Mediante la Teledetección

Los días 13 y 15 de mayo de 2025 15h a 16h30 horario este de EE.UU. (UTC-4) Los océanos, lagos y ríos son componentes principales del agua superficial de la Tierra. Los lagos de agua dulce y los ríos son fuentes primarias de suministro de agua para el consumo humano, la agricultura, la energía y el transporte, además de ser esenciales para los ecosistemas acuáticos y la fauna. Una serie de satélites de la NASA (por ejemplo, TOPEX-Poseidon, Jason 1, 2, 3 y 6) con altímetros se han utilizado para estimar el nivel de la superficie oceánica y de los lagos interiores (> 50 km²) desde 1992. La más reciente misión de la NASA, Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), lanzada el 16 de diciembre de 2022, ha permitido por primera vez mapear a nivel global, y con alta resolución (~200 m), los cuerpos de agua dulce, incluyendo ríos, lagos y humedales. Los cambios ambientales, el uso del suelo y otros cambios en el suministro y la demanda de agua afectan estas fuentes de agua dulce. En particular, es complejo estimar la disponibilidad y el uso del agua en los ríos que atraviesan varios países o estados dentro de un mismo país. Los datos del satélite SWOT permiten monitorear los cambios en el agua dulce, incluyendo los niveles de los ríos y lagos, el ancho de los ríos, la pendiente y el caudal de los mismos. Esta capacitación se enfocará en introducir los datos de agua dulce del satélite SWOT y sus aplicaciones para la gestión de recursos hídricos y desastres. Registrarse

GEO AquaWatch members have recently published some amazing articles we want to highlight:

Mapping satellite-derived chlorophyll-a concentrations from 2013 to 2023 in Western Lake Ontario using Landsat 8 and 9 imagery 

in the journal Science of the Total Environment by Dr. Caren Binding and others.

Widespread phytoplankton monitoring in small lakes: a case study comparing satellite imagery from Planet SuperDoves and ESA Sentinel-2

in the journal Frontiers in Remote Sensing by Dr. Evangelos Spyrakos and Dr. Peter D. Hunter and others.