Earth Observations in Support of Global Water Quality.

Abstract

Declining coastal, estuarine and inland water quality has become a global issue of significant concern as anthropogenic activities expand and climate change threatens to cause major alterations to the hydrological cycle. The measurement of water quality variables via radiometric measurements of the water’s optical properties has grown rapidly over recent years. Improvements in algorithms and product development, sensor technology and maturity, and data accessibility and provision have led to demonstrated confidence in remotely-sensed data with potential applications to water resources management. Management agencies, however, have been slow to embrace satellite-derived measurements to date even though important parameters such as chlorophyll-a, c-phycocyanin, suspended solids, coloured dissolved organic matter, light attenuation, Secchi Disk transparency and turbidity have been quantified with required accuracies using remotely-sensed data. An IOCCG working group on "Earth Observations in Support of Global Water Quality Monitoring" was formed to support the implementation of a global water quality monitoring service that contributes to the broader implementation of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems under the auspices of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). The goal of the working group was to provide a strategic plan that incorporates current and future Earth Observation information into national and international near-coastal and inland water quality monitoring efforts by promoting best practices, coordination of efforts and partnerships, and proposing specific new linkages between data providers and data end users.