Satellite data helps African water management

23 Dec 2011

More than 200 African water resource management professionals have been trained in applying near real-time satellite data to optimise the use of Africa's scarce water resources more effectively, ITWeb reports. This comes as a result of the European Space Agency's (ESA's) TIGER initiative, which was presented this month at a workshop held in SA for the first time.

"The use of satellite technology is integral to water resource management. Water can be monitored from space at several different stages of the hydrological cycle using Earth observation (EO) satellites," TIGER initiative's principal investigator, Bob Su told ITWeb. The hydrological cycle is the journey water takes as it circulates from the land to the sky and back again.

Su added that a critical focus of the initiative is to build capacity among water sector professionals in Africa to ensure that EO data is applied effectively in managing the region's water. The overall objective of the initiative is to assist African countries to overcome problems faced in the collection, analysis and use of water-related geo-information by exploiting the advantages of EO technology. It aims to fill information gaps about the status of the region's water resources through an intensive capacity-building programme that enables participants to interpret and apply EO data.

Satellites can fill information gaps about the status of regions' water resources. These services, said South African National Space Agency (SANSA) CEO Sandile Malinga, "addressed one of South Africa's key challenges in water resource management, namely the lack of readily-available, reliable soil moisture information at weekly intervals. Soil moisture information is critical in agriculture, which forms the backbone of many rural communities in the country".

Read the full article on www.itweb.co.za.