TALK
- Listening to stakeholders and bridging data gaps – Using new, improved satellite products to develop useful water quality indicators for transitional environments
Dr Eirini Politi, Chair of FEC WG Lagoons for Life, Future Earth Coasts (FEC) Fellow
The need for improved remote sensing techniques that complement in-situ campaigns for reliable and consistent monitoring of water quality (WQ) in different water body types is pivotal to addressing UN Sustainable Development Goals and complying with European policy, e.g., the Water Framework and Marine Strategy Framework Directives. Three European Copernicus services (Marine, Climate Change and Land) provide satellite-based WQ information in oceanic, shelf and lake waters. Although transitional waters are partly covered by the Marine coastal service, there has been no coherent approach across the three Services aiming at consistent products across the water continuum. Harmonised, transferable, robust and reliable approaches are still needed to map WQ water bodies from oceans to coasts, to inland waters. To address this gap, the H2020 CERTO project (2020-2023) produced harmonised WQ datasets suitable for integration in the Copernicus services and uptake by downstream users such as water resource managers.
To develop and demonstrate the CERTO methodology, six transitional sites were selected in Europe: i) Danube Delta and Razelm-Sinoe Lagoon System; ii) Venice Lagoon; iii) Tagus Estuary; iv) Plymouth Sound; v) Elbe Estuary and vi) Curonian Lagoon. In-situ campaigns, improvements to atmospheric correction methods (a step necessary to derive robust remote sensing products), better masking of shallow, clear waters and the impact of adjacency effect in satellite images, and a wide-scope classification of optical water types were all pivotal to the production of reliable remote sensing products. In turn, these products provided input data for the development of a suite of indicators for water resource management and monitoring, aiming to support various user types, from fisheries associations to public authorities and water managers. Based on user consultations through interviews and online questionnaires, we collected user needs and later proposed and developed several indicators and a highly complex index in iteration with the same users.
In this talk, results from the CERTO project will be presented, showcasing methods suitable for the continuous monitoring and status assessment of any water body type around the world. Various scientific and user engagement methods that were integrated to achieve the main goals will also be discussed.
Our speaker
Dr Eirini Politi
Dr Eirini Politi is a Marine Scientist, Remote Sensing and GIS expert working on lakes, transitional waters and coastal waters. She has been involved in water quality assessments and ecosystem applications using remote sensing and GIS tools, upstream and downstream product development and services provision, indicator development, project management and communications. She has previously worked in the academic sector, a national research centre of expertise and is currently based in a private environmental consultancy. She is also a Future Earth Coasts Fellow and Chair of FEC WG Lagoons for Life.
REGISTRATION
The event is free to attend and open to all. It will take place at 08:00 AM to 09:00 AM UTC on August 21st.
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