BlackShore is a company founded in 2011 by Hans van’ t Woud and hosted by the ESA Business Incubation Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Currently, BlackShore delivers accurate, up-to-date and low-cost map products and data labels based on the crowd-sourced interpretation of satellite data and aerial imagery to map what matters most in the world.

The challenge

As the region of the world that is the most affected by water scarcity, Africa has such a growing population that about 230 million Africans are expected to face water scarcity, and approximately 460 million could be living in water-stressed areas by 2025 [1].

Recognised as a human right in 2010 and 2015, access to safe drinking water and sanitation remains fundamental to the lives of all human beings and the issue is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [2].

Climate change exacerbates water scarcity, while also endangering the sustainable provision of food all over the world, including in the Mediterranean region. In this area, cereals and wheat are strategic products for agricultural development, food security, and agricultural trade.

However, and especially following the Ukrainian crisis, the cereal production deficit in the region could worsen in the next twenty years (Ukraine is one of the big cereal exporters to the region and in Middle East countries) [3].

To stay at the forefront of innovation, BlackShore decided to build an interactive platform which would combine e-learning, gaming and crowdsourcing to solve global issues, for example improving management of water and food.

The platform needed to create a playful and stimulating environment that would attract players and enable them to empower their skills while arousing their curiosity.

The solution

BlackShore developed Cerberus, an online gaming platform using very high resolution satellite images (currently down to 30-cm resolution data) to zoom in the surface of the Earth as a key resource.

The game teaches players how to identify and map pre-defined features such as obstructed roads, flooded zones, or clear-cut areas. Working with satellite images to make useful operational maps for organisations such as governments, urban planners or emergency services gives players a sense of purpose, in addition to being fun.

BlackShore uses a combination of commercial satellite data and open and free Sentinel data as a layer in their games. Players can navigate the surface of the Earth to spot, report and share relevant information.

Missions displayed around the world in BlackShore’s Cerberus Game.

BlackShore teaches players what to look for to map and tag in the hexagons. The inputs of players are compared to verify the accuracy of the information collected.

Hexagons as displayed in BlackShore’s Cerberus Game.

One of the games on Cerberus, “The path to a well”, has been developed with the AKVO Foundation to favour access to drinking water in Mali.

Based in the Netherlands, the Foundation works on water-related issues in the African continent. In Mali, they worked with Uduma, an African NGO, to install water pumps within the framework of a project funded by the African Development Bank.

BlackShore helped the AKVO Foundation to acquire information on fresh water sources and to map the infrastructure between water source and communities, like farms or roads.

Players created two referable maps using very high-resolution satellite data in which they could detect objects of 50 centimetres to distinct walking paths from roads which can have vehicles. This information was later used to calculate travel times between water source and livelihood.

Another project hosted on the Cerberus platform and recently launched aims at mapping cereal production in the Mediterranean Region of Europe.

In a sequence of 20 maps, BlackShore will take up the crowd in a journey from east to west and ask them as a primary target to focus on Durum (pasta) cereals. Moreover, players will be also asked to map other crops, infrastructure and features based on the region of the Earth that they are zooming in. These include Lavender from the Provence, ruins in Greece, energy grids in Spain and mines in the Marche.

The project will measure the impact of climate change on durum cereal production in Italy, France, Spain, Greece and the Mediterranean islands.

To enable players to map cereal production, BlackShore has produced labelled training data to be used in conjunction with Sentinel-2 and (optionally) Sentinel-1 data down to a 30-centimetre resolution on the entire Mediterranean area.

Through the inputs of the players, the Artificial Intelligence model embedded in the game will progressively learn to distinguish crops in different environments autonomously and will generate data labels of the crops and infrastructure in the entire area.

The project is a joint operation of BlackShore, 52 Impact B.V., and The Hague Center for Strategic Studies, and it is supported by the European Space Agency (The ESA Φ-lab).

The results

In Mali, the Cerberus’ players mapped an area of approximately 10 square kilometres, detecting potential fresh water sources and providing data that were used by local actors to build and maintain water pumps.

For their new “mission” to map cereal production in the Mediterranean area, in 2022 only, BlackShore plans to create 20 maps of durum cereal crops using very high-resolution data and data labels for the different crops.

The maps generated through the game will be made openly available for researchers, NGOs, and governmental institutions to take measures to ensure food security.

Indeed, the project will generate a data label set allowing researchers to build models to automatically monitor how Durum cereals are affected in a changing world. This knowledge shall be used to better anticipate the effects of climate change on crops and to take measures to mitigate them. All generated labels will be also shared through ESA’s AI4EO Initiative.

Currently, BlacksShore’s Cerberus  community is about to overcome 100 000 players, based in almost every country of the world and ready to take action to contribute understanding and solving some of today’s’ most pressing issues.

Most players like playing BlackShore’s games on their phones, but they can also be played on iPads and computers.

By combining satellite imagery and gaming, BlackShore is demonstrating that everyone can learn to identify features on satellite imagery if properly trained, and it is opening the path to innovative uses of EO to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

REFERENCES

[1] The Africa Water Vision for 2025: Equitable and Sustainable Use of Water for Socioeconomic Development, UN Water/Africa. Accessed on 21 June 2022.

[2] UN World Water Development Report 2019: ‘Leaving no one behind’, 2019. Accessed on 19 June 2022.

[3] Food security: Challenges and perspectives in the Mediterranean region, PRIMA, 29 June 2022. Accessed on 10 June 2022.

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MedAssist.online

MedAssist.online is a Dutch company founded in 2015 based in the Port of Rotterdam. Its mission is to provide the best possible medical care to people in areas where medical assistance is not available. Originally, the company provided exclusively physical medical training to maritime officers and captains, and it then moved towards a more innovative path to support vessel crews.

The Challenge

Providing medical support to people in remote areas is very challenging. Telemedicine has proved to be a game-changer in multiple occasions, especially during medical emergencies at sea. Ship crews can spend weeks far out at sea, often thousands of miles away from the nearest shore. At sea, medical emergencies happen daily, and regular ships have no doctor on board.

Just in Europe, every year there are on average 21.000 telemedicine consultations at sea, and this number is constantly increasing. Depending on the medical need, vessels are often forced to change their plans, diverting their course, and extending the duration of their trip. To provide crews with better and faster care, an additional telemedicine tool was needed.

The Satellite Solution

The  meets the need of ship crews to get medical assistance at any moment and anywhere. It relies on satellite communication and a patented Two-Ways-Augmented-Reality (TWAR) technology. The Live App is available for download on any mobile device on Play Store and App Store. Satellite ship-to-shore-to-ship communication provides an essential feature to make the Live app work at sea. With support from ESA and the Netherlands Space Office, the TWAR technology (with two-way audio/video feed) was optimised for reliable use over satellite connections. Once they download the app, users can create their profile and require live assistance. They can also access tutorials or create new ones in case of specific accidents. Using TWAR, the application combines two video feeds — from and to the ship and the doctor — into one identical ‘shared reality’, visible to both the doctor and the ship’s officer.

Unlike in usual video calls, participants can work together from the same perspective. TWAR allows the medical professional to instruct, point out, guide and coach the ship’s officer as if the two were physically in the same place: they can examine and treat a patient as if the doctor were on board, or the doctor can show to the officer what to do. The officers on board will see the hands of the doctor superimposed on their owns on the screen and will be guided in their movements live.

The results

The Live App helps crews or people in remote locations to get the best possible medical care anytime and anywhere. It also reduces the human and financial costs of medical emergencies at sea.

The app has been tested by both KLM and onshore medical staff and has already been positively evaluated by several shipping companies. Currently, the app is being used all over Europe, especially by Dutch and German shipping companies. Soon, it will be also available for users in Asia and America. Considering the importance of providing medical assistance to people in remote areas, the team at MedAssist is planning to tailor the app for other contexts, such as rural areas, where connectivity still represents a challenge.

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The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is committed to improving quality of life, access and mobility in a clean, safe and sustainable environment. The Ministry strives to create an efficient network of roads, railways, waterways, and airways, and to implement effective practices to better manage floods and improve air and water quality.

The challenge

The Maritime Spatial Planning Directive requires EU Member States to draw and apply maritime spatial plans. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is the coordinating ministry for the integrated North Sea policy and manages the Dutch part of the North Sea. High on its agenda there is the construction of new offshore windfarms. However, the North Sea basin is under a lot of pressure and finding suitable locations is not an easy task.

Transforming governmental ambitions of sustainable use of the sea into something concrete means fitting all the needs in one coherent spatial plan, which implies trade-offs. The situation can become very complex when all the different stakeholders and interests are considered (e.g., marine protection, aquaculture, shipping lanes, recreational activities, existing telecom, energy corridors, etc.). Other pieces of the puzzle, such as the capacity of the electricity grid, the infrastructure required to get the energy from the windfarm on the national grid, and boundary conditions, are also crucial to meet the national ambitions for offshore windfarm development.

The satellite solution

The Breda University of Applied Sciences is a government-funded higher education institute in the Netherlands. Under the Academy for Games and Media, the University has a research programme concerning serious games and complex decision-making. One of its projects is a Maritime Spatial Planning simulation platform relying on game technology and design, meant for those who must spatially plan the sea. Since a few years, the MSP Challenge Simulation Platform is used within the Digital Twin North Sea project, a cooperation between government agencies, knowledge institutes and the business community to create a state-of-the-art support tool for policy makers, stakeholders, scientists, and citizens.

This ‘digital replica’ of the North Sea simulates spatial plans and their effects. The current Digital Twin North Sea consists of three components: a browser version, the MSP Challenge simulation platform, and a virtual reality prototype module. The tool offers a map of the North Sea basin to simulate the energy production and the infrastructure needed to get the maximum capacity from wind farms installed there to the national grid. Multiple layers are available, such as wind speed, wave height, bathymetry, and sediments. The map also displays the location of current offshore windfarms and shows where new windfarms are being considered for development. One important contributor to the tool is the Copernicus programme, which provides free and open marine data that are integrated in the different layers, and that consists of satellite images, models and data visualisations.

The results

The MSP Challenge Simulation Platform provides, on a free and open-source basis, an engaging tool for students, professionals and policy makers to better understand basic electrical engineering in offshore wind power development and the spatial implications of it. The Dutch Government has been continuously investing in the development and application of novel simulation and game technologies since the international conference on Maritime Spatial Planning held in Lisbon in 2011. The current simulation platform is the result of a fourth design iteration.

Because the MSP Challenge makes use of GIS data, the platform provides direct feedback while testing out different scenarios. Thanks to the platform, policy makers can now engage stakeholders in a pragmatic way. The multi-user system allows to create shared servers to work in a co-creative setting with multiple stakeholders at a time, both during live and online sessions. In addition to the North Sea, the platform also covers the Baltic Sea, the Clyde Marine Region, and the Adriatic Sea.

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The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate

The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport – ILT) is the supervising authority of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. Its mission is to enforce compliance with the law in multiple spheres of action, such as the use of high-risk materials and products, water, soil, and constructions, rail and road traffic, aviation, and shipping. Every year, ILT identifies possible risk areas where to intervene. Furthermore, the ILT Special Intelligence and Investigation Service can probe in case of criminal events that might endanger society, such as soil contamination or the use of hazardous substances.

The challenge

Every year, Dutch seaports handle over 550 million tons of goods, making the country a central shipping hub worldwide. Since 2020, the international regulations imposed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) require seafaring vessels to meet lower emission standards. Indeed, shipping contributes heavily to air pollution, due to Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. Such emissions lead to a growing concentration of pollutants and particulate matter in the atmosphere. The ILT constantly monitors compliance with international rules for the Netherlands, especially observing emissions from ships. However, physically inspecting every ship coming to a Dutch port is practically impossible, and post-fact detection of noncompliant behavior outside of ports could be challenging.

The satellite solution

Since 2020, the ILT started to develop a monitoring system to track NOx emissions and identify incompliant ships. The first step was the implementation of a

study in cooperation with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) and the universities of Leiden and Wageningen. Both entities developed an algorithm to measure ship pollution, that integrates EO data from TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument) with traditional monitoring means, as in-situ observations. The algorithm combined ship location information in the hours before and up to the time when the TROPOMI satellite pass over the area, with data on wind direction and speed in the high seas, and with satellite data on weather and air quality. Ship length and speed, together with EO data, helped the ILT in projecting the potential dispersion of pollutants by single ships.

The Inspectorate monitored over 185 ships, evaluating their nitrogen dioxide emissions during ideal weather conditions. This data was then combined with ship location information in the hours before and up to the TROPOMI satellite overpass, and with wind direction and speed in the high seas. Ship length and speed together with EO data can help in projecting the potential dispersion of pollutants by single ships. In this way, the NO2 data identified are then compared with real ships emissions to verify if they are adhering to the international shipping regulations or not.

The results

The study showed that through EO data, it was possible to identify a heavier plume of NO2 from big and fast ships. The results of the study opened a new way of spotting ship emissions and identifying uncompliant ships.

The integration of satellite data in the ILT daily job reduced the load of work of the inspectors. The use of EO technology allows ILT in saving time and targets its resources on ad hoc inspections on those ships that are potentially uncompliant. In this way, ILT contributes not only to ensuring the adherence of the Netherlands to international legislation about shipping emissions, but also to the global emissions monitoring.

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On an area of 219.4 km2, the Amsterdam city is the most populated in The Netherlands, counting roughly 860 000 residents.The city has approximately 1600 bridges and 900 km of quay walls, shores, banks, talus, inclines and slopes, 600 km of which are managed or owned by the Municipality.

The challenge

Heavy traffic and frequent renovation works can threaten the stability and structural integrity of bridges, quay walls, and buildings.

The Department of Engineering of the City of Amsterdam is responsible for urban planning and infrastructure maintenance, including assessing the structural integrity of bridges and quay walls.

To ensure the integrity of these assets and plan maintenance works accordingly, the Department needs frequent and up-to-date data on deformation of structures and soil. This information is essential to assess traffic impact on bridges and prioritise maintenance works where they are needed.

The satellite solution

To assess the structural safety of bridges and the integrity of the buildings, the Department of Engineering of the City of Amsterdam decided to work with SkyGeo and use satellite-based data to measure and map deformation of the infrastructure and the buildings.

First, InSAR (Interferometric synthetic aperture radar) data were acquired to map movements in the city area. InSAR data provide accurate information on deformations of structures and roads with a millimetre precision. This information can be used, among other things, to predict the impact of groundwater level reduction on buildings.

Data collected through satellite observation were further validated through field measurements. The data validation process was also supported by the students of the Delft University of Technology and the University of Salerno.

The results

So far, InSAR data allowed the Department to assess deformations of 100 bridges and nearby buildings along the quay walls.

The City will use such information to prioritise maintenance works and prevent damages to the assets’ integrity during maintenance works, hence possibly saving a considerable amount of time and resources on field measurements.

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency estimates that the costs for repairing the damage and the frequent maintenance of the infrastructure in urban areas can amount to € 5.2 billion by 2050. Earth Observation can thus play a crucial role in the future to reduce the spending of public administrations on infrastructure monitoring and maintenance.

Currently, the Department of Engineering of the City of Amsterdam is exploring ways to extend the use inSAR satellite data to also study the past and current behaviour of buildings that are close to planned construction sites.

Satellite data allows the Department of Engineering to better foresee the sensitivity of buildings to soil movements and damages that could be caused by heavy works around the buildings and to preserve the city’s historical heritage. 

 Annemarij Kooistra, Department of Engineering, City of Amsterdam

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Diemen is a municipality in the Netherlands with a population of around 24 000 inhabitants. The city is located in the province of North Holland, east of Amsterdam, within the capital’s metropolitan area. The Diemen Department of Infrastructure has a yearly budget of about four million Euros for maintenance of roads, sewers, and other infrastructure.

The challenge

The city of Diemen is built on soft soil, which means it can sink up to two cm per year. Subsidence rates however vary substantially between neighbourhoods, due to variations in soil composition. Over time, differences in subsidence can cause serious damage to infrastructure. It is therefore necessary to rebuild and elevate roads and sewer systems periodically as a prevention measure. The preventive maintenance cycles are usually planned based on visual inspection and experience of individual inspectors. Visual inspection is neither precise, nor does it offer complete coverage. As a result, in many cases maintenance work is performed either unnecessarily early or too late.

The satellite solution

The city of Diemen ordered a city-wide deformation map from Hansje Brinker B.V., a service provider specialised in infrastructure monitoring. Based on deformation information derived from ASAR (Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite data captured from 1992 to 2010, the Department of Infrastructure can determine how quick infrastructure is sinking in Diemen with millimetre accuracy. The deformation map allows practitioners to accurately identify damage and therefore correctly prioritise maintenance activities.

The result

The deformation map enables the city to accurately calculate maintenance cycles at every level (streets, neighbourhoods and districts). In addition, it shows the dynamics of the subsidence measured at each location, so the city can better prevent possible sewer emergencies. The deformation map also indicates that maintenance can be safely postponed in many neighbourhoods, leading to a reduction of the inconvenience and associated costs of construction works. Thanks to the accurate mapping of subsidence, the City of Diemen is capable to provide a more efficient planning of road and sewer maintenance, while providing a better service to citizens.

 “The City of Diemen provides a more efficient planning of maintenance of roads and sewers.” Ron Kaptijn, City of Diemen.

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Rotterdam is the second largest Dutch city and a rail, road and air transportat hub, connecting the largest port in Europe to its hinterland. The Municipality is committed to preserve its image of a healthy and attractive city for citizens as well as for businesses.

The Challenge

Urban areas react differently to solar radiation than their rural surroundings. They accumulate heat more rapidly and retain it for longer. Therefore, the air temperature is normally higher in cities, especially at night. This phenomenon is called an Urban Heat Island (UHI). Its magnitude depends on building density, vegetation coverage, facades and paving materials, among others. The heat waves of 2003 and 2006 caused between 1000 and 2200 extra deaths in The Netherlands, a country warming up twice as fast as the global average and whose urbanisation rate is expected to increase by 20% by 2040.

Since 2009, the city of Rotterdam participates in a research programme aimed at quantifying the UHI and identifying causes and possibilities for mitigation.

The Satellite Solution

Ground observations were carried out using fixed stations and bicycles equipped with mobile meteorological stations assessing air temperature, radiation and air quality. The precise location of measurements was logged using GPS. Similar equipment has been installed on trams crossing the city each day.

To analyse the spatial distribution pattern of surface temperature, a measurement of the UHI in Rotterdam was implemented with satellite imagery, allowing for the detection of correlations between surface characteristics and temperature. Based on the satellite images, an indicative map was elaborated showing the relative UHI-intensity for different neighbourhoods.

The Result

The collection of spatially quantified information on the extent of the UHI effect in Rotterdam enables the Municipality to prioritise its climate adaptation activities. The Departments of Public Works and Urban Planning can count on reliable information to identify the areas needing more vegetation or water coverage. The choice of materials for facades and paving may now be based on their heat reducing capacity. Furthermore, policy makers and health organisations can have a better understanding of the relationship between individuals’ health and their physical environment. Finally, the research programme will produce an insight on the relation between climate conditions, energy and climate management within buildings.

“Satellite imagery has helped Rotterdam get a better understanding of how climate change may affect our city and to target our efforts to cope with it”, Jos Streng, Rotterdam Public Works Department

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The Meuse river basin, with a drainage area of 34 548 km² and nearly nine million inhabitants, is a major geographic link between Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In addition to sustaining the living ecosystem, the water of the basin is used for domestic, agriculture, industry, navigation and recreation purposes.
In France, EPAMA (the Public Entity for the Management of the River Meuse and its Tributaries) supports local authorities and communities in the Meuse watershed to better prevent and manage flood risks.

The challenge

The discharges of the Meuse river fluctuate from 3 100 m3/s in winter 1993 at the Dutch/Walloon border to only 20-40 m3/s in summers. Precipitations impact directly high and low waters, leading to more floods in winter, which threaten assets in the basin, including major infrastructures, industries, and historical and ecological heritage.

“In the case of an international river basin district falling entirely within the Community, Member States shall ensure coordination with the aim of producing a single international river basin management plan” WATER DIRECTIVE 2000/60/EC

The satellite solution 

Convinced of the need for better international cooperation to address these risks, EPAMA teamed up with partners from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in AMICE, an EC INTERREG IVB project, to improve transnational flood management on the Meuse basin.

A web-based platform with information on water-related risks was set up by combining the available tools and data from national organisations. During a 10-day simulation exercise, satellite maps combined with a virtual representation of the extent of the flood produced by Sertit, a French regional centre for satellite data interpretation, were used to better understand the full dynamics and impact of floods along the basin, and to test the possibility that satellite information can be fed in the platform in real time in case of disaster. Indeed, thanks to the International Charter, an international convention, it is possible for regions affected by disasters to obtain free satellite maps in near real time.

The result

The platform is key for partners to coordinate prevention and preparedness strategies. It provides free and easy-to-update preparedness information for flood crisis management on a local level. Notably, the platform helps local authorities to set up their community safety plans and it could permit partners to benefit from free satellite maps in case of disasters, thanks to the International Charter.

“On the spot with local stakeholders, the satellites maps are useful to rise awareness about flood risks. Indeed they are more evocative than the simply mentioning discharge values. They permit to see directly the progress of flood peak, the flood level, and stakeholders and property affected all along the course of the river.” Xavier Caron, Director, EPAMA

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VOF School Jansen is a small family-business (husband, wife and a young son) that owns a 56-hectar farm. The crop fields consist of 40ha grassland, 13,5ha corn and 2,5ha sugar beet. An extra 10ha is used for food production for the farm’s livestock that consists of 130 milk cows with calves.

The company is a member of ZLTO, an association of over 18 000 farmers that seeks to help its members innovate so as to cope with higher market demands, environmental standards, and to keep up with technological opportunities.

The challenge

Agriculture cycles are full of uncertainties from one year to the next. The farmer’s decisions are largely based on experience, practice and advice from others. Adri School, the farm owner, decided to seize the opportunity of a tailored information service offered by ZLTO to improve his business decisions and outcomes.

The satellite solution

Adri School receives a regular e-mail with an overview of all the fields that can be irrigated and with advice on irrigation priorities, depending on soil moisture. The e-mail also indicates the most appropriate time to irrigate for best results, taking into account rain forecast. Finally, an extra level of information reports to the user the economic implications of the options presented. For instance, the program is able to make reliable estimations on whether or not it is economically beneficial to irrigate the grass or to re-seed the grassland.

The satellite data that feeds into the system is provided by eLEAF, the same company that manages the running of the system. eLEAF works together with both ZLTO, and WUR Livestock Research from Wageningen. The latter worked on the economic module of the service, seen as a way to provide the practical pros and cons of the options the farmer is presented with.

The result

VOF School Jansen can now better mitigate the uncertainties of the farming seasons thanks to objective, reliable information on the irrigation needs of the crops. The service is easy to use and allows the family business to save money and water. Information on the expected corn yield during the season allows to take a timely decision about purchasing additional corn or not for feeding the livestock.

As for ZLTO, not only does it offer a valuable decision-support to its members, but also contributes directly to environmental standards in the region, by encouraging a responsible use of groundwater.

“To reduce the amount of wasted freshwater globally, any agricultural company around the world should have the ability to gain reliable information on irrigation needs in order to save the scarce freshwater.”

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The Water Board De Stichtse Rijnlanden is one of the 26 regional Dutch water administrations in charge of flood control, water quantity and quality management, the treatment of urban wastewater, the maintenance of pumping, waterways and flood defence structures. The Board serves an area of 82 000 hectares that cover most of the province of Utrecht and a small part of the province of Zuid-Holland. The Board’s mission is to ensure safe dykes, clean surface water and correct water levels.

The challenge

The Water Board manages the allocation of a limited supply of freshwater between agricultural, municipal and environmental uses – which may sometimes conflict. Planning such an integrated water management system relies on information related to a multitude of issues, such as water supply and demand, irrigation requirements, water discharge and treatment, water quality, etc. It is therefore important for the Water Board that the water balance is monitored precisely. Evapotranspiration, the process of water evaporation from the soil surface and through plants, is one factor that can lead to significant loss of water from drainage basins. Until adopting the satellite-based solution, the estimation of evapotranspiration relied on calculations from state monitoring reports, which were not always sufficiently accurate.

The satellite solution

The Water Board De Stichtse Rijnlanden now purchases daily satellite information of evapotranspiration and crop growth from eLEAF, a Dutch value-adding company. This near real time information is delivered online covering 250x250m per pixel of its management area. To share experiences and for cost effectiveness, the information is purchased together with other Dutch Water Boards. This resulted in an organised group, SAT-WATER, which will ensure the continuity of the service in the future.

The result

Satellite data enable the Water Board to estimate the water balance at different spatial and temporal scales more accurately than before, which results in better-informed decisions about water allocation in the region and therefore in a sustainable use of this scarce resource. The use of the satellite images is relatively inexpensive, not only thanks to the mutualisation of costs among the participants, but also when compared to field measurements. The information greatly enhances knowledge on water systems.

“The focus for the next few years is to increase the types of satellite information we use on additional parameters (for instance soil moisture), and to increase cooperation with the other 26 Dutch Water Boards.” Joost Heijkers, Water Board Hoogheemraadschap De Stichtse Rijnlanden, one of the nine waterboards involved in SAT-WATER.

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