NASA Tracks Globe’s Changing Water
June 13th, 2019
Via Terra Daily, a look at the use of satellites to track changes in the world’s water:
Water is so commonplace that we often take it for granted. But too much – or too little of it – makes NASA explores our changing freshwater worlds.
Catastrophic flooding in the U.S. Midwest this spring has caused billions of dollars in damage and wreaked havoc with crops, after rain tipped off a mass melting of snow. Seven years of California drought so debilitating that it led to water rationing came to a close after a wet and snowy winter capped off several years of slow rebound and replenished the vital mountain snowpack.
Half a world away, drought in eastern Australia so depleted the wheat crop that it had to be imported for the first time in 12 years. In eastern Africa and the Middle East, some of the most severe drought conditions on Earth are contributing to stressed crops across Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Whether concerned with floods, droughts, or the status and quality of water supplies, addressing the water-related needs of humans on Earth starts with knowing where the water is. With unique views from space, NASA is at the forefront of studying and monitoring this most precious resource that is constantly on the move.
Researchers use data from satellites, aircraft, and other efforts, to find out where and when water is available around the globe, how much, and how are those patterns changing. They then figure out how to best use that data and get it into the hands of the people who need it most.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be exploring areas of NASA research into Earth’s freshwater and surveying how those advances help people solve real world problems.
NASA and its partners are using satellites to revolutionize our ability to track and understand the flow of freshwater around Earth – whether it is in the atmosphere, at the Earth’s surface, or underground. In the last two decades, freely available NASA datasets have been used for extensive research into the movement, distribution, and interaction of each part of the water cycle worldwide.
It’s a complex cycle: Evaporating from warm tropical oceans, freshwater condenses into clouds, circulating on the winds where a portion of it falls as rain or snow. On the ground, freshwater is stored in ice, snow, rivers and lakes. Or, it soaks into the ground, disappearing from view to infiltrate into soils and aquifers. Or, before it disappears from view, it can evaporate back to the atmosphere, where moisture is tightly related to Earth’s energy flow, which in turn influences weather patterns that govern freshwater’s distribution.
“Fresh water is critically important to humans, both in obvious ways and in unseen ways such as moving heat around Earth’s entire climate system,” said Jared Entin, terrestrial hydrology program manager in the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters, Washington. “With our current satellites, we are now making great progress in pinning down both the detail needed for local water decisions and the global view essential to better understanding our changing climate.”
Researchers funded by NASA have used satellite and airborne data to better inform existing tools for flooding, drought forecasts and famine relief efforts, and for planning and monitoring regional water supplies. These efforts are tackling some of the most pressing needs of people around the world.
These efforts are shaped by local geography and specific user needs to ensure they address freshwater data that are most valuable to communities. For this reason, NASA supports a number of water-management applications that are customized to support different regions. For example, NASA’s Western Water Applications Office works with various entities in the western U.S., including state governments, tribal nations, and private industries to track the impacts of drought on agriculture and general water supplies.
Abroad, NASA partners with the U.S. Agency for International Development through the SERVIR program to provide satellite data, computing tools, and training to local partners that improve local flood forecasting in Africa and assess climate impacts on mountain snow packs in the Himalayas, among other efforts.
These programs are but a few examples of many NASA-supported projects. Hundreds of other researchers, government agencies, and non-profits develop their own water-management tools and applications using NASA’s free and open datasets.
Water from Snow
NASA is improving on existing and developing new remote sensing methods that can reveal how much water is stored in mountain and seasonal snowpack – one of the world’s most vital sources of freshwater. More than a billion people, spanning multiple continents, rely on water from mountain snow for their water supplies that support drinking water, farming, and even hydroelectric power.Snowfall patterns shift over time, however, both year-to-year from natural variability and due to long-term climate effects. With persistent human demands, the ability to accurately measure how much water is in mountain snowpack becomes an even more critical capability.
Through the Airborne Snow Observatory program, NASA and California’s Department of Water Resources use instruments mounted on airplanes to create high resolution estimates of snow water content for priority watersheds in the Western U.S. The collected data helps determine the timing of the spring melt, which has downstream effects on hydroelectric power generation and planning for how much water can be held in reservoirs.
NASA is also focused on the long-term development of tools to measure water in snow through an airborne field campaign called SnowEx. This type of field campaign connects detailed measurements of snow in the Colorado Rocky Mountains taken by researchers on the ground to remote sensing observations made by aircraft flying over the ground sites. The connections made from these highly detailed datasets will help scientists design future satellite missions that will make similar measurements from space.
Airborne snow measurements, as well as other programs, complement long-term regional observations from NASA satellites that create estimates for entire mountain ranges in the Western U.S. and around the world.
Water in the Sky
When we think of water on Earth we may think of the ocean, rivers and lakes. But as water cycles around the planet, the atmosphere holds moisture, creating a reservoir in the sky that periodically condenses into rain and snow.NASA is part of a team from more than a dozen countries whose satellites are working together to deliver global rainfall data every half hour. Over land, rain has immediate impact as it soaks into the ground, which supports crops.
Rainfall data is one of the most essentia toolsl for monitoring freshwater’s movement around the planet, and goes into applications that touch people’s everyday lives, including weather forecasting, crop monitoring, and flood prediction.
For many parts of the world, especially developing countries and hard-to-reach terrain where ground measurements are sparse to non-existent, these global NASA datasets are sometimes the only consistent source of information on rainfall and soil moisture.
Water from Below
NASA satellites monitoring Earth’s gravity field have given scientists insight into the movement of large masses such as ice and water – including water hidden underground. This global look at changes to the amount of water storied in aquifers, massive underground freshwater reservoirs, has revealed some concerning trends. Of the 37 largest aquifers on Earth, a third of them are being depleted by communities pumping the water faster than it recharges from rainfall.These water declines occur primarily where agriculture and aquifers coincide, and where human water demands can easily exacerbate conditions of periodic drought. Among those most stressed in the past decade are the Central Valley of California, the Indus Basin in northwestern India and Pakistan, and the Arabian Aquifer System in Saudi Arabia.
About 70% of all freshwater on Earth is used for irrigated agriculture. Underground aquifers are water sources that act like waiting bank savings accounts, providing a dependable supply and making agriculture possible in arid areas where significant rain events may only occur once a year and during droughts when surface water is scarce.
We do not know the full extent of these underground water aquifers or when they may run dry, but understanding the change in available water that occurs both seasonally and throughout the satellite record helps decision-makers manage their resources.
In addition to witnessing the effects of agriculture, the satellite data show the effects of climate change, most notably in the decline of sea ice and ice sheets at the poles. They also observe the ups and downs of more natural variability that reflects a region’s span of wet or dry years.
As the global satellite record extends into the future, researchers and water managers will continue to monitor freshwater hidden below as climate patterns shift and human demands grow.
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Read More »Space Technology Predicts Droughts Several Months In Advance
January 28th, 2019
Via EurekAlert, an interesting article on
Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) have used new space technology to predict droughts and increased bushfire risk up to five months in advance.
ANU researcher Siyuan Tian said the team knew they needed to move into space to get closer to understanding the complex nature of drought.
They used data from multiple satellites to measure water below the Earth’s surface with unprecedented precision, and were able to relate this to drought impacts on the vegetation several months later.
“The way these satellites measure the presence of water on Earth is mind boggling,” said Ms Tian from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences.
“We’ve been able to use them to detect variations in water availability that affect the growth and condition of grazing land, dryland crops and forests, and that can lead to increased fire risk and farming problems several months down the track.”
Co-researcher Professor Albert van Dijk said combining these data with a computer model simulating the water cycle and plant growth enabled the team to build a detailed picture of the water’s distribution below the surface and likely impacts on the vegetation months later.
“We have always looked up at the sky to predict droughts – but not with too much success,” said Professor van Dijk from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society.
“This new approach – by looking down from space and underground – opens up possibilities to prepare for drought with greater certainty. It will increase the amount of time available to manage the dire impacts of drought, such as bushfires and livestock losses.”
The drought forecasts will be combined with the latest satellite maps of vegetation flammability from the Australian Flammability Monitoring System at ANU to predict how the risk of uncontrollable bushfires will change over the coming months.
The team used the GRACE Follow-On satellites, which were developed by American, German and Australian scientists. ANU Professor Daniel Shaddock led the Australian team.
Dr Paul Tregoning from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences said the GRACE space gravity mission provided a measurement of changes in total water storage anywhere on Earth for the first time.
“Combined with measurements of surface water and top soil moisture from other satellites, this provides the ability to know how much water is available at different depths below the soil,” he said.
“What is innovative and exciting about our work is that we have been able to quantify the available water more accurately than ever before. This leads to more accurate forecasts of vegetation state, as much as five months in advance.”
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Read More »Satellites And SMS Help Pakistan’s Farmers With Smart Irrigation
August 7th, 2017
Via Third Pole, a look at how – using data from NASA – Pakistan’s water research agency is sending rain forecasts to 10,000 farmers, helping them to irrigate more efficiently and increase their crop yields:
It is still beyond farmer Mohammad Ashraf’s comprehension that people in Islamabad can predict that it will rain in the next two days in his village. He is also astonished that, based on this prediction, they can tell him how much he should water his rice and sugarcane plantations.
“I marvel at this science of being able to predict something that is unknown and in God’s hands,” says the 36-year-old farmer, Every Friday, he reads the simple Urdu messages sent to his phone, saying things like: “Dear farmer friend, this is to inform you that between 21 and 28 July 2017 in your area (Bahawalnagar) the crops used this much water (cotton 1.6 inch, sugarcane 1.7 inch). Next week, rain is predicted in some parts of your region. Therefore please water your crops accordingly.”
The text messages (or SMS) are sent by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), a government agency that carries out water research. Ashraf would be even more flabbergasted if he knew the scientists get this information from space.
“Using satellites and models that take the pulse of the earth, we can identify the amount of water a given crop requires at a specific location and a specific time,” says Faisal Hossain, head of the Sustainability, Satellites, Water, and Environment (SASWE) research group at the University of Washington which developed the programme for, “estimating crop water requirement in a cost effective and sustainable manner for the whole country”.
Ashraf, who lives in Hayatpur in Punjab’s Sargodha district, now takes these messages seriously. Five years ago, he met water experts from the PCRWR who were doing a field survey to explore how to improve groundwater conservation and crop yield. During their surveys, the experts found that farmers were over-watering their crops. They installed a water meter on Ashraf’s 12-acre farm and explained that if the arrow turned towards the green on the dial, it meant that his land had enough water. When the arrow turned towards the red mark, it was time to water.
“Like every farmer in the village, I did not believe them. We have been farming for generations and know what works and what doesn’t,” Ashraf told thethirdpole.net. But the following year, he decided to only water his field when the marker pointed towards the red. That season he produced more, spent less on diesel to run the tubewell, and made more profit than anyone in the village. “The others watered their sugarcane fields three times more than I did and not only did my plants grow taller, I had less disease in my crop than the rest.”
Ashraf says that an acre of his land yielded 1,000 maunds (1 maund = 37 kilogrammes) of sugarcane. Each maund sold for PKR 180 (USD 1.70). “I sold my crop for PKR 180,000 (USD 1,700) while most villagers could only sell between PKR 80,000 and 100,000 (USD 755-944). Now a convert, he says he plans heed to every word from PCRWR. “I’d say that 99% of the time they are right on the mark about rain,” he says.
Since last year, the PCRWR has sent weekly information to farmers like Ashraf through text messages, telling them how much water their crops need. They also send them weather forecasts.
“We started with 700 farmers in April 2016, all across Pakistan, and since January this year the number of farmers receiving the messages has increased to 10,000,” says Ahmed Zeeshan Bhatti, deputy director of PCRWR. The agency has submitted a proposal to some organisations to support it in improving the advice and expanding the service to 100,000 farmers.
“We carried out a survey to gauge the response of the farmers to our advice and the feedback was encouraging,” he says. Between 25 and 30 farmers would call back immediately for further information. “Our initial telephone survey revealed that farmers are saving almost 40% of water by rationing irrigation,” he says, adding that the service is saving around 250 million cubic metres of irrigation water per year. In the next phase of the programme, the PCRWR wants to train the farmers, as well as those working in the agriculture department, to use research and the meteorological advice properly.
“I think the information they send is quite useful for us as by conserving water, our profit margins will be greater,” says 37-year old farmer Mohammad Tariq from Faisalabad. He, however, wishes for more types of information such as when to sow, when to spray with pesticides, how many times and what seed is good for which crop.
“Currently, we are totally dependent on whatever the sellers of agri-products tell us about using pesticides and seeds. We just accept whatever they say,” he says. “If it comes from the government agency, it would be authentic.”
“When the British designed the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) between 1847 to 1947, it was to turn 67% of the basin area into farmland,” said Azeem Shah, regional researcher at Lahore based International Water Management Institute.
Even after the British left in 1947, the government irrigation engineers have been adding new dams, barrages, link and branch canals to the old system. Today IBIS has three large dams, eighty five small dams, nineteen barrages, twelve inter-river link canals, forty-five canal commands and 0.7 million tube wells. Still, say experts, canal irrigation water efficiency can be increased from the current 33% up to 90% (in the developed countries) by repairing leakages in the system, smart metering and creating effective solutions for reducing the demand for water and at the same time increasing agricultural productivity.
Further, today, said Shah, the cropping intensity has increased by 150% compared to 1947 with farmers not wanting to leave any fallow land. They also cultivate two or three crops. “Over the last 70 years, the quantity of the water has remained the same but agriculture is competing with other sectors, such as industry, as well as the growing population,” says Shah. Today, says Shah, roughly 50% of irrigation needs are met by IBIS canals and 50% is extracted from the ground.
The SMS programme is supported technically and financially by the University of Washington’s Global Affairs Department, NASA’s applied sciences programme, the Ivanhoe Foundation and the Pakistan government. When it started, the PCRWR was providing week-old information, but is now able to forecast for the present and the future. Hossain points out, however, that even if long-term forecasts were not offered, short-term weather information would still have value. “Soil moisture has memory and inertia, so knowing how much it has rained and stayed in the soil the previous week is necessary to plan the coming week’s irrigation,” he explained.
The PCRWR is able to access global weather model forecasts with the help of the University of Washington, using a Chinese model and collaborating with the Pakistan Meteorological Department. “It is thus able to provide quite accurate information,” says Bhatti.
With Pakistan among many countries vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather conditions, using scientific methods to help farmers irrigate their land more efficiently is all the more necessary. Will this advice help farmers adapt to or fend off extreme climate phenomena in the years to come?
“That’s the idea,” says Bhatti, adding that the advice should help farmers tackle climate aberrations like heatwaves, and increased frequency of heavy and intense rainfall.
Hossain is a more cautious: “The skill of general circulation model projections – say into 2040 – is poor and of little empowering value to farmers. We are more focused on providing tactical information, rather than long-term strategic information for adaptation.”
Nor is this the only cellphone-based initiative taking place in Pakistan. In the province of Punjab, the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) along with the Agriculture Department of Punjab, is partnering with Telenor, a cellular company providing financial services to farmers who do not have bank accounts. “Not only are we providing interest free loans to smallholder farmers we are providing them advisories on how to improve their yield by using modern agriculture practices and linking them to agriculture experts, research institutions, agriculture extension workers and input providers,” said Uzair Shahid, senior programme manager at the PITB.
Step by small step, the farmers of Pakistan may end up seeing cellphone technology as an essential part of a more productive future.
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Read More »Water Quality From Space
July 25th, 2017
Via The Source, an interesting article on the use of satellite remote sensing techniques to assess changes in water quality:
Satellites have a long history, with the American writer, Edward Everett Hale, writing speculative fiction containing the first known depiction of an artificial satellite to measure longitude in The Brick Moon, back in 1869. During the intensity of World War II, the first space-based picture of Earth was taken, demonstrating the potential for space-based cameras to help us monitor our changing world. Soon after, space became the battlefield where the US and the Soviet Union tested their supremacy during the Cold War, giving way to, amongst others, the first commercial communications satellite. Today, from atmospheric satellites that can predict weather conditions to remote sensing satellites that monitor our environment’s resources from afar, there’s little on Earth’s surface that escapes from satellites’ sight. How can we apply satellite information to improve the quality of our waters and optimise decision making in water supply services?
Our freshwater resources are severely affected by climate change, urbanisation, population growth, and competing demands from other uses, such as ecosystem protection, agriculture, energy production and recreation. Water utilities’ treatment operations, costs, and the resulting services to consumers are heavily determined by both the quantity and quality of water upstream in the catchments and reservoirs.
Changes in climate are resulting in increased frequency and intensity of precipitation, topping up reservoirs, which can result in excess water runoff. This may lead to flooding and even destruction of the water stored, compromising water supplies.
Increased urbanisation also aggravates the quality of water bodies. The expansion of paved areas and increased urban runoff are major sources of water pollution in urban areas. Another big threat to water quality comes from diffuse pollution caused by intensive farming and its associated use of pesticides and fertilisers to feed an increasing population worldwide.
These increasing pressures pose additional challenges to water utilities, many of which already struggle to secure a reliable supply of safe and clean water. Having access to real-time and forecasted information about the conditions of water quality and quantity is essential to proactively manage upstream risks, improve responses to water incidents, or improve their operational efficiency and quality of their services.
SPACE-O integrates Earth Observations and in-situ monitoring with advanced hydrological, water quality models and ICT tools, into a powerful decision support system that will generate up-to-the-minute data, as well as forecasting of water flows and water quality data in reservoirs. This knowledge about the conditions in the ground, now and in the near future, will help optimise water treatment plant operations, and increase the responsiveness of water managers against incidences, such as algal blooms, droughts and floods.
“High resolution pictures from earth observation could assist our water company in knowing when it’s the best time to take water from the river when the water stored during winter isn’t enough to supply for the summer months, highly reducing our maintenance costs,” said Ingrid Keupers, Technical Director of De Watergroep, during one of the first project consultation meetings with water utility operators.
Ensuring uptake of the resulting products is indeed crucial to the philosophy of SPACE-O. The products are centered around a decision support system (DSS) which aims to make use of satellite date and other technical tools to help water operators make informed decisions around issues such as water quality in reservoirs. From the start, a series of consultations with utility operators has been undertaken to cater the products to users’ needs. This creates ownership and interest in application of the relevant tools to their operations. Utilities that are interested to learn more can contact info@space-o.eu, and follow all the latest developments on the project’s website and social media channels.
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Read More »Novel Use Of Satnav Saves Precious Water
May 17th, 2017
Via Seed Daily, a look at an innovative use of satellite navigation re: water conservation:
Water conservation is a growing concern globally, and particularly for farmers in the USA, where decades of irrigating huge fields has depleted vital resources of fresh surface water and groundwater. An ESA spin-off that can help to preserve water supplies while guaranteeing crop irrigation is now undergoing final testing.
The ambitious plan of former ESA employee Javier Marti is to tackle irrigation overuse, based on a concept developed at the agency’s technology centre in the Netherlands: using reflected satellite navigation signals for remotely sensing the Earth’s surface.
Lying under eight states in the central US, the vast Ogallala aquifer supplies almost a third of the ground water for crop irrigation in the country – but a large portion of the aquifer, particularly in the states of New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, could dry up within a generation or two if no action is taken.
Two thirds of the aquifer’s water lies under Nebraska, making the state a focus for testing the approach that Javier’s company Divirod has developed.
Over the coming months, several farms will regulate and optimise their irrigation using the new technique to reduce water consumption.
“Our system compares reflected and direct satnav signals to reveal the moisture content of soil and crops,” explained Javier, Divirod’s CEO.
“We anticipate our system could save farmers around 30% in operating costs in terms of both water and energy. Crop yields depend on many factors, but we estimate we could also improve yields by 10-12%.”
Using satnav signals for remote sensing
Javier worked with ESA engineer Manuel Martin-Neira on the Agency’s SMOS soil moisture and ocean salinity satellite. Here, he got the idea of using reflected satnav signals from a project proposed by Manuel for remote sensing. Manuel proposed using the microwave signals to measure terrestrial features such as the topography of oceans.
“Satellites carrying altimeters that use radar can only measure along the line of flight, whereas I realised that using reflected satnav signals would let us take measurements from several different points,” explained Manuel.
Spin-off from space
“Javier and Manuel’s work resulted in three ESA patents for using reflected satnav signals, a breakthrough now available for developing new terrestrial applications,” said ESA Technology Transfer Programme officer Mercedes Sanchez Alvarez.
“It’s great to see that Javier has taken the same signal approach and used it in another manner to develop a practical system for ground measurements of surface soil moisture content, water levels in reservoirs, snowpack and wetlands, among other applications.”
Manuel added, “Although the principles of how SMOS measures soil moisture are different from the Divirod approach, both techniques provide essentially the same thing.
“But what is nice here is that satellite navigation itself is the focus of much development, so basing a soil moisture measurement system on it should enable cost-effective results.”
Javier explained that the key is how the satnav signals are processed. “Using satnav for remote sensing is not unique, but we have developed software that lets us measure variations across a huge field down to a resolution of around 5×5 m or less, using only one sensor on a pole in the centre of the field.
“For some applications we could reduce this resolution to below a square metre in the future.”
This detailed coverage can be integrated into irrigation systems so that water is delivered precisely to different areas across each field as required.
Sensors can also be built into the industrial centre pivot irrigation systems that are widely used across the USA and combined with machine learning to create a self-contained, closed-loop scheme.
Better cultivation in Nebraska
“I’m really excited about the prospect of using the Divirod technology to refine how we use water on our farm,” said Roric Paulman, owner of Paulman Farms in Nebraska, one of the initial trial sites.
“We’re sited in a water restriction management area now. Nebraska legislation recognises that the surface water and groundwater needs in the future are important to the sustainability of the aquifer.”
The alternative methods of assessing soil moisture are physical probes and satellite images. However, a probe measures only the value at one point, and extrapolating from that can be complicated by the different soil types, slopes and varying ground elevation – even across a single field.
“The problems with satellite imagery are not only resolution and cost, but also the time it takes to gather the data and translate it into a setting for the irrigation tool. This can take days, but on a farm we’re working in real time,” added Roric.
Towards efficient water use
Divirod is carrying out sensor tests at the University of Nebraska’s Lincoln Experiment Station to confirm the sensor measurements. It will also be one of the technologies investigated by the Ogallala Water Coordinated Agriculture Project, which may involve thousands of sensors.
Although agriculture is a focus for Divirod, the company is already exploring other applications. From May, sensors will be tested at two sites in Boulder, Colorado, for their potential for moderating water usage in municipal landscapes. There has also been interest from the Middle East. A provisional patent has been filed and more could follow.
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Read More »As Lake Chad Shrinks Rapidly, Space Technology And Drones Are Needed To fight Africa’s Droughts
February 26th, 2017
Via Quartz, a look at how emerging technological opportunities for improving environmental monitoring and the need to act in time could help manage crisis like Lake Chad:
Nigerian and Chadian officials are seeking $50 billion for a major water diversion project to replenish Lake Chad. This is nearly twice the annual GDP of Uganda. But it’s understandable, the lake has shrunk by nearly 90% between 1963 and today.
The plan involves diverting water from the Oubangi River in Central Africa to replenish the lake. It is estimated that the feasibility study alone would cost nearly $15 million. The proposed project would also provide irrigation, energy, and transportation infrastructure aimed at stimulating economic development.
With the election of Chadian foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat as chairperson of the African Union Commission, the project and the larger security concerns will remain a priority for the organization as well as for diplomatic interactions with other regions of the world.
Lake Chad offers a grim cautionary tale of how lessons from chronic drought might inform our anticipation of the potential impact of climate change in many parts of Africa. It shows the close interconnections between ecological change, security, and development. But it also points to emerging technological opportunities for improving environmental monitoring and the need to act in time.
The lake straddles the borders of Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria. This is the same region that is ravaged by the excesses of Boko Haram. It provides water for nearly 30 million people in the semi-arid Sahel region. Its overall basin is the largest closed drainage basin in the world covering 2.5 million square km, or about 8% of the African continent.
The prolonged Sahel drought from the late 1960s to the early 1980s reduced water flow into the lake. The drought, combined with population growth, pushed people in the catchment areas to expand irrigation. This further undercut the flow of water into the lake.
In 1972, the lake split into two, and was separated by a 40 km barrier. The southern lake is shallower and therefore more susceptible to evaporation. To restore the lake level, enough water would need to flow into the southern lake to overflow the barrier and replenish the northern lake. But this has been compromised by drought and irrigation. Simulation studies have shown that the failure of Lake Chad to merge back into a single water body following wetter periods in the 1990s resulted from irrigation. Without irrigation the lake would have probably merged in 1999, and again in 2004.
Lake Victoria’s challenge
The case of Lake Chad is too dramatic to contemplate. But other major water bodies such as Lake Victoria are vulnerable to similar, if not equivalent, impacts. Nearly 80% of the replenishment of Lake Victoria comes from rainfall, which feeds thousands of streams. The lake itself is relatively shallow, averaging 40 meters deep. A prolonged drought could affect large parts of the shoreline, destroying fish breeding areas and agriculture. This would put the lives of millions of people at risk.
Consequences of a receding shoreline due to prolonged drought is unknown. But it would be foolhardy to wait and see. Some people would turn to irrigation, especially on the Kenyan side of the lake, which has the largest number of rivers flowing into it. This would reduce the inflow of water into the lake. Considerable water and land use conflicts would ensue, making them national security challenges. The ramifications would extend to East Africa’s relations with the Nile basin countries, especially Egypt.
Little is known of the consequences of even modest receding of the shoreline due to prolonged drought. But it would be foolhardy to wait and see. The first step in addressing the problem is to conduct real time monitoring of ecological trends in the region. One of the most effective tools available today is satellite technology.
African countries are only starting to explore the use of space technology. Climate change and regional ecological disruptions are already rendering historical maps and geographical data useless. Traditional knowledge is no longer an effective guide for environmental management in light of climate change. Policymakers need a fresh start using modern technologies.
Part of the slow adoption of satellite technology is the perception that space technology is too expensive. The popular and false image of the technology is derived from the last century, when the space programs were too expensive for emerging countries.
This perception has persisted despite dramatically falling costs of developing such programs. African countries can now establish viable space programs with about $300 million. The costs could be shared by neighboring countries. The East African Community, for example, could have one regional space program instead five separate ones.
More countries around the world are now focusing on small satellites, which are easier to build and launch in modular constellations. This is also making it possible for students in South Africa to participate in the design of small satellites and the accompanying scientific experiments.
The other major concern is that the few space initiatives that exist in Africa focus more on turnkey projects. Instead, they should stress building the requisite human capacity needed to rise up the space ladder. The best place to build such capacity is in universities, not in secretive departments in government ministries.
The lifespan of a satellite is about 10 years. Countries that do not invest in continuous training quickly see their ground facilities rendered obsolete by technological change. A space program only functions effectively when it is supported by a strong human resource foundation on the ground.
The future of environmental monitoring is being transformed by the increased use emerging technologies such as civilian drones. Climate change offers Africa yet another reason to leverage the drones to complement satellite technology. Increasing the installation of weather stations across Africa would provide additional support for environmental monitoring. According to Gro Intelligence, the land mass of sub-Saharan Africa is 35 times that of Texas. Yet the two have nearly the same number of weather stations.
The long-term contribution of such efforts lies in building strong institutions of higher learning attached to major infrastructure projects. Such universities can then work with networks of technical institutes and high schools to broaden the base for competence in environmental management.
Investments in human resource development, especially in the engineering fields, will help African countries reduce the maintenance costs of infrastructure projects. Given the magnitude of the financial outlays needed for climate change abatement projects, the continent needs low-cost ways of providing evidence-based advice for the design, implementation and maintenance of infrastructure investments. Ways to do this include expanding the engineering divisions of African scientific academies as well as creating dedicated academies of engineering.
The specter of climate change will continue to haunt Africa. But it also offers new opportunities for tapping into emerging technologies for environmental monitoring to address improve development planning and identify emerging security challenges. Such anticipatory work might give the continent the knowledge needed to respond in time to ecological disasters.
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