Unlocking the global benefits of Earth Observation to address the SDG 6 in situ water quality monitoring gap
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 requires innovative and often disruptive approaches to address critical gaps in global water quality monitoring. The most recent SDG Indicator 6.3.2 (Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality) progress report highlights a critical water qu...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Remote Sensing |
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| author | Harriet Wilson Nina Raasakka Evangelos Spyrakos David Millar Merrie Beth Neely Anham Salyani Shubham Pawar Igor Chernov S. Karen de Lespérance Ague Ximena Aguilar Vega Adenike Akinsemolu Analy Baltodano Martinez Carmen Cillero Castro Carmen Cillero Castro Michelle Del Valle Mohamed Fadlelseed Anabella Ferral Jemal Mohammed Hassen Dalin Jiang Tracey Kudzanai Mubambi Sofia La Fuente Lukumon Olaitan Lateef Felipe de L. Lobo Jerome Marty Albert Nkwasa Albert Nkwasa Julia Akinyi Obuya Julia Akinyi Obuya Igor Ogashawara Ils Reusen Ashley Rogers Susanne I. Schmidt Kabindra Sharma Stefan G. H. Simis Shenglei Wang Stuart Warner Andrew Tyler |
| author_facet | Harriet Wilson Nina Raasakka Evangelos Spyrakos David Millar Merrie Beth Neely Anham Salyani Shubham Pawar Igor Chernov S. Karen de Lespérance Ague Ximena Aguilar Vega Adenike Akinsemolu Analy Baltodano Martinez Carmen Cillero Castro Carmen Cillero Castro Michelle Del Valle Mohamed Fadlelseed Anabella Ferral Jemal Mohammed Hassen Dalin Jiang Tracey Kudzanai Mubambi Sofia La Fuente Lukumon Olaitan Lateef Felipe de L. Lobo Jerome Marty Albert Nkwasa Albert Nkwasa Julia Akinyi Obuya Julia Akinyi Obuya Igor Ogashawara Ils Reusen Ashley Rogers Susanne I. Schmidt Kabindra Sharma Stefan G. H. Simis Shenglei Wang Stuart Warner Andrew Tyler |
| author_sort | Harriet Wilson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 requires innovative and often disruptive approaches to address critical gaps in global water quality monitoring. The most recent SDG Indicator 6.3.2 (Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality) progress report highlights a critical water quality in situ data gap, with an urgent need for countries to strengthen their monitoring capacity and commence state water quality assessments and trend analysis. Earth Observation (EO) technologies hold immense potential to close that gap for SDG Indicator 6.3.2. However, limited awareness, lack of skills and resource inequalities are some of the barriers which hinder widespread adoption of EO. We present insights from a unique workshop held at the University of Stirling in 2024, which convened diverse participants from academia, industry, NGOs, and international agencies and across disciplines, geographies, and sectors. Through creative and collective thinking approaches, they developed four actionable concepts: (1) Space Buzz: a media campaign to raise awareness of EO value; (2) centralised EO access hubs to empower users and improve equality; (3) scalable education strategies for capacity building; and (4) an Intergovernmental Panel for Water Quality to enhance global coordination. Each concept derived from a synoptic creative process, demonstrating the uniqueness of thinking within the teams. To unlock the potential of EO for global water quality monitoring, we invite EO networks, funders, water resource managers and individuals to champion these concepts, and incorporate them into funding calls and proposals. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-16fbd459ab20402ca5c169d50cfe6250 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2673-6187 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-16fbd459ab20402ca5c169d50cfe62502025-08-20T03:40:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Remote Sensing2673-61872025-03-01610.3389/frsen.2025.15492861549286Unlocking the global benefits of Earth Observation to address the SDG 6 in situ water quality monitoring gapHarriet Wilson0Nina Raasakka1Evangelos Spyrakos2David Millar3Merrie Beth Neely4Anham Salyani5Shubham Pawar6Igor Chernov7S. Karen de Lespérance Ague8Ximena Aguilar Vega9Adenike Akinsemolu10Analy Baltodano Martinez11Carmen Cillero Castro12Carmen Cillero Castro13Michelle Del Valle14Mohamed Fadlelseed15Anabella Ferral16Jemal Mohammed Hassen17Dalin Jiang18Tracey Kudzanai Mubambi19Sofia La Fuente20Lukumon Olaitan Lateef21Felipe de L. Lobo22Jerome Marty23Albert Nkwasa24Albert Nkwasa25Julia Akinyi Obuya26Julia Akinyi Obuya27Igor Ogashawara28Ils Reusen29Ashley Rogers30Susanne I. Schmidt31Kabindra Sharma32Stefan G. H. Simis33Shenglei Wang34Stuart Warner35Andrew Tyler36Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United KingdomUnited Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, KenyaBiological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United KingdomHydro Nation Chair Research and Innovation Programme, University of Stirling, Stirling, United KingdomGlobal Science and Technology, Greenbelt, MD, United StatesUnited Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, KenyaBiological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United KingdomEnviroSPACE Laboratory, Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandWest African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi, BeninBiological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United KingdomThe Green Institute, Ondo, NigeriaDepartment of Water and Climate, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium3edata, Environmental Engineering S.L. R&D Department, Lugo, Spain0Estonian University of Life Sciences, Chair of Hydrobiology and Fisheries, Tartu, Estonia1FinSat Inc., New York, NY, United States2Sudan Youth Parliament for Water, Khartoum, Sudan3Instituto de Altos Estudios Espaciales Mario Gulich (CONAE), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina4National Irrigation and Water Harvesting Research Program, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaBiological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom5Environmental Management Agency, Harare, ZimbabweDepartment of Water and Climate, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium6NOVA Information Management School (IMS), Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (UNL), Lisbon, Portugal7Center for Technological Development (CDTec), Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), Pelotas, Brazil8International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR), Ann Arbor, MI, United States9Water Security Research Group, Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA),Laxenburg, Austria0Directorate of Water Resources Management, Ministry of Water and Environment, Kampala, Uganda1Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Toledo, OH, United States2Socioeconomic Department, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya3Plankton and Microbial Ecology Deparment, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany4Research Unit Remote Sensing and Earth Observation Processes, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium5Social Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom6Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH - UFZ, Magdeburg, Germany7Department of Peace and Conflict Studies and Management, Sikkim University, Gangtok, India8Earth Observation Science and Applications, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, United Kingdom9International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, Beijing, China0Global Environment Monitoring Unit, United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, Nairobi, KenyaBiological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United KingdomAchieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 requires innovative and often disruptive approaches to address critical gaps in global water quality monitoring. The most recent SDG Indicator 6.3.2 (Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality) progress report highlights a critical water quality in situ data gap, with an urgent need for countries to strengthen their monitoring capacity and commence state water quality assessments and trend analysis. Earth Observation (EO) technologies hold immense potential to close that gap for SDG Indicator 6.3.2. However, limited awareness, lack of skills and resource inequalities are some of the barriers which hinder widespread adoption of EO. We present insights from a unique workshop held at the University of Stirling in 2024, which convened diverse participants from academia, industry, NGOs, and international agencies and across disciplines, geographies, and sectors. Through creative and collective thinking approaches, they developed four actionable concepts: (1) Space Buzz: a media campaign to raise awareness of EO value; (2) centralised EO access hubs to empower users and improve equality; (3) scalable education strategies for capacity building; and (4) an Intergovernmental Panel for Water Quality to enhance global coordination. Each concept derived from a synoptic creative process, demonstrating the uniqueness of thinking within the teams. To unlock the potential of EO for global water quality monitoring, we invite EO networks, funders, water resource managers and individuals to champion these concepts, and incorporate them into funding calls and proposals.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2025.1549286/fullwater quality remote sensinghackathonwater quality monitoringinnovationSustainable Development Goal |
| spellingShingle | Harriet Wilson Nina Raasakka Evangelos Spyrakos David Millar Merrie Beth Neely Anham Salyani Shubham Pawar Igor Chernov S. Karen de Lespérance Ague Ximena Aguilar Vega Adenike Akinsemolu Analy Baltodano Martinez Carmen Cillero Castro Carmen Cillero Castro Michelle Del Valle Mohamed Fadlelseed Anabella Ferral Jemal Mohammed Hassen Dalin Jiang Tracey Kudzanai Mubambi Sofia La Fuente Lukumon Olaitan Lateef Felipe de L. Lobo Jerome Marty Albert Nkwasa Albert Nkwasa Julia Akinyi Obuya Julia Akinyi Obuya Igor Ogashawara Ils Reusen Ashley Rogers Susanne I. Schmidt Kabindra Sharma Stefan G. H. Simis Shenglei Wang Stuart Warner Andrew Tyler Unlocking the global benefits of Earth Observation to address the SDG 6 in situ water quality monitoring gap Frontiers in Remote Sensing water quality remote sensing hackathon water quality monitoring innovation Sustainable Development Goal |
| title | Unlocking the global benefits of Earth Observation to address the SDG 6 in situ water quality monitoring gap |
| title_full | Unlocking the global benefits of Earth Observation to address the SDG 6 in situ water quality monitoring gap |
| title_fullStr | Unlocking the global benefits of Earth Observation to address the SDG 6 in situ water quality monitoring gap |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unlocking the global benefits of Earth Observation to address the SDG 6 in situ water quality monitoring gap |
| title_short | Unlocking the global benefits of Earth Observation to address the SDG 6 in situ water quality monitoring gap |
| title_sort | unlocking the global benefits of earth observation to address the sdg 6 in situ water quality monitoring gap |
| topic | water quality remote sensing hackathon water quality monitoring innovation Sustainable Development Goal |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2025.1549286/full |
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