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Remote Sensing

Remote Sensing encompasses a range of technologies and tools which capture/analyze the energy that is reflected from Earth. Sensors are mounted either on satellites or aircraft, and can be passive (capturing energy that is naturally available; e.g. satellite-based optical sensors) or active (providing their own energy for illumination, then detecting and measuring the reflected energy; e.g. Synthetic Aperture Radar / SAR and Light Detection and Ranging / LiDAR).

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Airborne Laser Scanning and Aerial Hyperspectral Imaging Technologies in Disaster Management: Hungary, Kolontár Red-Mud Spill

Problem Description / Relevance to Water Security: 

On October 4, 2010 the embankment of the red mud reservoir failed and released a mixture of 600-700 thousand cubic meters of red mud and water. The mud, a byproduct of refining aluminium from bauxite ore, was dangerously alkaline, extremely salty and contained potentially toxic metals like chromium and vanadium. Lower parts of the settlements of Kolontár, Devecser and Somlóvásárhely villages were flooded. Ten people died, and another 120 people were injured. The red mud flooded 800 hectares of surrounding areas.

ICT Application / Outcome: 

Survey and analysis of the effects of red mud disaster-prone area and information service for authorities:

Application of Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing for Flood Protection Planning Over the Sajó Valley

Problem Description / Relevance to Water Security: 

The project was set up following the flooding of 2010, when Hungary experienced a record rainfall in May and June and consequently a nation-wide flood came about on smaller and larger rivers. The most affected areas and settlements were in the Sajó valley. An approximately 100 year return period flood wave arrived to the Hungarian border in June 2010 that increased to a once-in-200 year flood on the lower parts of the river.

ICT Application / Outcome: 

The Sajó valley airborne laser scanning and aerial digital imagery have been made on 121 km2 area in Hungary (17th June 2013), and on 190 km2 area in Slovakia (17-18th July 2013).

Environmental Management Plan for the Lake Uromiyeh Ecosystem, Iran

Problem Description / Relevance to Water Security: 

Lake Uromiyeh is shallow (6-8 m deep) and has no outflow, so all the precipitation falling in the basin evaporates either from the land or from the lake itself. The evaporating water leaves the dissolved salts behind. The actual salinity depends on the amount of water in the lake, i.e. the lake level. These circumstances led to the development of a relatively simple ecology, populated by salt-loving organisms at each level of the food chain.

ICT Application / Outcome: 

The principles of integrated water management were applied. The key tool in it was a decision support system (DSS) that combined data from all related fields.

The advantage of using a DSS in integrated water resources management is that it provides the possibility of testing outcomes of different water allocation schemes, i.e. of different scenarios.

The DSS for Lake Uromiyeh incorporated several software tools, comprising four major logical units (Figure 2).

Remote Sensing Based Agricultural Drought Monitoring and Yield Loss Prediction Method

Problem Description / Relevance to Water Security: 

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Global Water Partnership (GWP) have launched a joint Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) in March 2013, to improve monitoring and prevention of one of the world’s greatest natural hazards. GWP is responding to the climate change challenge through a portfolio of programmes and projects aimed at building climate resilience through better water management (Kindler and Thalmeinerova 2012).

ICT Application / Outcome: 

The case study has three important steps, which correspond and relate to each other in hierarchical way.

Use of Remote Sensing and GIS in Water Resources Management: North Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS)

Problem Description / Relevance to Water Security: 

The North-Western Sahara Aquifer System, which stretches over an area of more than one million square kilometers, is shared by Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Due to the structural configuration and climate type of the region, the recharge of the NWSAS is very limited. These aquifer systems represent geological reserves whose natural outlets (springs and foggaras) led to the development of oases where people lived, for centuries ago, in perfect harmony with the Saharan ecosystem.

ICT Application / Outcome: 

As water resources are mainly related to agriculture in the area of interest, a first vegetation mapping was realized based on MODIS time-series NDVI covering the NWSAS area over the last 10 years in order to establish a first vegetation areas inventory, to better understand the spatial distribution and year-to-year variability in irrigated areas.

Results:

Using ICTs to Investigate Agricultural-Induced Eutrophication in Freshwater Reservoirs: A Case Study of the Tsimlyansk Reservoir (Russia)

Problem Description / Relevance to Water Security: 

The Tsimlyansk Reservoir in Southern Russia is of great environmental and economic importance to the region in which it is located. Formed as a result of the Tsimlyansk dam, the reservoir is relied upon for transportation, as a source of freshwater in an area that is densely populated, is used extensively for irrigation of the region’s agricultural lands, and is a source of cooling water for a nuclear power plant in the area, among a variety of other uses (Lagutov and Lagutov 2012). 

ICT Application / Outcome: 

The first step was to perform a land use classification to develop a land use land cover map to determine the extent to which agricultural lands cover the area of study. Four Landsat tiles (Figure 3), enough to cover the entire reservoir and adequate land around it, were obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey database (glovis.usgs.gov) for two dates, one at the beginning of the growing season (June-July) and one towards the end of the growing season (August)  Images were selected based on the 1) time of year, 2) satellite mission, and 3) little cloud cover.