University Twente Using Satellite Data for Dutch Water Management

University Twente leads the five-year research project Optimizing Water Availability using Sentinel-1 Satellites (OWAS1S) to collect data from the European satellite, Sentinel-1

The budget will partly be used for the appointment of three doctoral candidates, two at the University of Twente and one at Wageningen University. The doctoral candidates will use a new European satellite, Sentinel-1, to measure the carrying capacity for agricultural vehicles and availability of moisture for plants with an unprecedented spatial resolution (10-m). By combining this information with existing models, it will be examined how water management can be optimized.

Dr. ir. Rogier van der Velde, one of the researchers in the project: "During the transition from the wet winter to the dry summer, Dutch water managers are confronted with the dilemma whether to retain water or drain it away. Retention means that land remains wetter with the result that the carrying capacity is insufficient for performing operations so that the growing season is shortened.

On the other hand, starting too early with the draining of water can cause a lack of moisture in dry summer months, with disastrous consequences for crop growth and agricultural production." Water authorities can use the information obtained from the satellite data to make informed decisions concerning this annually recurring dilemma.

Van der Velde: "This is the first time that the Dutch water sector is supporting research into the use of satellite images to optimize water management in this way." The STW WATER programme is part of Topsector water's research and innovation agendas.

Source: University of Twente

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Taxonomy

• Technology
• Data Management
• Water Management