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 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.
Authors
- Evangelos Spyrakos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7970-5211)
- Stuart Warner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2626-2784)
- Jérôme Marty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7295-2372)
- Harriet Wilson
- Carmen Cillero Castro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7298-9220)
- Andrew Tyler
- Lukumon Olaitan Lateef (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2383-5820)
- Shubham Pawar
- Anham Salyani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9205-8960)
- Anabella Ferral (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9383-7728)
- Analy Baltodano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2067-8025)
- Merrie Beth Neely (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5240-8986)
- Ximena Vega (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4120-7601)
- Felipe de Lucia Lobo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8061-0076)
- Susanne I. Schmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0051-6480)
- Nina Raasakka
- Kabindra Sharma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3113-6384)
- I. Reusen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8534-9110)
- Igor Ogashawara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6328-0001)
- Dalin Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5676-5860)
- Adenike A. Akinsemolu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6360-9356)
- Albert Nkwasa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8685-8854)
- Stefan Simis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6296-9146)
- Shenglei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5699-6483)
- M. Del Valle
- I. V. Chernov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0554-4494)
- David Millar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2391-3422)
- Ashley Rogers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3156-2642)
- Mohamed Fadlelseed
- Jemal Mohammed Hassen
- Tracey Kudzanai Mubambi
- Sofia La Fuente
- Julia Akinyi Obuya
- Sèlomè Karen de Lespérance Ague
Institutions
- University of Geneva (CH)
- University of Stirling (GB)
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (AT)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE)
- University of Zimbabwe (ZW)
- Bowling Green State University (US)
- Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (AR)
- Universidade Federal de Pelotas (BR)
- Estonian University of Life Sciences (EE)
- United Nations Environment Programme (KE)
- Genedata (Switzerland) (CH)
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB)
- FishBase Information and Research Group (PH)
- Beijing Institute of Big Data Research (CN)
- West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (GH)
- Global Science & Technology (United States) (US)
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (DE)
- International Association for Great Lakes Research (US)
- Université d'Abomey-Calavi (BJ)
- Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KE)
- Sikkim University (IN)
- Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (ET)
- Flemish Institute for Technological Research (BE)
- Universidade Nova de Lisboa (PT)
- Sudan University of Science and Technology (SD)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Frontiers in Remote Sensing
- Published
- 2025-03-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2025.1549286
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Water Quality Monitoring Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.82