Monitoring Earth's freshwater supply from space

Monitoring Earth’s freshwater supply from space Today’s Video of the Day from the European Space Agency is an animation which shows the incredible capability of satellites to monitor and measure freshwater sources from space.

Freshwater is a critical natural resource that is under increasing pressure, primarily due to extreme weather patterns that are associated with climate change.

According to this year’s Global Risk Report by the World Economic Forum, water crises are one of the five biggest threats to our society.

Satellite data will provide authorities with data that may help to signal upcoming water shortages, leading to more efficient water management.

World Water Week, which is currently underway in Stockholm, provides a forum for thousands of leaders and experts from across the globe to learn more about how we can address the world’s water crisis. Alsdorf and Lettenmaier ( 2003) depicted a large picture on tracking fresh water from space in Science magazine, and later in 2007, they made a much more detailed review of all kinds of remote sensing approaches for measuring surface water.

Earth’s Freshwater. Only about 0.3 percent of our fresh water is found in the surface water of lakes, rivers, and swamps. Of all the water on Earth, more than 99 percent of Earth’s water is unusable by humans and many other living things! It seems extraordinary that the water that supports all terrestrial. The cyclical nature of fresh water moving around our world has led to the overarching science question that NASA is trying to answer about water on our world—where it is, when it is and in what condition. To a finer and finer degree, NASA research scientists are determining how much and when fresh water is available worldwide.
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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: European Space Agency