984f9dddc8953475a74396a1b7bbb3e3
A new app to map and monitor the world's freshwater supply — blog.google

Today, on World Water Day, we’re proud to showcase a new platform enabling all countries to freely measure and monitor when and where water is changing: UN’s Water-Related Ecosystems, or sdg661.app. Released last week in Nairobi at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), the app provides statistics for every country’s annual surface water (like lakes and rivers). It also shows changes from 1984 through 2018 through interactive maps, graphs and full-data downloads.This project is only possible because of the unique partnerships between three very different organizations. In 2016, European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and Google released the Global Surface Water Explorer in tandem with a publication in “Nature.” An algorithm developed by the JRC to map water was run on Google Earth Engine. The process took more than 10 million hours of computing time, spread across more than 10,000 computers in parallel, a feat that would have taken 600 years if run on a modern desktop computer. But the sheer magnitude of the high resolution global data product tended to limit analysis to only the most tech savvy users and countries.The new app, created in partnership with United Nations Environment, aims to make this water data available to everyone. Working with member countries to understand their needs, it features smaller, more easily manageable tables and maps at national and water body levels. Countries can compare data with one another, and for the first time gain greater understanding of the effects of water policy, and infrastructure like dams, diversions, and irrigation practices on water bodies that are shared across borders.

Read More



This site uses cookies to give the best and personalised experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Find out more here.

Sign Up or Login

Invalid username or password
Not yet on CircleMe? Join now
Please input a email
Please input a valid email
Max 50 characters
Email already in use
{{email_serverError}}
Please input a username
Min 3 characters
Max 20 characters
Please use only A-Z, 0-9 and "_"
Username is taken
Please input a password
Min 6 characters
Max 20 characters
By clicking the icons, you agree to CircleMe terms & conditions
Already have an account? Login Now