Launch of the Working Groups

Water is a vital resource at the core of major societal, environmental and economic challenges. Sustainable water management requires more than fragmented observations: it calls for an integrated view of the hydrological cycle, encompassing surface water and groundwater, resources, uses and risks, at the scale of river basins and hydrosystems, often extending across national boundaries.

In this context, satellite Earth observation plays a central role. Existing missions already provide unprecedented volumes of data to monitor water availability, variability and extremes. These observations help improve spatial and temporal monitoring, strengthen anticipation of droughts and floods, and support more informed water-related decision-making.

Today, however, the main challenge is no longer data acquisition alone. It lies in the effective use of existing satellite products: improving access to data, developing platforms adapted to large-scale datasets, and combining physical understanding with advanced methods such as artificial intelligence. Unlocking the full informational value of these data is essential to turn scientific observations into operational knowledge.

Beyond research, satellite-based water observation also offers concrete opportunities for users and economic actors. From agriculture and energy to insurance, infrastructure management and spatial planning, Earth observation-based water services can support decision-making, risk reduction and optimized resource use. Creating value from data requires stronger connections between research, data providers, operational users and capacity-building activities.

Launch of four thematic working groups

To advance these objectives, a new phase will start in January with the launch of four thematic working groups aimed at structuring collaboration and fostering concrete outcomes:

• Blue Water: focusing on surface water and groundwater resources, their availability, dynamics and monitoring;
• Green Water: addressing soil moisture, vegetation–water interactions and links with agriculture and ecosystems;
• Services for Users and Capacity Building: focused on translating data and knowledge into usable services, strengthening user engagement, and supporting skills development;
• Data and Infrastructures: dedicated to satellite data access, platforms, interoperability, processing workflows and advanced methods.

These working groups will bring together researchers, institutions and users to jointly explore pathways from observation to action, and to strengthen collective capacity to address water challenges through integrated, data-driven approaches.