Outstanding performance of GeoVille surface water mapping algorithm

Climate change, increasing population and land use are all rapidly driving the need to improve the knowledge of surface water dynamics. Therefore, a round robin exercise was organized within the ESA funded WorldWater project.

Surface Water Mapping Algorithm

Climate change, increasing population and land use are all rapidly driving the need to improve the knowledge of surface water dynamics. The targets set by the United Nations under Sustainable Development Goal 6 in relation to freshwater ecosystems also make accurate surface water monitoring increasingly vital.

The scientific literature holds many promising studies on satellite-based surface-water mapping, but a systematic evaluation has been lacking. Therefore, a round robin exercise was organized within the ESA funded WorldWater project to conduct a comparison of 14 different satellite-based approaches for monitoring inland surface dynamics with Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Landsat 8 imagery.

The objective was to achieve a better understanding of the pros and cons of different sensors and models for surface water detection and monitoring. Results indicate, that while using a single sensor approach can provide comprehensive results for very specific localities, a dual sensor approach as applied by GeoVille (combining data from both optical and radar satellites) is the most effective way to undertake large-scale national and regional surface water mapping across bio-climatic gradients.

For more information: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/10/2410/htm