Author: merriebethneely

Tune in June 21, 14:30 CEST for GEO and CEOS COAST an EO Partnership!

(click photo for PDF flyer)

GEO and CEOS COAST: A coastal EO partnership

June 21st 14:30pm CEST       Join meeting here

Description

This session will be great opportunity learn about the new Committee on Earth Observation Satellites Coastal Ocean Applications, Services, and Tools (COAST) – recognized as a UN Ocean Decade Contribution. This presentation will be jointly presented with GEO and seeks to inform the community about the pilot projects directed at solving coastal problems in 4 thematic areas and 5 geographic regions. The two COAST Pilot Projects address Sea Impacts to Land from flooding and shoreline erosion; and Land Impacts to the Sea from delivery of sediment and nutrients to coasts. Earth Observation applications will be co-developed and co-designed to provide data for decision-making to identified geographic stakeholders.

The themes being tackled in the first 2 years are: Flooding and inundation, bathymetry/coastline mapping, coastal eutrophication, and turbidity/sedimentation. The geographic regions targeted in the first 2 years are: Bay of Bengal, the west coast of Africa, Chesapeake Bay, La Plata Estuary, and Pacific and Caribbean small island nations. Enhanced stakeholder benefits through CEOS COAST’s collaboration with the CoastPredict UN Ocean Decade Programme will be highlighted, followed by a Case Study for potential information capabilities in Bay of Bengal. We wish to identify, from among Symposia attendees, interested stakeholders and potential partners to sustain applications and to engage in a preliminary discussion of coastal issues and potential product development of mutual interest.

Moderator(s) and Speaker(s)

Paul Digiacomo

Paul
Digiacomo

Raj Kumar

Raj
Kumar

Douglas Cripe

Douglas
Cripe

Nadia Pinardi

Nadia
Pinardi

Rashmi Sharma

Rashmi
Sharma

Programme

  • COAST Overview: High level explanation of COAST’s mission and Phase 2 pilot goals (Raj Kumar)
  • GEO Programme Activity Affinities & Capacity Building with COAST (Douglas Cripe)
  • COAST Partnership with UN Decade’s CoastPredict Project (Nadia Pinardi)
  • Case Study for Bay of Bengal (Rashmi Sharma)

Webinar: Monitoring Plastics in Rivers and Lakes – June 17th

The World Water Quality Alliance invites you to register for their Launch Webinar for MONITORING PLASTICS IN RIVERS AND LAKES: Guidelines for the Harmonization of Methodologies on June 17, 2021 at 1:30 PM EAT (12:30 PM CEST).

The guidelines contain the most current procedures for monitoring and analyzing plastic content in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and water/wastewater treatment plants. The harmonization of monitoring methods and techniques will allow for synthesis of data and will provide knowledge of transport processes, loads and impacts of plastic debris in freshwater bodies/ecosystems, that can be used to monitor water quality and also strengthen evidence base for guiding effective policymaking. The webinar will feature a panel of expert speakers and will provide the audience with an overview of the publication, practical use and implementation of the guidelines, as well as opportunities to put them into practice.

Registration link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5721038690869826316.

More information and links to the guidelines (released on 17 June): https://www.unep.org/resources/report/monitoring-plastics-rivers-and-lakes-guidelines-harmonization-methodologies

Announcing the ISI Training Workshop on River Sediment Monitoring & Mgmt

The International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC) at UNESCO announces the Call for Applications for the ISI Training Workshop on River Sediment Monitoring and Management.  This Virtual Workshop will take place 06-10 September 2021.

This online training workshop focuses on training and capacity-building in the field of river sediment monitoring and management. In this training workshop, we teach about sediment monitoring techniques, data analysis
methods and management practices. This workshop will concentrate on monitoring and management of sediment in rivers and will not include topics such as hillslope erosion and soil conservation.

Who should apply?
• You have a background in geosciences (hydrology, geography, etc.), civil engineering or related disciplines.
• Your current future job involves working on topics related to sediment transport in river basins.
• You need extra training and support to improve your knowledge of sediment monitoring techniques,sediment data analysis and river basin management.
• You have a basic knowledge of working with R Studio.

Participants may register until June 20, 2021.  Please see more information in the 2-pg information flyer.

GEO AquaWatch Member Rose’s Nature Paper Makes Headlines

The paper was published in Nature and entitled “Widespread deoxygenation of temperate lakes” (see full citation below). Study co-author Kevin C. Rose, is a professor of biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an active member of GEO AquaWatch Working Group 3.

Rose and his co-authors found dissolved oxygen levels declined in 393 temperate lakes in the United States and Europe between 1941 and 2017 – a result of anthropogenic climate change altering the physical and chemical environment in lakes.  Oxygen values dropped in both surface and deep lake waters, but for different reasons.  Surface values mostly dropped due to less soluble oxygen in warmer surface waters, but enhanced phytoplankton production led to more surface dissolved oxygen in some of the most productive warming lakes.  Dissolved oxygen declined in deeper waters was associated with thermal stratification and reduced water clarity limiting primary production and enhancing respiration, but not altering gas solubility in the warming lakes.  Lake oxygen declines were ~3-9 times greater than oxygen declines observed in oceanic waters, threatening ecosystem services, and leading to increased fish kills, algal blooms and methane emissions.  Read more here.

Kevin – Congratulations on the publication of this important study, and the associated public attention it has garnered you and your colleagues!

Citation: Jane, S.F., Hansen, G.J.A., Kraemer, B.M. et al. Widespread deoxygenation of temperate lakes. Nature 594, 66–70 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03550-y

CEOS COAST Selected as UN Ocean Decade Contribution on World Oceans Day

On June 8th, World Oceans Day, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission announced the first Actions officially endorsed as part of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, 2021-2030 (the ‘Ocean Decade’).  The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites Coastal Observations, Applications, Services, and Tools (CEOS COAST) was selected as a Contribution to the Ocean Decade, and GEO AquaWatch is proud to be among the Leadership Team of COAST’s Land2Sea Pilot.  Paul DiGiacomo, NOAA (GEOAquaWatch Co-Lead and patron) is the Co-Lead of CEOS COAST along with Raj Kumar, ISRO.

Find out more about CEOS COAST here:

Read the Ocean Decade announcement here: