Historical Increase of Urban Wastewater Availability Impacts on River Basin Hydrology and Agricultural Development

Global urban water demands and supply have increased enormously in recent decades, resulting in increased volumes of urban wastewater available. In many cities of the Global South, a substantial portion of this wastewater is either untreated or partially treated and is being discharged into surrounding urban aquatic environments. Urbanization trends, coupled with increasing water flows, often alter the overall basin hydrology and contaminate regional urban water systems. At the same time, these flows create opportunities for wastewater reuse, especially in urban and peri-urban agriculture. The current study focuses on a specific case study of Hyderabad city in India and its influence on the hydrology of the Musi River basin, the potential for wastewater reuse in peri-urban or downstream agriculture, and the impacts of wastewater irrigation on regional water quality. The research presents water availability dynamics in the basin by evaluating the interplay between wastewater reuse, basin hydrology, irrigation dynamics, and land use changes. Using hydrological and landscape analysis, earth observation, and statistical techniques, the study highlights changes in water availability conditions in the Musi River basin and peri-urban or downstream agriculture dynamics with urban wastewater available for irrigation. The findings also reveal significant variations in regional water quality, notably increased salinity and nutrient conditions with the increase in wastewater availability in the basin. Further, land use transformations driven by urbanization are evident, where agricultural areas are being developed into urban built-up spaces, while previously barren or unused lands are repurposed for agriculture. This intricate dynamic emphasizes the dual pressures on land and water resources, underscoring the urgent need to integrate water and waste management in urban and peri-urban settings.

Identifying Temporally Persistent Cropping Patterns Using Remote Sensing to Direct and Evaluate Management

With an increasing historic library of satellite imagery and crop performance metrics derived from these products, ranging from vegetative indices to derived evapotranspiration, there are opportunities to identify both field scale and pixel scale temporally persistent crop performance patterns. It is widely known that remotely sensed imagery is an effective resource for mapping spatial variability of crop vigor. Many innovative agronomists and producers use remote sensing for spatial mapping of crop vigor and some using satellite imagery with crop yield mapping to identify crop management zones particularly for variable rate fertilizer management strategies. Although spatial mapping of crop performance on any particular year may be insightful, having some understanding of the temporal persistence of these cropping patterns across time is much more powerful. There are great opportunities to develop tools that evaluate temporally persistent patterns within specific fields but also at the field scale relating crop performance on one field to other fields across a region, county, or watershed. In this talk we describe and demonstrate an approach to track temporally persistence patterns within and between fields. This approach requires field boundary files, crop type, and historic remotely sensed imagery. We will be using seasonal evapotranspiration mapped from LANDSAT imagery using the METRIC approach. Field boundaries and crop mapping is sourced from NASS Cropscape maps. We will demonstrate this approach over a large region of irrigated agriculture in southern Idaho and a small watershed in dryland agriculture in north Idaho.

Intercomparing Surface Water Extent Mapping Products and Packages

Satellite Earth Observations (EO) have long proven to be a powerful tool for observing floods given their ability to cover large geographic areas where ground-based observations are lacking. There is a wealth of literature demonstrating various techniques for satellite-based surface water extent mapping for flood applications on both optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors, but users struggle to apply different techniques and discern which are most appropriate for unique contexts. To mitigate these challenges, many organizations have recently created global analysis-ready water map products, while others create customizable software that users can tailor and apply to their region of interest. Given the range of surface water mapping products and software packages available, it is imperative for the scientific community to precisely communicate to end users the accuracies, uncertainties, and assumptions underpinning these products. Without such communication, end users seeking to apply EO for flood early action and risk reduction will be oversaturated with surface water mapping products and software that may yield conflicting results. SERVIR – a joint initiative of NASA, USAID, and geospatial organizations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America – co-develops regionally tailored services to inform specific decisions and early actions. To address a growing need across the SERVIR network to understand the performance of open-source satellite-based surface water extent data products and software for inland flood applications, SERVIR is conducting a flood mapping intercomparison project. This presentation introduces the project, presents preliminary results, and discusses the tradeoffs, strengths, and weaknesses of the sensor characteristics (e.g., spectral, temporal, and spatial resolution) and methodologies associated with each product/package. The desired outcome of this intercomparison is clarity to decision-makers and scientists alike regarding the strengths and weaknesses of many different surface water extent mapping products/software in several decision-making contexts. We anticipate the results from this study will improve the understanding surrounding the use of EO for flood early action and risk reduction.

Economic Impact Assessments (EIA) of application of GEOGLOWS in Ecuador- Data Gaps, Limitations and Recommendations

In 2022, the United Nations launched the Early Warnings for All (EW4ALL) Program to establish global early warning systems by 2027. To assess the impact of the substantial $3.1 billion annual investment over five years, EW4ALL will consider factors that will require national coordination for the data needed for these assessments. In 2023, Ecuador was identified as one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, emphasizing the need to enhance its early warning systems. In 2020, the SERVIR Amazonia hub implemented the GEOGLOWS streamflow forecast service in collaboration with Ecuador’s national meteorological agency (INAMHI). GEOGloWS provides 15-day ensemble forecasts and 80 years of historical streamflow data for every river worldwide through a free web service. The World Meteorological Organization has recognized this initiative as essential in contributing to the UN’s call to ensure an ‘Early Warning for All’ by 2027. In 2023, as part of NASA’s continuous efforts to fund research for Policy-Relevant Implementations, an economic impact assessment (EIA) was performed to understand the potential socioeconomic benefits of Early streamflow predictions in Ecuador using the GEOGLOWS service. Preliminary findings highlighted that gaps remain in effectively integrating socioeconomic and Earth observation (EO) data to capture the total value of these predictions. Implementing GEOGLOWS has led to valuable hydrological forecasts; however, the total economic benefits have yet to be documented. This study addresses the gaps and makes recommendations for future work that should focus on capturing the socio-economic benefits and costs associated with these forecasts, including their impact on decision-making at national and local levels. Despite the daily use of GEOGLOWS by key figures, including the President of Ecuador, the need for comprehensive recommendations and assessments is urgent.

ClimateSERV - Lowering the Barrier to Integrating Earth Observation Climate Data into Decision Making

Incorporating earth observation (EO) data into decisions can be a challenging process. It requires not only the technical and computational capacity to analyze and interpret the data but also the ability to integrate this information effectively into a decision making framework. Understanding the needs of the users and capacity building plays a crucial role in equipping stakeholders and decision-makers with the necessary skills and knowledge to utilize these advanced datasets and tools. The lack of robust, high-speed communication infrastructure further exacerbates this challenge in many countries. Overcoming obstacles related to limited access to reliable internet and data services is a prerequisite to advancing the use of remote sensing tools and the timely dissemination of critical information. Seeking to address these limitations the SERVIR program developed ClimateSERV. ClimateSERV provides user-friendly access to visualize, analyze, and download climate data with minimal bandwidth requirements and faster, server-side processing. Examples of ClimateSERV usage include improved lead time and accuracy of flood warnings in the lower Mekong region, providing seasonal outlooks to farmers for planning planting times and crop cultivars in Kenya, and supporting crop insurance in Africa. Here we present how providing access to EO- derived climate data through a user-needs centric approach coupled with capacity building can enhance decision making and provide broad scale impacts.