Initiatiefvoorstel kennisnetwerk water

1. (Tentative) Title initiative :
“Knowledge Network Water: Earth observation data for water research and applications.”

2. Theme (cf. call text for detailed specification):
use of – data from – space instruments for water quality and/or quantity in urban, rural and marine environments

3. Initial/tentative description of the proposed research:
The Knowledge Network Water will organise knowledge exchange and cooperation between partners in the water research chain – from fundamental research to applied research to application – in support of innovative use of earth observation (EO) data for research and applications in the water sector. We will set up three scoping studies performed by postdoctoral reserachers on three water related issues that are of immediate importance for the Netherlands and the world: 1) Water quality - from headwater to the coastal seas; 2) Droughts – related to soil moisture, evaporation, vegetation development and primary production; 3) floods.
For each of these issues we will a) assess current challenges in fundamental and applied research and water management applications; b) assess barriers to overcome these challenges and what earth observation developments are needed to overcome these barriers; c) assess the state-of-the-art; d) define promising new research directions based on the above; e) select one or two of these research directions as the basis for further research under the current call; f) apply the outcome of this research in a number of national and international case studies.
Our research lines will connect directly to innovation and societal needs. We will use state-of-the-art EO products from ESA and from innovative SMEs in our consortium and the results will be used in case studies and tool development by innovative SMEs and knowledge institutes. The assessment of challenges and barriers will be supported by stakeholder solicitation in case studies. The development and application of innovative EO data will not stop at using such data for water system status and trend assessment. We will use these data also as part of indicator development, to feed operational forecasting systems, and to help parameterize high-resolution models, or the development of digital twins, in support of climate adaptation challenges faced by water management.

4. Main applicant:
Name: Z. Su
Title: Professor dr.
Institute: University of Twente, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC)
Telephone: +31 (0)53 4874 311
E-mail: z.su@utwente.nl

5. Members of the network:

Organization

Name

Included/ intended/
considered

Field of expertise

Utrecht University

Prof. dr. ir. M.F.P. Bierkens

Included

Global hydrology and water resources; stochastic hydrology

Delft University of technology

Prof. dr. ir. N.C. van de Giesen

Included

Water resources management; sensing technologies and decision support

Wageningen University

Dr. ir. R. Teuling

Included

Land surface hydrology; hydrological extremes; evaporation

VU University Amsterdam

Dr. ir. Y van de Velde

Included

Water quality of headwaters and river transport of nutrients

University of Twente

Dr. Yijian Zenng, Dr. S. Salama

Included

Earth observations for soil-water-Ppant-energy Interactions; remote sensing of water quality and water resources management

IHE Delft

Dr. M. Mul

Included

Water resources management; use of EO data for water accounting.

NIOZ

Prof. dr. A.J. Dolman

Included

Coastal and ocean research; ecohydrology; global water and carbon cycle

Deltares

Dr. M. Eleveld

Included

EO for uptake in freshwater and marine modelling

TNO

Eric Engelbrecht, MSc.

Included

Innovation of the maritime sector

KWR

Dr. ir. R. Bartholomeus

Included

Agro- and ecohydrology; advanced water supply systems to combat drought

KNMI

Dr. A. Stoffelen

Intended

Application of Radar and Lidar to meteorology and oceanography; data-assimilation

Hydrologic

Dr. ir. A. Lobbrecht

Included

Hydroinformatics and decision support for water management

FutureWater

Gijs Simons, MSc

Included

Hydrology and water resources

STOWA

Ir. H. van Leeuwen

Included

Application of EO data in water management

Planet (Vandersat)

Dr. Jaap Schellekens

Included

Advanced EO product development for water management

NLR

Job de Vries, MSc

Included

Change detetection; information-driven action; development and use of space instruments; definition of use-cases.