International Workshop on New technologies for the acquisition of information on transboundary aquifers

On April 15-16th, IGRAC and UNESCO-IHP organized in Utrecht an international workshop on new technologies and the use of alternative information sources for conducting global groundwater assessments.

For two days, about 35 renowned water experts of various international organizations discussed how innovations in the field of remote sensing and global hydrological modelling could contribute to these assessments. The use of proxy information to estimate global groundwater demand and use was discussed. Furthermore, a number of existing global groundwater assessment programs such as WHYMAP, IGRAC and GEO were presented. The final session was dedicated to the ‘data for all' concept, which refers to the ownership and sharing of subsurface data and information generated by oil, mining and drinking water companies.

 

The workshop specifically aimed at how these technologies and programs may contribute to the Transboundary Water Assessment Program planned by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). IGRAC in cooperation with others is developing the methodology related to groundwater for this assessment for GEF.

 

Participating organizations were BGR, Deltares, ETH-Zurich, FAO, Fugro, GEF, IGRAC, PBL, Shell, Twente University, UNEP, UNESCO, University of Arizona, University of Frankfurt, University of Texas, Utrecht University, Vitens and WaterWatch.

 

Presentations (pdf) 

 

Airborne geophysics and remote sensing

 

Global & large scale hydrological modelling

 

Global groundwater assessment programs and expert networks

 

Hidden data sources

 

Virtual water and water footprinting

 
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