AQUA SUP

Six new Sentinel Expansion missions are being developed to tackle prospective societal challenges such as global warming and its impact on nature and humans, urbanisation and food security. The combined data exploitation of these missions allows for the definition of new applications bringing benefit to their end-users and thereby addressing EU policies and gaps in Copernicus user needs. The objective of the AQUASUP project is to develop and validate novel concepts for the integrated use of data from the CHIME and LSTM missions, to overcome prevailing information deficiencies in inland water and coastal monitoring and management, focusing on enhanced water quality and ecosystem assessment. Combining hyperspectral and thermal imagery for advanced applications presents a promising pathway for addressing a multitude of societal challenges in the future holding the potential for understanding various impacts, such as the response of both inland and coastal ecosystems to population growth and climate change enabling to establish mitigation action plans. The project marks a first step in facilitating the adoption of the new Copernicus Expansion missions together with selected key stakeholders. Utilizing simulated CHIME and LSTM data, four applications will be developed focused on mapping and monitoring both inland and coastal aquatic environments:

1. Algae classification and quantification by analyzing phytoplankton pigments (extent, types and concentrations), including those common to potentially toxic species, and assessment of their sensitivity to temperature changes
2. Enhancement of benthic composition with focus on the extent and spread of macrophytes and mussels in shallow water and the goal to distinguish invasive quagga mussels from macrophytes
3. Ecosystem assessment in rivers by following a data-driven approach through the deployment of water temperature models along the Elbe River stream-network
4. Assessment of risk indications for early warning in sea grass meadows based on the enhanced identification of biological species, including macrophytes, phytoplankton, and cyanobacteria, and by considering physical boundary conditions like water temperature. The application serves to initialise and answer scientific questions on the growth and biomass uptake (including C sequestration) of seagrass meadows in the German Baltic and their stressors.

The developed products will be implemented in 5 exemplary cases at selected locations across different ecoregions in Germany, Italy, and Australia covering lakes, rivers and coastal water bodies. The champion users represent various stakeholder groups and are influential players within their respective fields. Their participation in testing and evaluation activities will ensure that the new approaches are tailored to address the stakeholders’ real-world challenges, enabling the demonstration of viability and benefits concerning the Copernicus expansion missions. The participating users are: i) Baden-Württemberg State Institute for the Environment, Survey and Nature Conservation, ii) the State office of Environment of the region of Schleswig-Holstein, iii) the Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment of Lombardy, iv) Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, v) CSIRO and vi) XYLEM. The described applications aim to prepare users to fulfil current and future regulations and policies imposed by global, EU, and regional legislations.