ICWRGC co-organizes 2024 EUMETSAT Satellite Conference Session

The International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC) attended the 2024 EUMETSAT Satellite Conference in Würzburg (30.09.-4.10). The plenary session held on the third day, titled “Hydrology and Water Resources: Achievements of International Data Centers in Germany”, directed the spotlight on decades of contributions to water cycle monitoring.

The session was co-organized with EUMETSAT and DWD to celebrate the joint involvement of the Global Data Centers operated by DWD (GPCC and CM-SAF) and BfG (GRDC) together with ICWRGC (GWDC and ISMN) in 2024.

Stephan Dietrich’s presentation underscored the role of ICWRGC’s data centres in advancing river discharge, water quality, and soil moisture monitoring. The Global Runoff Data Centre, GEMS/Water Data Centre, and International Soil Moisture Network contributed to filling data gaps and improving Earth Observation (EO) products. These efforts supported a more integrated global water monitoring system, thus enabling more effective water resource management and climate monitoring worldwide.

Stephan Dietrich also emphasized the need for stronger interaction between in situ and satellite-based data, urging further global coordination and capacity building to ensure the provision of reliable information to decision-makers for informed policy-making.

The panel discussion featuring Silvia Puca (Italian Civil Protection Department), Stephan Dietrich, and Frank Kaspar, was a highlight of the conference. The panel explored hydrology-related key topics such as the integration of in-situ and remote sensing data, calibration of precipitation and moisture data, and the way how future satellite missions like SWOT will transform data acquisition and monitoring technology. One key purpose of the panel was to showcase the use of satellite data in hydrology and to communicate its value. A central discussion point was the challenge of effectively integrating in-situ measurements with remote sensing technologies.

For further details, please contact ICWRGC’s communications team or visit YouTube.