Joint Efforts to Map Water Levels Across Arab Countries

Joint Efforts to Map Water Levels Across Arab Countries

© NASA

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Fresh water is the key to growth, agriculture, even life in the Middle East and North Africa

But the scarcity of water across much of the region is an increasingly serious problem

A new project uses satellite and remote sensing tools to map, monitor in near real time, and predict rainfall, drought, and evaporation

June 9, 2011—Across and within Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco and Lebanon, water levels in reservoirs and rivers, rainfall patterns and soil moisture will be mapped by satellites high overhead.  This new view of water systems will allow leaders to monitor local and regional drought and flood conditions, track evaporation from lakes and reservoirs, and even estimate future water supplies and crop yields.

This new project, financed by the World Bank’s Global Environmental Facility, is the first in a series of investments under the Arab World Initiative approved by the World Bank Board of Directors.

In the past, information on water has come from people and equipment on the ground. But collecting data in the field is often expensive and difficult to gather and verify.  Satellite images can provide a unique view, across mountains and borders, and provide it almost instantly.

Not Enough Water-20% Less

Water supplies have a major impact on agriculture and the environment. A steady water supply is also essential for city life. Cities are growing in size and population throughout the region.   And, because of climate change, experts predict an increasingly dry future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that rainfall in many parts of the region will decrease by over 20% during the next century.

And as water resources dry up, competition for it will get more intense. With the satellite data, working across borders, regional leaders will be able to work from the same information, enhancing cooperation and efficiency. Cooperation in tackling  some of the area’s water issues is essential.

“This project will make available the data needed to answer important questions that Arab farmers, urban planners and ministers, among others, think of every day: ‘How much of the water I used on my fields am I losing to evaportranspiration?’ ‘How is this impacting my crops?’  ‘Which cities are prone to extreme floods?’” says Claire Kfouri, an expert on water supply and sustainability at the World Bank. “By providing the tools and data to help answer these questions, it will become possible to make more informed decisions on the way that water and agriculture are managed every day.” 

“It is an exciting opportunity and presents a forum for the multiple nations to work together and share their experiences and findings,” agrees Shahid Habib, of the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA.

Jordan

Monitoring across Jordan will focus on identifying areas that are prone to drought both currently and historically. Detailed analysis will also help experts forecast rainfall in areas prone to droughts, and so enable communities to better prepare and protect themselves and their crops and animals.  Early predictions of crop yields are key to easing food shortages.

Lebanon

Lebanon will use the satellite data to track the impact of increased temperatures and reduced rainfall on changes in local snow cover. Early predictions of changes in snow cover are an important indicator of the change in water available to springs, rivers and aquifers.  The new technology will also help predict droughts and will be able to predict naturally occurring forest fires by measuring pictures of thermal heat on the ground.

Morocco

The first task in Morocco is for experts to measure water use and availability. For the past 40 years, Morocco has seen higher than average temperatures and lower than average rainfalls because of climate change.  Scientists fear that unless these patterns change, Morocco faces major droughts. The new satellite imaging will map those potential changes and their impact.

Satellite pictures can also track the environmental conditions ideal for locusts, and help farmers in breeding areas prepare for the insects, which can ravage crops.  Remote sensing can assess the risk of impending locust outbreaks and even predict damage.  Early action can save lives and livelihoods.

And, while many farmers in Morocco rely on irrigation systems, mapping will provide a clear outline of their use and water requirements, and even show which crops is the most water intensive.

Tunisia

In Tunisia, satellites that can measure changes in  the  amount of water in large aquifers will be used to chart the impact of agriculture on ground water. Experts in Tunisia will do this key research in collaboration with their colleagues in neighboring countries.

Egypt

When Egypt joins the project, new mapping software will keep track of changes in annual rainfall and temperatures over time. The new software will project the impact of climate change on water sources and irrigation in the fertile Nile delta. The models will identify which regions within the country are the most susceptible to the effect of climate change, and which are more likely to suffer from floods and droughts.

Ancient Land, 21^st Century Tools

The World Bank is working in partnership with NASA and USAID, which is the international development agency of the United States.  The major space agencies, including NASA, have a vast array of Earth-observing satellites, many of which have been circling the globe for decades. Since much of the data collected in space has been archived, scientists and water experts can look back in time to create a history of basic water information. Such a history will provide a record of precipitation patterns and other environmental factors and provide insight into the future.

And the information can be used in different ways for different purposes.  “For example, Lebanon may use information on temperature change to measure the impact on snow-melt.  Jordan, on the other hand, will use the same information on temperature change to calculate the impact on irrigation,” explains the World Bank’s Kfouri.

The first step in any resources management is an assessment of what’s out there.  For centuries, people walking the land relayed information on water. But this kind of in situ assessment is expensive and often unreliable. And in many regions of the world, these in situ reports simply do not exist.  So the data from space is invaluable.

“These observations provide a wealth of information in mapping and adjusting the model outputs. This also fills the gaps where no observations are available,” says NASA’s Habib.

This is the first in a series of projects to be approved under the recently created Arab World Initiative, a World Bank partnership that aims to bring the nations of the Arab world together to cooperate on issues of regional and global importance. 

“This project will enable participating countries to work from a common database, creating an environment for enhanced cooperation. It is precisely the type of program that the Arab World Initiative was created to catalyze,” says Jonathan Walters, the Director of Regional Strategy and Programs for the Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank.

This project is the first under a recent agreement between the World Bank and the United States State Department, which promotes collaboration with American agencies including NASA and USAID.

Since fresh water is of such crucial importance to the farmers, villagers, and city people of the Middle East and North Africa, it is a fitting place to begin
.