The members of the GEO EO4WEF Community Activity represent a consultative group to guide decisions regarding priorities and strategies for the maintenance and enhancement of observations and information systems for the WEF Nexus.
We promote strategies that facilitate the acquisition, processing, and distribution of data products needed for effective management of the world’s water, energy and food resources.
We coordinate and facilitate the inputs of the user community at multiple scales into the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) plans and reports including the GEO Knowledge Hub.
We foster the development of tools, applications, and systems that facilitate the inclusion of Essential WEF Nexus Variables in decision-making.
We bring together the professional community to develop project proposals, undertake writing projects (e.g., books and special issues on the nexus), and promote the education of people regarding the nexus approach.
Want to become a member? Contact richard.lawford@eo4wef.org for a membership application form.
The GEO EO4WEF Community Activity develops and maintains an inventory of WEF Nexus projects along with other communication tools such as this web site and quarterly teleconference calls.
Photo by NASA
Current projects
Project title
Towards An Optimal Irrigation Management System from the Water-Food-Energy Nexus Perspective
Project Leader and Affiliation
Pietro Elia Campana, Mälardalen University, Sweden
Participants
NASA ARC, SMHI
Links
Brief description
The aim of this pre-study is to build a pilot WFE irrigation management system for Sweden, called SWEDIMS (SWEDish Irrigation Management System) (available at: www.swedisms.se), by using the spatially explicit climatic data generated by SMHI.
Types of EO data being used
Copernicus and Sentinel for data assimilation (LAI, soil moisture, spectral bands)
Benefits for the water, energy and food sectors
Reducing water consumption in the agricultural sector, maximizing crop yield, and reducing energy consumption in the agricultural/irrigation sector.
Description of interactions between sectors facilitated by the project
Integrated modeling of the WFE nexus on large scale
Project duration
From 1st January 2019 until 31st December 2019
Project title
Real-time monitoring system for the WEF Nexus variables in the Basin of the Red River of the North
Project Leader and Affiliation
Richard Lawford, Independent Scholar, Former Senior Scientist at Morgan State University
Participants
Peter Lawford, University of Saskatchewan
Brief description
This project will develop an information system for monitoring various features of the environment by drawing together information from many different sources. Monitoring will address bio and geophysical variables (such as precipitation, soil moisture, runoff, air and land temperature, evapotranspiration, wind, etc.)that affect the interactions among the management of water, the availability of energy and the production of food in the Basin of the Red River of the North.
Types of EO data being used
IMERG, SMOS, Landsat, Grace-II
Benefits for the water, energy and food sectors
It will provide measures of water availability during the simmer and provide assessments of the risk of flooding in the spring. It will monitor the need for irrigation during the growing season. It will provide guidance on the need for supplemental energy in areas that rely on renewable energy.
Description of interactions between sectors facilitated by the project
The study will identify where interactions are inadvertently managed and provide an assessment of the benefits of making more information available for the planning and management of the WEF Nexus.
Project duration
From 1st January 2021 until 31st December 2024
Project title
Integrated Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Index for the Water-Energy-Food Nexus
Project Leader and Affiliation
Sushel Unninayar, NASA/GSFC &GESTAR/Morgan State University
Participants
Brief description
An integrated index for the Water-Energy-Food Nexus using a modified set of sub-indicators from among the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. (Project description (AGU-ESSOAr, 28Jan 2021: https://www.essoar.org/doi/10.1002/essoar.10505987.1)
Types of EO data being used
GRACE, MODIS, VIIRS, SMAP/SMOS, GPM, Sentinel, GMAO-GEOSS-5-Merra-2, Copernicus
Benefits for the water, energy and food sectors
Optimized, sustainable, water resources management that also ensures sustainable food and energy supply.
Description of interactions between sectors facilitated by the project
This project proposes an integrated index to quantify and monitor progress in sustainability of the interaction between W-E-F
Project duration
From 1st January 2021 until 31st December 2024
Project title
Evaluation of the first agrivoltaic system in Sweden
Project Leader and Affiliation
Pietro Elia Campana, Mälardalen University
Participants
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Solkompaniet AB, Kärrbo Prästgård AB, SMHI, Uppsala University, Universitá Cattolica (Italy), NASA ARC (USA)
Links
Evaluation of the first agrivoltaic system in Sweden
Brief description
The aim of this project is to carry out a feasibility study of how agrivoltaic systems, photovoltaic systems that combine electricity production and farm activities, can increase the economic viability of photovoltaic systems in Sweden. Agrivoltaic systems presents several advantages over traditional ground-based photovoltaic systems: higher electricity yield, crop yield and water savings as compared to common practices. The combination of revenues can lead to high land use efficiency and shorter payback time. This project will address the topic of agrivoltaic systems using a holistic approach that combine three different macro-areas (energy, food and water) with an interdisciplinary research group.
Types of EO data being used
Strång, Mesan, Copernicus
Benefits for the water, energy and food sectors
Increase land use and water use efficiencies
Description of interactions between sectors facilitated by the project
This project proposes to combine electricity production and agricultural activities to avoid the typical competion between land for food versus land for energy.
Project duration
From 1st September 2020 until 31st December 2022