Remote Sensing Workshop 2012
On September 27-28, 2012, a special remote sensing workshop was held in San Diego to bring technical experts, academics and water policy leaders together to learn about this technology’s potential water management benefits. The workshop was sponsored by Environmental Defense Fund, NASA, the California Water Foundation and the Water Education Foundation.
The workshop focused on issues in California and the Colorado River Basin. Water scarcity already is a serious issue for this part of the U.S. and will only be compounded by population growth, the projected effects of climate change and drought. This workshop’s goal was to provide participants with the opportunity to learn about the types of remote sensing technologies available to help manage this precious resource – specifically their applications for snowpack monitoring, evapotranspiration measurement in water use accounting, groundwater elevation and more.
Plenary session speaker discussed the remote sensing technologies now available while leading water policy experts identified monitoring needs that would help them better manage water supplies. Six breakout sessions allowed attendees to learn in more detail about remote sensing applications related to:
- California groundwater elevation
- Colorado River interstate accounting
- Agricultural water use
- Verification/administration of water transfers
- Snowpack monitoring/water supply forecasting
- Vegetation monitoring/wetlands mapping
The Foundation will be publishing a white paper/workshop summary based on notes taken at this Remote Sensing Workshop in 2013.