The UK will launch the AquaWatch system, an initiative to create a “weather service” for water quality, with money and backing from the space agencies of both Australia and the UK.
Australia’s national research organization, CSIRO, started AquaWatch Australia in 2023 with support from SmartSat CRC as a founding partner and a network of partners to create a nationwide water quality monitoring system that includes early warning forecasts. Since its inception, AquaWatch has set up a number of test locations that are capable of keeping an eye on bays, coastal wetlands, rivers, lakes, dams, farmed aquaculture, and coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef in the South. With the establishment of AquaWatch UK, the program will be expanded from a test site at Plymouth Sound to a national level for the first time by a foreign government.
According to Australian Space Agency Head Enrico Palermo, this financing expands on the cooperation cultivated by the UK-Australia Space Bridge. “We can maintain the growth of the Australian space industry while achieving results that benefit communities in both of our countries by cooperating with our international partners, such as the UK.” “Projects like AquaWatch serve as a reminder of the power of cooperation in addressing shared problems and the ways in which space technology, such as Earth observation, can help address the biggest global challenges we are facing.”
According to Professor Andy Koronios, CEO of the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre, SmartSat funded five excellent collaborative research projects in 2021 and formed close relations with the UK space sector through the first UK Space Bridge program. “The AquaWatch UK project further demonstrates SmartSat’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge technologies and creative projects that will accelerate the space sector in both Australia and the UK.”
In the UK, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) will be the principal partner for AquaWatch delivery. The cooperative AquaWatch AUK project, according to Clive Oates, Head of Australia SSTL, will expand on SSTL’s resolute commitment to the UK-Australia Space Bridge. It will help unleash the potential of disruptive space technologies and create a state-of-the-art integrated water quality monitoring and forecasting system that can be implemented throughout Australia, the UK, and beyond. Designing, building, and testing Earth observation capabilities will be accelerated in Australia by collaborating with CSIRO and the SmartSat CRC on a thorough spacecraft platform research.
Along with Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) in the UK, where AquaWatch is being tested to monitor water quality from the Tamar Bridge in Plymouth, Southwest England, the partnership will extend to test sites previously established throughout Australia. The test site in Plymouth is tracking run-off from the Tamar and Plym rivers to the estuary and coast, which can carry sewage, agricultural run-off, heavy metals from mine waste, and a variety of other pollutants created by humans, according to Dr. Elizbeth C. Atwood, Earth Observation Scientist at PML. Plymouth Sound, home to the first National Marine Park in the United Kingdom as well as a Marine Social and Natural Capital Laboratory project, is a perfect testbed for CSIRO’s AquaWatch system thanks to the EO4Agriclimate Vis4Sea project.
According to Dr. Gavin Tilstone, Principal Investigator of Vis4Sea and Merit Scientist at PML, the frequency of flooding disasters increases as the earth warms due to global warming. “Vis4Sea is developing a system to monitor the effects of flooding on water quality, mud flats, and sea grass beds, all of which are crucial for absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere using the AquaWatch infrastructure for Plymouth Sound.”
The Living Coasts project, another EO4Agriclimate initiative, is expanding the mapping of land and ocean habitats and their dynamics using satellite images.
According to Dr. Gavin Tilstone, Principal Investigator of Vis4Sea and Merit Scientist at PML, the frequency of flooding disasters increases as the earth warms due to global warming. “Vis4Sea is developing a system to monitor the effects of flooding on water quality, mud flats, and sea grass beds—all of which are crucial for absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere—using the AquaWatch infrastructure for Plymouth Sound.”
The Living Coasts project, another EO4Agriclimate initiative, is expanding the mapping of land and ocean habitats and their dynamics using satellite images. Professor Richard Lucas of Aberystwyth University, a researcher on Living Coasts, noted that this gives AquaWatch users a more comprehensive view and comprehension of the changes influencing water quality. “We are using data cubes of satellite data for both countries, as well as other regions like Southeast Asia, in order to implement our approach with the help of Australian and UK partners. This contributes to efforts focused on improving environments for people and nature.”
