WEF

Sawaid Abbas, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Geographical Information System, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan discussed his extensive work in addressing water-related challenges through the nexus between smart sensing and space technologies. His thematic focus spans water scarcity, food security, climate risks, and environmental monitoring with an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region, including Pakistan and China. Key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) guiding his work include SDG2 (Zero Hunger), SDG13 (Climate Action), SDG15 (Life on Land), and SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).  Abbas's passion for water emerged during his early career at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), where he was involved in Pakistan’s Wetland Program and witnessed the impact of water on associated ecosystems. This sparked his interest in understanding and managing water, forestry, and wildlife resources. He recently studied coastal ecosystems and their responses to climate and anthropogenic stressors in the Asia-Pacific region. The Living Indus – Investing in Ecological Restoration has become a new focus of interest for him, addressing sustainability challenges related to food security, river basin management, and efficient water use in alignment with the UN Decade of Ocean objectives.  Abbas shared his fascination with water, recognizing its complex and essential nature. He is captivated by its beauty in all forms and acknowledges its fundamental importance for life on Earth. This water connection further motivates his commitment to addressing global water challenges and promoting sustainable water use through innovative solutions.  Sawaid Abbas's work, stimulated by both professional commitment and personal fascination, stresses the critical role of space technologies, particularly earth observation, smart sensing nexus, and artificial intelligence in addressing water-related challenges. His research contributes to the development of innovative solutions for sustainable water use, environmental protection, and disaster response, aligning with global goals for a more resilient and water-secure future. 

My name is Verónica De Souza. I have a degree in Physics with a minor in Geophysics and a Master's degree in Ocean, Atmosphere, and Continental Surface Science. I worked for 13 years at the Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities (ABAE), the last three years in the Space Applications Directorate, focusing primarily on the processing and use of satellite data, especially from Venezuela's VRSS-1/2 satellites. Recently, ABAE has been participating in an inter-institutional committee on the management and sustainability of the country's watersheds. This has led to a growing interest in collecting more up-to-date information on these areas, thereby improving public policies in this regard.

Dr. Pietro Campana studied environmental engineering with a focus on fluid dynamics, hydrology, and water resource management, before undertaking a PhD on solar irrigation systems. He is working on the water-food-energy nexus and is currently evaluating the first agrivoltaic system (a photovoltaic system that allows the combination of both electricity production and crop production on the same land to increase the land use efficiency) in Sweden. He constantly strives to work on something that can make a difference to people’s lives and finds developing tools and services that can solve water issues very exciting. He believes that to address the nexus challenges, we need novel technologies and more research and development funding.

The article discusses the use of space technology for the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus. The nexus was formed to address issues surrounding the increasing demand for water, energy and food. Drivers of the nexus are, for example, an increasing population, urbanisation and economic development. The article aims to demonstrate the inclusive solutions and initiatives from organisations such as United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Globally available data for the nexus and especially data from satellite remote sensing are discussed. Several case studies for finding solutions related to the nexus are examined. The case studies discuss hydrological modelling, water scarcity, irrigation practices and crop monitoring. The Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model dataset and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument are used in these case studies. Satellite remote sensing products for the example case of the variable soil moisture are examined. Some of the leading missions for soil moisture are National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) and European Space Agency (ESA) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS). The article mentions NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) missions, as well as ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) programme. Future work aims at an integrated approach and at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sawaid Abbas, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Geographical Information System, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan discussed his extensive work in addressing water-related challenges through the nexus between smart sensing and space technologies. His thematic focus spans water scarcity, food security, climate risks, and environmental monitoring with an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region, including Pakistan and China. Key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) guiding his work include SDG2 (Zero Hunger), SDG13 (Climate Action), SDG15 (Life on Land), and SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).  Abbas's passion for water emerged during his early career at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), where he was involved in Pakistan’s Wetland Program and witnessed the impact of water on associated ecosystems. This sparked his interest in understanding and managing water, forestry, and wildlife resources. He recently studied coastal ecosystems and their responses to climate and anthropogenic stressors in the Asia-Pacific region. The Living Indus – Investing in Ecological Restoration has become a new focus of interest for him, addressing sustainability challenges related to food security, river basin management, and efficient water use in alignment with the UN Decade of Ocean objectives.  Abbas shared his fascination with water, recognizing its complex and essential nature. He is captivated by its beauty in all forms and acknowledges its fundamental importance for life on Earth. This water connection further motivates his commitment to addressing global water challenges and promoting sustainable water use through innovative solutions.  Sawaid Abbas's work, stimulated by both professional commitment and personal fascination, stresses the critical role of space technologies, particularly earth observation, smart sensing nexus, and artificial intelligence in addressing water-related challenges. His research contributes to the development of innovative solutions for sustainable water use, environmental protection, and disaster response, aligning with global goals for a more resilient and water-secure future. 

My name is Verónica De Souza. I have a degree in Physics with a minor in Geophysics and a Master's degree in Ocean, Atmosphere, and Continental Surface Science. I worked for 13 years at the Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities (ABAE), the last three years in the Space Applications Directorate, focusing primarily on the processing and use of satellite data, especially from Venezuela's VRSS-1/2 satellites. Recently, ABAE has been participating in an inter-institutional committee on the management and sustainability of the country's watersheds. This has led to a growing interest in collecting more up-to-date information on these areas, thereby improving public policies in this regard.

Dr. Pietro Campana studied environmental engineering with a focus on fluid dynamics, hydrology, and water resource management, before undertaking a PhD on solar irrigation systems. He is working on the water-food-energy nexus and is currently evaluating the first agrivoltaic system (a photovoltaic system that allows the combination of both electricity production and crop production on the same land to increase the land use efficiency) in Sweden. He constantly strives to work on something that can make a difference to people’s lives and finds developing tools and services that can solve water issues very exciting. He believes that to address the nexus challenges, we need novel technologies and more research and development funding.