Water

Koen Verberne
Expert Water & Sustainability

Koen Verberne
Expert Water & Sustainability

Water Data. Every drop in sight.

Satellite-driven water data across quality, availability and productivity. Ready for risk analysis, compliance and resource management.

What we monitor

We monitor water across multiple dimensions. From quality and availability to productivity and the impact of agriculture and nature-based solutions on water use and restoration. Using satellite imagery, biophysical models, artificial intelligence and expert knowledge, we observe how water behaves, changes and responds to external pressures at scales ranging from individual field level to entire river basins. Detection, classification and change monitoring are all part of a single, integrated data environment.

Methodology & Technology

We combine Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, biophysical models with satellite-driven inputs for vegetation, temperature and precipitation, and over 60 globally sourced datasets to produce our water data. Depending on the parameter, processing involves proprietary water quality algorithms, AI-driven classification and expert calibration. With local in-situ data integration available where precision demands it. Spatial resolution ranges from 10–20 metres for field-level observations to 300 metres for regional-scale analysis, with update cycles running from weekly to annual depending on the use case. Accurate and timely enough to detect trends, trigger alerts and track progress against targets.

Examples of what we detect

Chlorophyll-a concentration

Chlorophyll-a measures the presence of algae in a water body using spectral analysis from Sentinel-2 imagery. It is the primary early-warning indicator for eutrophication and bloom risk in lakes, reservoirs and slow-moving water systems.

Turbidity

Turbidity captures the optical clarity of surface water, how much light is scattered by suspended particles. High turbidity indicates sediment load, pollution or biological activity, and is a critical input for drinking water source monitoring and aquatic ecosystem assessments.

Organic matter content

This attribute quantifies the concentration of dissolved and suspended organic material in the water. It is relevant for water treatment cost modelling, ecosystem health monitoring and compliance with water quality standards.

Oxygen content

Oxygen content records dissolved oxygen levels in surface water, a direct indicator of biological activity and water body health. Low oxygen readings signal stress conditions for aquatic life and are an early signal of ecosystem degradation.

Evapotranspiration (ET)

Evapotranspiration measures the combined loss of water through evaporation from land surfaces and transpiration from vegetation. It is the foundational parameter for understanding water consumption in agricultural and natural systems, and a key input for irrigation efficiency analysis.

Biomass and primary productivity

These attributes quantify how much vegetation is growing and how efficiently water and nutrients are being converted into plant matter. They are essential for crop performance analysis, nature restoration monitoring and water productivity benchmarking.

Water availability (basin level)

Water availability synthesises precipitation, runoff, groundwater recharge and consumption data at catchment scale. It underpins water risk assessments and long-term resource planning for agriculture, industry and municipalities.

Water risk score

The water risk score combines over 60 datasets to produce a basin-level composite score across water quality, availability and accessibility. Including the projected impact of climate change. It enables organisations to rank and compare risk exposure across all their production or operating locations globally.

Output & integration

Water data is available via API integration into existing client tools and through the Terramira platform, in both standard and customised configurations. Depending on the parameter and use case, datasets are updated weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually. Providing the right cadence for operational monitoring, trend analysis and compliance reporting. Our water data is already embedded in tools used by the FAO Water Productivity Portal (WaPOR) and the CEO Water Mandate’s Water Action Hub, and is compatible with GIS environments including QGIS and ArcGIS for spatial analysis workflows.