AQUIFER

The main objectives of the Aquifer project were:

• To support the involved national authorities and international institutions with Earth Observation (EO) based technology to better manage internationally shared water resources and aquifers;
• To strengthen overall and integrated water management practices;
• To build up an independent service provision capacity to ensure local service delivery after the project cycle to achieve the longer-term goal of service sustainability.

Main products developed and demonstrated were:

• Vegetation and water monitoring maps at basin-wide level;
• Rainfall estimates and Evapotranspiration and water balance maps;
• Land use / land cover maps and their changes;
• Water abstraction estimation and crop water consumption;
• Digital Terrain Models and derived products;
• Subsidence mapping and monitoring.

AQUIFER demonstrated to the Users that despite the fact that groundwater resources are buried more than one kilometre below the surface, observations of the earth surface from space could provide useful information on this resource. National authorities and international institutions in aquifer management were supported though tailored and GIS-compatible demonstration products and services thereby facilitating their uptake in daily work- operation. Based on the successful results of the project an extension and expansion of the AQUIFER project, GEO-AQUIFER, was funded by the African Development Bank.