A 12-month scoping study for the new technology is part of a project under development called AquaWatch Australia.
The AquaWatch Australia mission, being developed by the CSIRO and the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre, is one of a number of projects aimed at solving Australia's greatest challenges.
Its aim is to ensure the continued maintenance and management of water quality.
Natural events such as toxic algal blooms, the contamination of drinking water and excess runoff from irrigation all have a significant influence on the health of our inland and coastal waters.
Currently, data gathered from space provides critical insights about water quality but available Earth observation satellites only provide 60 to 70 per cent coverage for major Australian water bodies and, while the quality of some inland waterways is monitored directly by testing, this data isn't routinely combined with satellite data.
“To fill this gap, AquaWatch aims to complement existing systems and build a comprehensive national monitoring system using an extensive network of ground-based sensors placed throughout Australia's rivers and waterways,” SmartSat chief executive officer Andy Koronios said.
“These sensors would work together with purpose-designed Earth observation satellites to deliver real-time updates, predictive analytics and forecast warnings to water managers.”
During the initial scoping phase, CSIRO and SmartSat are collaborating with partners from the research sector, government agencies and industry, while partnerships with international partners will also be explored.
Professor Koronios said the AquaWatch scoping phase would include assessing the current range of water quality monitoring programs across Australia, and identifying opportunities to drive efficiencies, advancements and adoption of new space technology to safeguard our water resources.
“As well as monitoring the health of our inland rivers, dams and waterways, the project aims to grow the industry and create new job opportunities across the environmental data services sector, primary industry and agriculture and support drought resilience efforts,” he said.
“We think the project has great potential to deliver two-fold benefits of improving water quality management as well as creating new skills and job opportunities in Australia across a range of industries.”
AquaWatch also has potential to monitor coastal wetlands, aquaculture farms, riparian vegetation and terrestrial biodiversity, mine sites, mangroves and coral reef environments.
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