Page 59 - CIWA Water Data Revolution Overview Report

using RS, organizations were asked if they used, or were familiar with, any of the following
platforms: Google Earth Engine, Global Flood Monitoring System, IWMI Data and Tools, Earth
Map, Aquastat, Spatial Agent Hydroinformatics, Digital Earth Africa, Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas,
and Dartmouth Flood Observatory. The number of organizations using each type of data product
is illustrated in Figure 6.

16
14
12
No. of Organizations 8
10

6

4
2
0

Figure 6: Data products respondents are familiar with or have used at their organization.

GEE is the dominantly utilized data platform with the greatest familiarity, compared to the others
included in the survey. 13 organizations stated they used or are familiar with GEE, compared to
5 or less organizations for the other data products in the questionnaire (Figure 6). GEE is a well-
established, free, and customizable data product which provides access to analysis-ready data
that can be used for a variety of purposes, thus potentially increasing its favorability among the
respondents compared to the other data products. Interestingly, DEA, which has very similar
capabilities as GEE, was used by only 3 of the organizations in this assessment. This may be due
to the relative newness of the DEA product.

Organizations described using the data products from Figure 6 for a variety of purposes. GEE was
directly mentioned as being used for feasibility studies of hydro power schemes and assessments
on forest degradation. Timeseries data processing was stated to be done using GEE and DEA.
More generally, respondents indicated that they used the products for the following purposes:
flood risk management, water allocation, development of basin monitoring reports, collection of
rainfall data, rainfall-runoff simulation, assessments on rural versus urban assets, geolocation of
risk sites, access to water resource-related data, monitoring of water sources (including
groundwater), and mapping purposes. Data required to use the products, or attained via the
products, varied per organization. Variables mentioned included precipitation, temperature,
topography, LULC, water levels, and water quality parameters. Data was listed as supplied by
ground stations, member countries, through purchase from suppliers, and by GEE. They also

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