Environment |
A satellite remote sensing perspective on water resources
Satellite monitoring can provide unprecedented insight into the impact of water resource projects on vulnerable indigenous populations of the world. This study focuses on the Belo Monte Project and the Xingu people of the Amazon
Below: Figure 1. The various satellite missions in recent times that track the components of the water cycle
THE TRADITIONAL 20TH CENTURY way of managing water resources has been mostly interventionist – where we have built physical structures to store, divert and treat water. Most often, the common solution has been to build storage structures, such as dams that create artificial reservoirs to store freshwater during times of excess and release the water during times of shortage. While such interventionist approaches have provided a more reliable supply of water for satisfying various
human needs such as food, energy, flood protection and drought management, they have also come with various downsides. A less documented and understood side-effect of such interventionist approach to water resources development is that of the impact on local and indigenous populations of the developing world. One of the key reasons for this limited understanding is the lack of in-situ water measurement network or a limited network for tracking water resources. This challenge is exacerbated by the remoteness of the region and the complex hydro-politics of data sharing where most entities prefer not to share water data. Fortunately, if we think of the entire cycle of
water, we have actually been tracking most of the components using the vantage of space since the late 20th century. Given that today we are able to track the water cycle and have a long historical record from a source other than ground networks, we can use such satellite remote sensing data to understand the impact of a water resources project on local indigenous populations. Such satellite data are mostly public and global with large spatial coverage, immune to data- sharing hurdles on the ground, and not as affected by on-ground network maintenance and cost challenges. In this article we summarise what satellite remote sensing data can tell us about the impact on water availability and quality for the indigenous population of the Xingu region in the Amazon due to the Belo Monte Dam project in Brazil. We hope our exploration can motivate other communities to take inspiration from satellite remote sensing that can be the eyes in the sky to decipher the impact of water resources projects on local and vulnerable populations, that is otherwise almost impossible using traditional ground-based approaches.
Indigenous population The Amazon River basin has a drainage area of more than
60 million km2 spanning nine countries and represents
the world’s largest network of rivers (Richey et al, 1989). In addition to exceptional bio-diversity, dense vegetation
Left: Figure 2. The Xingu river in the Brazilian state of Para and the Belo Monte Project. The general direction of flow is from the left to right along the river. The shaded gray region indicates the inundation due to the filling of the Belo Monte dam by short-cutting the flow through a canal and embankment
28 | February 2023 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
