Synergistic Usage of Asar Ws and Meris Data for Large Scale Water and Vegetation Monitoring in Africa – a Science Product of the Aquifer Project

Due to the specific climate conditions in the dry regions of Africa, an effective integrated water management is of great interest for the national authorities. This paper explains the workflow of the Aquifer Project product ‘Water and Vegetation Monitoring over entire Aquifer’. The large scale water and vegetation monitoring will be accomplished for the transboundary aquifer Iullemeden, which represents one of the major freshwater reservoirs of Africa. By the synergetic use of radar and optical data land cover classification maps for four different times within one season are provided. The changes between these dates as well as the seasonal vegetation and water dynamics were analysed. Furthermore, by inclusion of specific contextual features of irrigated vegetation in the region, an irrigated vegetation map could be derived. The results demonstrate the high potential of Earth Observation data for the decision support for a more efficient water management in Africa.