Objectives: 

  • Reviewing the latest advances and results in the use of EO technology to monitor and characterise the different components of the water cycle (terrestrial hydrology, ground water, atmosphere, oceans, mountain ranges and glaciers), hydrological processes and its interactions with human activities and ecosystems.
  • Reviewing the progress in understanding the water cycle cycle as well as its variability and sensitivity to climate change including hydro-climatic extremes with related compound and cascade events.

  • Reviewing the progress of novel EO-based high-resolution data, methods, and approaches for modeling the water cycle at basin scales targeting spatial and temporal scales compatible with decision making. 

  • Exploring the status of future EO missions under preparation by space agencies and industry and latest advances in novel EO technologies, future mission concepts and new mission ideas for water cycle research and hydrology.

  • Exploring opportunities offered by the effective integration of latest EO data, AI, advanced models, information technology and communication, cloud computing and high-performance computing capabilities for developing Digital Twins, fostering open science and developing novel applications serving policies and society.  

  • Fostering networking and collaborative research in water sciences, bringing together different expertise, data and resources in a synergistic manner ensuring that the final result may be bigger than the sum of the parts.

  • Identifying the major scientific challenges, observation gaps and research needs for the coming years and advancing towards the definition of major scientific priorities in water cycle research that may drive scientific activities of ESA and other partners in the coming years.