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Operational monitoring of water bodies in arid and semiarid regions with SPOT-VEGETATION satellite: Contribution of Eumetcast and recent research projects Volume 20, issue 1, janvier-février-mars 2009

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Authors
Joint Research Center of the European Commission Centre commun de recherche de la Commission européenne Via Enrico-Fermi 21021 Ispra Italy, AGRHYMET Regional Centre – Centre régional AGRHYMET Niamey Niger, United Nation Economic Union for Africa (UNECA) – Commission économique des Nations Unies pour l’Afrique (CEA) Addis-Abeba Ethiopia

The VEGETATION instrument on board SPOT satellites allows the detection of surface water, thanks to its short wave infrared channel, at the resolution of 1 pixel (1 km). The surface water is detected every 10 days for Africa and broadcasted to African users by means of the Eumetcast broadcasting system operated by Eumetsat. The effective detection of water coupled with the dissemination system provides the capacity for operational monitoring of surface water from continental to regional scales. The continuity of surface observation allows the seasonal assessment of water availability.