Starwater provides maps of various indicators of water quality to support decision making for coastal environmental management in accordance with European directives.
The service is based on satellite imagery and oceanographic models. The maps are daily, and practically in real time.
Indicators include:
- Upwelling indices
- Chlorophyll-a
- Temperature
- Salinity
- Transparency
- Suspended matter
- Yellow substance
- Warning of algae blooms
The coastal areas represent less than 15% of the earth's surface. However, hosting more than 60% of world population. If this trend continues, by 2025 over 75% of the population would be concentrated along the coast. The safety and quality of coastal waters is therefore of a great social, economic and political interest.
New technologies based on satellite data offer a unique possibility to obtain information in remote areas or of difficult access to install instrumentation in situ. The products based on satellite images offer a quality solution at an affordable price. They offer the advantage of being combined with in situ data and models, being in turn a reliable source of information.
