Google Earth Engine and its applicability in water resources management

• Fernanda Mota UFPEL
• Matheus Gonçalves FURG
• Marilton Aguiar UFPEL
• Diana Adamatti FURG

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/wcama.2020.11030

Abstract

Water resources and services play a crucial role in economic growth and environmental sustainability. Because of this, we need to improve hydrological data collection and analysis and the understanding of the physical processes of water. The main objective of this paper is to present the features of the Google Earth Engine platform (GEE), with the specific purposes of identifying and evaluating how the platform can help in the context of data analysis in water resources. GEE allows the integration of technologies present in geographic information systems, which makes it attractive for the development of applications in the scope of the environmental area and, more specifically, in this work, in the management of water resources, taking the hydrographic basin of Lagoa Mirim and São Gonçalo Canal as a case study. The resulting analysis of this study can assist the Watershed Management Committee in the analysis of the data from the Basins in the southern region of Brazil.

Keywords: Water resources, Google Earth Engine, watersheds

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