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Eyes on Earth Episode 35 – Watching the Water Supply with OpenET

By Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Eyes on Earth

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Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we hear about a partnership that aims to simplify and share critical water use data for the Western U.S.

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
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Geographers with OpenET project, pictured with graphic for the Eyes on Earth podcast
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
From top, scientists Forrest Melton, Justin Huntington, Robyn Grimm and Gabriel Senay.

Summary: Evapotranspiration is the process by which water transpires from the leaves and stems of plants and evaporates from the Earth’s surface. ET is an important metric for managing water use, but data availability has long been an issue. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk about OpenET, a bold initiative whose goal is to improve water management by making that water consumption data more easily accessible to 17 western states. A consortium of agencies and organizations is working together to create a “one-stop shop” where users can access remotely sensed water consumption models on a single web-based platform.

Guests: Robyn Grimm, Environmental Defense Fund, Forrest Melton, NASA/Cal State University-Monterey Bay, Justin Huntington, Desert Research Institute, Gabriel Senay, USGS EROS

Host: Steve Young

Producer: John Hult

Release date: October 5, 2020

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