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There is no substitute for water. Future development will depend on how water can be managed and shared, climate change adaptation can be implemented, and water quality can be improved. DHI has been committed to advancing and sharing knowledge of water environments for over half a century. Working within the entire water cycle, we innovate new ways to use, manage and live with water and protect water-related ecosystems.

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WMO report highlights growing shortfalls and stress in global water resources

The year 2023 marked the driest year for global rivers in over three decades, according to a new report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which signalled critical changes in water availability in an era of growing demand.
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The last five consecutive years have recorded widespread below-normal conditions for river flows, with reservoir inflows following a similar pattern. This reduces the amount of water available for communities, agriculture and ecosystems, further stressing global water supplies, according to the State of Global Water Resources report.
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DHI has contributed to the report with data from the DHI Global Hydrological Model, which supports more precise decision-making and modelling with easy access to a global dataset of hydrological variables and detailed physical characteristics of landscapes using high-resolution satellite data. The Earth Observation data is of high quality and available for the whole planet, which is crucial for understanding the hydrology of ungauged catchments and providing information in locations where data is otherwise scarce. The data from the DHI Global Hydrological Model contributed to the global mapping of water resources in the report.
Glaciers suffered the largest mass loss ever registered in the last five decades. 2023 is the second consecutive year in which all regions in the world with glaciers reported ice loss. With 2023 being the hottest year on record, elevated temperatures and widespread dry conditions contributed to prolonged droughts. But there were also a significant number of floods around the world. The extreme hydrological events were influenced by naturally occurring climate conditions – the transition from La Niña to El Niño in mid-2023 – as well as human induced climate change.
‘Water is the canary in the coalmine of climate change. We receive distress signals in the form of increasingly extreme rainfall, floods and droughts which wreak a heavy toll on lives, ecosystems and economies. Melting ice and glaciers threaten long-term water security for many millions of people. And yet we are not taking the necessary urgent action’, said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
‘As a result of rising temperatures, the hydrological cycle has accelerated. It has also become more erratic and unpredictable, and we are facing growing problems of either too much or too little water. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture which is conducive to heavy rainfall. More rapid evaporation and drying of soils worsen drought conditions’, she said.
‘And yet, far too little is known about the true state of the world’s freshwater resources. We cannot manage what we do not measure. This report seeks to contribute to improved monitoring, data-sharing, cross-border collaboration and assessments', said Celeste Saulo. ‘This is urgently needed.’
Currently, 3.6 billion people face inadequate access to water at least a month per year and this is expected to increase to more than 5 billion by 2050, according to UN Water, and the world is far of track Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation.
Learn more here: WMO State of Global Water Resources report 2023
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More about the WMO reportThe State of Global Water Resources report series offers a comprehensive and consistent overview of water resources worldwide. It is based on input from dozens of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other organisations and experts, including DHI. It seeks to inform decision makers in water-sensitive sectors and disaster risk reduction professionals. It complements WMO’s flagship State of the Global Climate series.&nbsp;
The State of the Global Water Resources report is now in its third year and is the most comprehensive to date, with new information on lake and reservoir volumes, soil moisture data and more details on glaciers and snow water equivalent. The report seeks to create an extensive global dataset of hydrological variables, which includes observed and modelled data from a wide array of sources. It aligns with the focus of the global Early Warnings for All initiative on improving data quality and access for water-related hazard monitoring and forecasting and providing early warning systems for all by 2027.
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About DHI’s Global Hydrological Model
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A Global Hydrological Model is a tool for looking at hydrology from the perspective of the Earth as one interconnected system, rather than disconnected and isolated parts. They are basically used for better understanding, predicting and managing water resources on regional, national and global scales. DHI-GHM is unique in the way it handles areas with limited or no local observations. Because it directly accounts for the detailed physical characteristics of landscapes using satellite data, the results from these data-scarce areas are highly reliable and useful in situations where monitoring is a challenge.

DHI HQ gets visit from the next generation of space scientists

Space technology is gaining momentum in solving environmental challenges and draws on the strengths of other technologies such as AI and machine learning. Space technology and satellite data are also integral to many of DHI's solutions addressing global water challenges.
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DHI has many employees with a background from DTU – Technical University of Denmark, and DHI recently hosted a large group of first-year students from the Earth and Space Physics and Engineering programme. The students were keen to learn more about how DHI utilises satellite data in combination with other technologies to tackle global challenges related to water and water environments.
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DHI is constantly identifying new ways to use satellite Earth Observation data in combination with AI and physical modelling, with a broad array of applications ranging from estimating coastal bathymetry, habitat monitoring, urban resilience and monitoring reservoir water resources.
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Paul Senty, PhD scholar at DHI, shared some of his experiences working with mapping methane-emitting areas using satellite imagery, while Kenneth Grogan, Head of Earth Observation Analytics at DHI, provided the students with concrete examples of how DHI applies space technology and satellite data to address water and environmental challenges worldwide.
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The students were also given a tour of DHI’s testing facilities, where theory meets practice. Here, DHI’s experts test future designs for floating offshore wind turbines and energy islands by exposing scaled-down models to challenging current, wind, and wave conditions. This ensures that clients can be confident their designs can withstand even the most demanding consequences of climate change. DHI’s experts often use satellite imagery of the ocean floor when recreating a specific area of ocean floor in one of the test pools.
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DHI collaborates closely with both Danish and international research institutions and employs both industrial PhDs and PostDocs. On the recent visit from the DTU students, Kenneth Grogan commented:
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‘I hope the students were inspired to see how theory and data are applied in practice. Satellite data and space technology are increasingly making a significant impact on very down-to-earth challenges, such as monitoring water resources, droughts and floods. With a growing number of satellite sensors, coupled with increasing computing power and the integration of AI and machine learning, this will only become even more relevant in the future.
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Who knows, maybe some of the students will be inspired to work with water and aquatic environments after their visit with us. I certainly hope so.’
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Researchers collect important data on artificial reefs beneath offshore platforms

Life at sea is under pressure in many places but may be less so around our Danish North Sea platforms. Researchers from DHI, DTU-Aqua and Aarhus University-EcoScience are now gathering critical environmental and biodiversity data to better understand the role of the platforms in attracting marine life. The findings will contribute to the future protection of biodiversity around offshore platforms.
 
A dedicated team of researchers and specialists from TotalEnergies and DHI has just returned from a three-week long biodiversity research expedition in the Danish North Sea. The research team collected seabed samples from several of the Danish Underground Consortium's (DUC) offshore platforms.
 
They also gathered 12 offshore underwater sensors placed last summer at the Skjold field as part of the project by TotalEnergies with DUC, DTU Offshore, DTU Aqua and Aarhus University-EcoScience, and set out four new sensors at the Tyra, Harald, Dan and Skjold fields.
 
'The underwater sensors, so-called hydrophones, record the behaviour of tagged cod and echolocating marine mammals such as harbour porpoise around our offshore platforms. This helps us better understand the role our platforms play as feeding and spawning grounds for marine life. The preliminary results from our initial study show that the closer you move to the platforms, the more fish you will find, and the larger they are', says Senior Scientist Jon C. Svendsen, DTU Aqua.
 
The new sensors have been deployed across different oil and gas platforms to also collect insights on the distribution of cod and harbour porpoises between the various locations.
 
'In the second phase of the study, we broadened the scope from one offshore field to four fields. This will help us to provide insights into the movement of the tagged cod and whether harbour porpoises use other similar platforms. We are positive that the quality of the data collected will fill important scientific knowledge gaps to be used both in the oil and gas, as well as the wind industry', says Professor Jonas Teilmann at Department of EcoScience at Aarhus University in Roskilde.
 
Offshore platforms as reef habitatsMany offshore platforms have been in operation for over 30 years. Over their long lifespans, they have not only contributed to energy security, but they have provided spawning and feeding grounds for marine life.
 
'When planning for decommissioning, platform owners, authorities and policymakers must consider the marine environmental impact of removing the offshore structures. Growing evidence suggests that platform legs provide reef habitats for fish and marine mammals, so it is important that we collect a solid data foundation to make informed decisions', says Charlotte N. Larsen, Program Manager at DTU Offshore - Danish Offshore Technology Center.
 
During the coming months, the analysis of all data collected will continue. The sensors just deployed will be picked up by the end of this year and thereby mark the end of this project's field campaign.
 
'The North Sea is the home of our Danish operations, so it is crucial we understand the marine life around our platforms. We are pleased and proud to collaborate with skilled researchers and experts to gain valuable knowledge about the environment and biodiversity trends around platforms. The data guides our decisions relating to activities at sea, and our hope is that the wider society, including industry, authorities and policymakers can also benefit from it,' says Katrina Povidisa-Delefosse, Senior Environment Advisor at TotalEnergies Denmark and PhD in Marine Biology.
 
TotalEnergies, along with DUC partners BlueNord and Nordsøfonden, and DHI will launch an open data portal – the North Sea Environment Portal – which will provide access to more than 30 years of data on environmental and biodiversity trends.
 
'The many surveys undertaken by DHI and TotalEnergies with DUC over the years enabled a deep understanding of the development of seabed chemistry and the invertebrate fauna at and around the platforms. The long-term data allows us to study trends in seabed chemistry and the composition and number of invertebrate species including mussels, snails and bristle worms. Notably, the data shows an increase in the number of invertebrate species over time', says Senior Project Manager and Biologist Jesper Goodley Dannisøe from DHI.
 
The data collected will be added to the North Sea Environment Portal, which will launch in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The reports reinforce that integrated water resources management and healthy, functional ecosystems are essential for sustainable development.
 
New SDG progress reports from UNEP, with contributions from the UNEP-DHI Centre are being published at World Water Week, August 2024. The SDG 6 Progress Update Series provides in-depth analysis of progress towards the various SDG 6 targets and identifies priority areas for acceleration. The aim of SDG 6 is to ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’.
However, a global aggregated analysis of water-related ecosystem data shows 50 per cent of countries are ‘off track’ within the most recent five-year observation period. This equates to 90 countries having one or more water-related ecosystem type in a state of degradation.

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