About this Research Topic
The importance of ambient water quality has been highlighted globally by target 6.3 of Sustainable Development Goal 6. This target calls for improved water quality by 2030 as one of many targets that are necessary to support sustainable development at global scale. For decades, sustainable use of freshwater has been considered mainly from the perspective of water quantity, but SDG 6.3 has highlighted the concept that water quality is of equal importance. It has also shown that there is a huge lack of information about water quality at global scale. This needs to be addressed if the aim of improving water quality is to be achieved. Understanding the pressures, drivers and state of water quality requires a concerted effort to monitor and assess ambient waters and the scientific community to develop innovations to support monitoring at all socio-economic levels.
The lack of awareness, at all levels of society, of the need for good ambient water quality has led to inadequate effort towards monitoring and maintaining it. This is especially true in low-income countries where the focus is mainly on drinking water quality. The goal of this topic is to highlight current developments and shortcomings in this area. The main challenges for monitoring ambient water quality are collecting sufficient and appropriate data at the necessary temporal and spatial scales to inform policy and management actions. Obtaining basic water quality information is feasible for all countries but monitoring newly emerging pollutants, such as pharmaceutical compounds, is currently only possible at limited temporal and spatial scales, even in wealthy countries. Affordable monitoring tools and approaches are needed that can be applied at local, national and regional scales. Advances are being made in low-cost sensors, automated sampling and analysis, biological monitoring, remote sensing, engaging citizens, use of artificial intelligence, and statistical and modelling techniques to optimize data collection and use. However, more examples of validation and application of these methods and approaches are also needed to encourage and support their widespread adoption, especially for national-scale monitoring programmes.
This topic is seeking contributions illustrating the diversity of approaches that can be used to generate ambient water quality data and to demonstrate their use in water quality assessment and policy development for sustainable management. The focus can be either on the application of a new method or approach with potential for adoption at all levels of socio-economic development, or on the use of the water quality data towards sustainable use of ambient waters. Examples of topics are:
-Remote sensing of ambient freshwaters
- Citizen monitoring
-Low-cost sensors and methods
-Biological monitoring approaches
- Use of artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Ambient water quality modelling
- Monitoring newly emerging water quality issues
Reviews and critiques that highlight issues, such as data management and sharing, community engagement and participation, awareness raising, adoption and use of alternative data sources for national and regional policy, including transboundary waters, will also be considered.
The lack of awareness, at all levels of society, of the need for good ambient water quality has led to inadequate effort towards monitoring and maintaining it. This is especially true in low-income countries where the focus is mainly on drinking water quality. The goal of this topic is to highlight current developments and shortcomings in this area. The main challenges for monitoring ambient water quality are collecting sufficient and appropriate data at the necessary temporal and spatial scales to inform policy and management actions. Obtaining basic water quality information is feasible for all countries but monitoring newly emerging pollutants, such as pharmaceutical compounds, is currently only possible at limited temporal and spatial scales, even in wealthy countries. Affordable monitoring tools and approaches are needed that can be applied at local, national and regional scales. Advances are being made in low-cost sensors, automated sampling and analysis, biological monitoring, remote sensing, engaging citizens, use of artificial intelligence, and statistical and modelling techniques to optimize data collection and use. However, more examples of validation and application of these methods and approaches are also needed to encourage and support their widespread adoption, especially for national-scale monitoring programmes.
This topic is seeking contributions illustrating the diversity of approaches that can be used to generate ambient water quality data and to demonstrate their use in water quality assessment and policy development for sustainable management. The focus can be either on the application of a new method or approach with potential for adoption at all levels of socio-economic development, or on the use of the water quality data towards sustainable use of ambient waters. Examples of topics are:
-Remote sensing of ambient freshwaters
- Citizen monitoring
-Low-cost sensors and methods
-Biological monitoring approaches
- Use of artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Ambient water quality modelling
- Monitoring newly emerging water quality issues
Reviews and critiques that highlight issues, such as data management and sharing, community engagement and participation, awareness raising, adoption and use of alternative data sources for national and regional policy, including transboundary waters, will also be considered.
Keywords: Water quality, Monitoring, Freshwater, Sustainable Use, Ambient Water
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
