Water productivity data is now available to everyone with WaPOR v3

Following its geographical expansion worldwide, WaPOR version 3 data is now publicly available at all levels. High-resolution data at 20 meters is also available for the entire Nile River delta.

WaPOR, FAO's portal that provides open access to remote sensing data, assists countries in monitoring water productivity, facilitating informed decision-making to optimize water management strategies and promote food security on a global scale. Among the improvements implemented, there are:

• Level 1 data with worldwide coverage at 300 m resolution. 
• Level 2 data for Africa, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Colombia, with a resolution of 100 m.
• Level 3 data for specific areas of WaPOR partner countries, with a resolution of 20 m.
• The temporal coverage of version 3 covers from 2018 to the present.

The new portal offers a wide range of features that aim to provide tools to users to get the most out of data, such as: 

• A faster, easier-to-use interface that makes data manipulation richer and more intuitive.
• A benchmark that supports multiple layers, including layers in different resolutions.
• The ability to split the screen and compare different layers or different dates for the same layer.
• The ability to view a time series animation and see how the data evolves.
• A wide range of basemaps.
• The possibility of sharing one's results with other people.
• Enhanced analytics capabilities:
• Time series and cumulative time series for points and areas.
• Mean deviation analysis.
• Easy data download:
  
  - Of the area of interest drawn
  - Areas of interest uploaded (coming soon)
  - By country (coming soon)
  - Better data integration with the ability to load user's own data or any WaPOR spatial dataset for contextualization of analysis
  
  By providing pixel insights in near real-time, WaPOR opens the door for service providers to help farmers achieve more reliable yields and improve their livelihoods. At the same time, irrigation authorities have access to information to modernize their irrigation systems and government agencies can use this information to promote and increase the efficient use of their natural resources.
  
  More data will be available in the coming months, as well as more portal features. This marks an important milestone in FAO's commitment to promoting data accessibility and helping countries address water-related challenges.