Development of a new remote sensing device to be used at large scale as earth-observation in situ component

In a global warming and climate change context, populations all over the world are impacted by an increasing number of hydrological crisis (flood events, droughts, ...), mainly related to the lack of knowledge and monitoring of the surrounding water bodies. In Europe, flood risk accounts for 46% of the extreme hazards recorded over the last 5 years and current events confirm these figures. Although the main rivers are properly monitored, a wide set of small rivers contributing to flood events are not monitored at all. There is a clear lack of river basins monitoring regarding the rapid increase of extreme events. Moreover, hydrological surveys are currently insured by heterogeneous means from a country to another and even inside a country, from a region to another. It results in a high-cost level to deploy a robust, relevant, and efficient monitoring of all watercourses at risks. Therefore, there is a real need for affordable, flexible, and innovative solutions for measuring and monitoring hydrological areas to address climate change and flood risk within the water big cycle. 

 VorteX.io aims to provide an innovative and intelligent service for monitoring hydrological surfaces, using easy-to-install and fixed in-situ instruments, based on compact light-weight device inspired from satellite technology: the micro-stations. From a technical point of view, vorteX-io micro stations are designed like remote sensing nanosatellites that do not fly, but are installed above watercourses (i.e., under a bridge). Onboard remote sensing instruments (lidar, thermal and multispectral camera, GNSS) allow them to remotely and in real-time measure water temperature, provide contextual images and hydro-meteorological parameters (water surface height, water surface velocity, rain rates). Water parameters are transferred in real-time through GSM or SpaceIOT networks.  The technology has been entirely designed and patented by vorteX-io.

The combination of these in-situ data with satellite measurements is thus optimal for downstream services related to water resources management and assessment of flood/drought risks: calibration, validation and accuracy assessment of EO projects in space hydrology. The vorteX-io technology is selected by ESA for Sentinel-3 Altimetry CalVal for inland waters: installation of stations under the track and synchronization of in-situ acquisition with the passage of the satellite to operationally provide Fiducial Reference Measurements (FRMs). In addition, vorteX-io is involved in the definition of future inland water FRMs for the upcoming CRISTAL mission and also on the ESA DTE for hydrology. 

In June 2023, the European Innovation Council awarded the company to deploy 1000 micro-stations in France and Croatia

In June 2024, vorteX-io has completed a funding round, which notably includes Caisse des Dépôts (CdC represent a major public financial institution in France) and CNES as shareholders. This funding will specifically facilitate the continued deployment of the constellation across Europe.

The long-term vision is to cover river basins in Europe with an in-situ network, to be used at large scale as earth-observation in situ component either for monitoring water quality parameters or for extreme hazards monitoring such as floods and drought