Ocean Optics 2026
Meet our remote sensing water experts at Ocean Optics 2026
13–18 September 2026 | Ghent, Belgium
VITO Remote Sensing will be at Ocean Optics XXVII, connecting advanced optical measurements with Earth observation to support better monitoring and management of aquatic environments.
Meet us at booth 5
Come and talk to our VITO Water experts Ils Reusen and Liesbeth De Keukelaere about how we combine satellite, airborne, drone, and in-situ data to deliver validated, actionable information for inland, coastal, and marine waters.
Our work covers water quality and pollution, aquatic disturbances and hazards, floating litter, and measurement excellence — with a strong focus on multi-sensor integration, validation, and uncertainty characterisation.
Discover our research
VITO will also present two posters during this conference:
Towards Community-Agreed UAV Protocols for Aquatic Reflectance
FRM4DRONES-AQUATIC | ESA & BELSPO
📅 Poster Session 2 — Tuesday 15 September, 10:30–12:30
👤 Presented by Liesbeth De Keukelaere
How can UAV measurements of aquatic reflectance become more consistent, comparable, and community-agreed? This work explores harmonised protocols to strengthen the use of drone observations for aquatic Earth observation.
A Multi-Platform Optical and Acoustic Remote Sensing Framework for Plastic Detection from Rivers to Coastal Waters
SSPIRIT | VLAIO + INSPIRE | Horizon Europe
📅 Poster Session 4 — Thursday 17 September, 10:30–12:30
👤 Presented by Ils Reusen
From rivers to coastal waters, this work combines optical and acoustic remote sensing approaches to improve the detection and monitoring of plastic pollution across aquatic environments.
From measurements to actionable water intelligence
VITO develops solutions that transform raw satellite, airborne, and drone observations into spatially and temporally explicit information for evidence-based water management.
Our water monitoring capabilities include platforms such as Terrascope Water for satellite-based water quality monitoring and MAPEO Water for processing and analysing drone imagery.