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Illustrative: rain routed down a catchment to the flood plain, generated, with the intensity of a scenario rising and falling

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Systems and Nexus Studies · Department of Nexus-Based Risk Management

Water, energy, food and ecosystems as one system: links, trade-offs and synergies

Têkiliya av-enerjî-xwarin-ekosîstem

The water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus covers the interactions between water, energy, food and ecosystems: how a choice in one sector changes risk in the others, the trade-offs and synergies between them and how policies and investments can be made coherent, applied to basins, cities and national planning.

01Çarçove

What the discipline covers

The subtopics its courses and laboratuwarên teach.

Kurs
Di amadekirinê de
Ast
In development
Labs
Exposure lab, Map lab, GeoAI lab, Network lab, Trigger lab
  • Nexus thinking and its origins
  • Water-energy links
  • Water-food links
  • Energy-food links
  • Ecosystems in the nexus
  • Trade-offs and synergies
  • Nexus governance
  • Nexus indicators
02Nexşe

Build a twin of any place

Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.

The Tonle Sap and the Lower Mekong at Phnom Penh: a flat plan of the faculty twin. Terrain 0 to 1,700 m; River 2,956 km; 14 dams; 6 power plants, 88 MW; Tree cover 37.8 percent of the box; Cropland 39.9 percent of the box; Built-up 0.9 percent of the box; Permanent water 4.7 percent of the box; River discharge, GloFAS via Open-Meteo: read live when the 3D twin opens; Vegetation index, MODIS Terra NDVI 8-day: read live when the 3D twin opens; Surface water extent, OPERA DSWx (HLS): the flood pulse: read live when the 3D twin opens; Land cover classes, MODIS IGBP (annual): read live when the 3D twin opens. Contours every 250 metres from the elevation grid; named rivers by class; cropland, tree cover, water and built-up shares (esa worldcover 2021) as the class holding a quarter or more of each cell; dams as marks; power plants as marks.
The Tonle Sap and the Lower Mekong at Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Flat plan of the same data: the lake and rivers, the dams, the plants by capacity, the cropland and tree cover cells and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices that can draw it, once its data and code have been checked; discharge, vegetation, surface water and the annual land cover load in the twin on request, each with its data date.
  • Terrain 0 to 1,700 m
  • River 2,956 km
  • 14 dams
  • 6 power plants, 88 MW
  • Tree cover 37.8 percent of the box
  • Cropland 39.9 percent of the box
  • Built-up 0.9 percent of the box
  • Permanent water 4.7 percent of the box
  • River discharge, GloFAS via Open-Meteo: read live when the 3D twin opens
  • Vegetation index, MODIS Terra NDVI 8-day: read live when the 3D twin opens
  • Surface water extent, OPERA DSWx (HLS): the flood pulse: read live when the 3D twin opens
  • Land cover classes, MODIS IGBP (annual): read live when the 3D twin opens
Credits and dates per layer are listed under the stage. Relief in the twin is exaggerated ×1.5 for legibility.

Drag to move, right drag or Shift with a drag to turn and tilt, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows move, Shift with arrows turn and tilt, + and – zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.

Flat plan of the same data: the lake and rivers, the dams, the plants by capacity, the cropland and tree cover cells and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices that can draw it, once its data and code have been checked; discharge, vegetation, surface water and the annual land cover load in the twin on request, each with its data date.

The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).

03Nexşeya zindî

Water now in Mexico

Rain, flood water and root-zone soil moisture from NASA satellites and models, with long-term water stress, over Mexico.

Nexşeya înteraktîf JavaScript hewce dike; lîsteya qatan û çavkanî li jêr in.

Qat 2

Water now

Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Texmînkirî
Çavkanî
GPM IMERG (NASA GES DISC)
Peydakar
NASA GES DISC
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
rojane; Texmîna peykî, hema hema di dema rast de
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-12
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 2 km
Nediyarî
Texmîna peykî, hema hema di dema rast de. Rasterê peykî an modelî wekî peydakar diweşîne. Ewr, valahiyên şeritê û çewtiya wergirtinê valahî û xîrecir dihêlin; nirx nîşander in, ne pîvanên li cihekî ne.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Çavdêrîkirî (ewr valahiyan dihêlin)
Çavkanî
VIIRS Global Flood Product (NASA LANCE)
Peydakar
NASA LANCE
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
rojane; Tesbîtkirina bi peykê; ewr valahiyan dihêlin
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-14
Çareserî
tora nêzîkî 250 m
Nediyarî
Tesbîtkirina bi peykê; ewr valahiyan dihêlin. Rasterê peyk an modelê wekî pêşkêşker diweşîne. Ewr, valahiyên şeritê û xeletiya wergirtinê valahî û lerzê dihêlin; nirx nîşander in, ne pîvandinên li cihekî ne.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Modelled
Çavkanî
SMAP Level 4 (NASA NSIDC DAAC)
Peydakar
NASA NSIDC DAAC
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
daily; Model with satellite data assimilated
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-11
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 2 km
Nediyarî
Model with satellite data assimilated. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Observed (clouds and night leave gaps)
Çavkanî
VIIRS NOAA-20 NDSI (NASA LANCE)
Peydakar
NASA LANCE
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
daily; Satellite detection; clouds and night leave gaps
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-14
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 500 m
Nediyarî
Satellite detection; clouds and night leave gaps. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Observed (latest month GIBS publishes)
Çavkanî
GRACE-FO JPL mascons (NASA JPL PO.DAAC)
Peydakar
NASA JPL PO.DAAC
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
monthly; Satellite gravimetry; latest month GIBS publishes
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2022-07-01
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 2 km
Nediyarî
Satellite gravimetry; latest month GIBS publishes. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Çavdêrîkirî
Çavkanî
GHRSST MUR (NASA JPL PO.DAAC)
Peydakar
NASA JPL PO.DAAC
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
daily; Satellite analysis
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-12
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 1 km
Nediyarî
Gap-filled satellite analysis of sea surface temperature for the date shown; not a reef or species condition report.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Çavdêrîkirî
Çavkanî
VIIRS NOAA-20 refleksiyona rastkirî (NASA LANCE)
Peydakar
NASA LANCE
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
rojane; Wêneya peykî
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-14
Çareserî
tora nêzîkî 250 m
Nediyarî
Wêneyê peykî. Rasterê peykî an modelî wekî peydakar diweşîne. Ewr, valahiyên şeritê û çewtiya wergirtinê valahî û xîrecir dihêlin; nirx nîşander in, ne pîvanên li cihekî ne.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin

Ya herî dawî ya heyî

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Wêneyên herî nû yên NASA tê barkirin.

Bikişîne da ku bilivîne. Ctrl an ⌘ û zivirandin, pincandin an bişkojkan ji bo nêzîkkirinê; ji bo nirxên di bin nîşanderê de li ser bisekine; vegerandin vedigere herêmê.

Water now, framed on Mexico.Berhemên peyk û modelê wekî NASA diweşîne, her yek bi dîroka xwe. Nîşander in, ne nirxandinên tu cihî ne.

Dane: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © beşdarên OpenStreetMap · Natural Earth · NASA EONETÇavkanî û lîsans

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • Barîna GPM IMERG, NASA Precipitation Processing System; ji aliyê NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) ve tê belavkirin; wêne bi rêya NASA GIBS. Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine xêzkirin; nirx li cihê nîşandanê di şaneyên H3 de navînî bûne (guhertî). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • Berhemên VIIRS yên hema dema rast (lehî, germahiya rûyê erdê, berfa li erdê, refleksiya rastkirî), NASA LANCE; wêne bi NASA GIBS. Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine kişandin; nirx li şaneyên H3 yên ku têne nîşandan hatine navînkirin (hatiye guhertin). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • SMAP Level 4 soil moisture and snow mass, NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office; distributed by the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • GRACE and GRACE-FO JPL mascon solution, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; distributed by the NASA Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • GHRSST Level 4 MUR analyses, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; distributed by the NASA Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • ASTER GDEM berhemek METI û NASA ye (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); wêne bi riya NASA GIBS. Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine xêzkirin; nirx li cihên ku têne nîşandan di nav şaneyên H3 de hatine navînkirin (hatine guherandin). Wiha bide nîşan: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • Bi Natural Earth hatiye çêkirin. Daneyên nexşeyê yên vektor û raster ên belaş @ naturalearthdata.com. Giştî
  • © beşdarên OpenStreetMap (ODbL), bi NASA GIBS (xetên peravê, sînor, rê û navên cihan). Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine kişandin; nirx li şaneyên H3 yên ku têne nîşandan hatine navînkirin (hatiye guhertin). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; wêne bi riya NASA GIBS. Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine xêzkirin; nirx li cihên ku têne nîşandan di nav şaneyên H3 de hatine navînkirin (hatine guherandin). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • Çarçove li ser globa û nexşeya daxistî: peravên, sînor, rê û navên cihan ji qatên referansê yên NASA GIBS (daneyên OpenStreetMap, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); wêneya Blue Marble wekî bingeha bijarte; erdnîgariya 3D û xwendina bilindahiyê ji nîşandera rengê bilindahiyê ya ASTER GDEM (çînên 5 m heta 200 m, ji bo xwendinê hatine mezinkirin). Sînor wekî hatine weşandin têne xêzkirin û li ser tu axê helwestekê nîşan nadin.
  • Gerdûn: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © beşdarên MapLibre.
  • Bûyerên zindî: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); bûyer nîşanî ne û girêdanên çavkaniya xwe ya orîjînal diparêzin.
  • NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • Pêşbîniya herikîna çemê, 30 roj bi navber (GloFAS bi riya Open-Meteo): Agahiyên Copernicus Emergency Management Service yên guhertî dihewîne 2026; ne hişyariya lehiyê ye.
  • Salek borî, germahiya rojane (ERA5 bi riya Open-Meteo): Agahiyên Copernicus Climate Change Service yên guhertî dihewîne 2026.
  • Salek borî, germahî û tava rojane (NASA POWER): Ev dane ji NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project hatine wergirtin ku ji aliyê NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program ve tê fînansekirin..
  • Daneyên hewayê ji Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), bi lîsansa CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • Optional layers (13 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Qat û dîrok

  • Rêjeya baranê, navgîna rojane: GPM IMERG, NASA GES DISC · 12 Cotmeh 2026
  • Ava lehiyê, berhevoka 3-rojî: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Cotmeh 2026
  • Şiliya axê di qada rehan de, 0 heta 100 cm: SMAP Level 4, NASA NSIDC DAAC · 11 Cotmeh 2026
  • Vegirtina berfê: VIIRS NOAA-20 NDSI, NASA LANCE · 13 Cotmeh 2026
  • Anomaliya hilanîna avê, mehane: GRACE-FO JPL mascons, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · Tîrmeh 2022
  • Anomaliya germahiya rûyê behrê: GHRSST MUR25, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · 12 Cotmeh 2026
  • Rengê rastîn: VIIRS NOAA-20 refleksiyona rastkirî, NASA LANCE · 13 Cotmeh 2026

04The subject

The subject, methods and measures and debates and bodies

The field and its scope

For basin planners, utility and agriculture analysts and policy advisers who must trace how a choice in water, energy, food or land changes risk in the other sectors and make the trade-offs explicit.

05The method

Lifting water to grow grain: how a falling water table becomes an energy bill and a water bill of its own

Pumping groundwater costs energy in proportion to the depth it is lifted; the energy to grow a tonne of grain follows from the crop’s water footprint, and when that electricity comes from thermal plants the energy consumes water in turn, so a water choice, an energy choice and a food choice are one choice seen three ways.

Sources: D’Odorico et al., The global food-energy-water nexus (2018); Mekonnen and Hoekstra, The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products (2011); Albrecht, Crootof and Scott, The water-energy-food nexus: a systematic review of methods for nexus assessment (2018); Hoff, Understanding the Nexus: background paper for the Bonn 2011 Conference (2011).

06Îmze

How water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus connects the sectors

Select corners to build a signature, then hover a line to read what each sector gives and receives.

Select corners · hover lines6 / 15 têkilî

Îmze

Water, Energy, Food and Biodiversity

Food gives biodiversity land conversion (0.6); water gives energy cooling water and hydropower (0.6): the strongest relations between the sectors this subject joins.

W · E · I · F · H · B

Sektor
4 ji 6
Têkilî
6 ji 15
Girêdan
0.43 para ji tevahiyê

Têkiliyên herî xurt ên di lîstikê de

  • Food → Biodiversity · land conversion0.6
  • Water → Energy · cooling water and hydropower0.6
  • Water → Food · irrigation0.8
  • Water → Biodiversity · environmental flows0.6
Nirxên fêrkirinê ji bo herêmeke bajarî ya tîpîk, ne pîvanên ji bo ti cihekî. Girêdan berhevoka hêza têkiliyên di lîstikê de ye, wekî para hemû pazdehan.
07At a glance

At a glance, standards and evidence, research and evidence, what is changing and learning

Water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus at a glance

risksacademy.comsystems-nexusdiscipline

Water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus: 0 primary courses open, 0 in preparation and 5 also taught here, across 8 subtopics. Courses: RAF-104 L1 also taught here, RAN-302 L2 also taught here, RAN-303 L2 also taught here, RAN-304 L2 also taught here, RAN-308 L4 also taught here.
Water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus at a glance
  • Open, 0
  • In preparation, 0
  • Also taught here, 5
  • Subtopics, 8
Drawn as a network cascade: the discipline as the source, its courses as the first tier and connected disciplines as the second.Course codes from the curriculum; study levels L1 to L4.
Twin builderBuild a twin of any placeWorked example: the Tonle Sap and the Lower Mekong at Phnom Penh · 5 generators · 13 layers · 2 instruments
08Konsol

How Water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus is taught, as a process you can run

Press Play to run this process from this page’s own data.

09Fêrbûn

Learning, practice and connections

Achievements in this discipline

10Beşdar bibe

Take part in Systems and Nexus Studies

Ji kî bûna xwe dest pê bike.

11References

Core references and where to begin

Start with Hoff, then Bazilian, then Albrecht.

12Pirs

Pirs, bersiv û têgehên sereke

Gelo xwendin li vir belaş e?
Erê. Her kurs û materyalê fêrbûnê yê Risk Academy, bi rêberiya Nexus Consortium, xwendina wê belaş e, bi leza xwe an bi komekê re. Beşdariya asayî tu xercê nîne; xebata bi pere, stajyerî û bûrs rêkeftinên cuda ne.
Temamkirina kursekê çi dide min?
Tomara temamkirinê: kurs, guhertoya wê, dîrok û tiştê ku hat nirxandin, bi awayê xwerû taybet e û tu parve dikî. Ew li ser hev kom dibe bo destkeftên dîsîplîn, beş û bernameyê. Tomarek diyar dike çi hat xwendin û nirxandin û jêhatîbûnê piştrast nake; ew ne lîsans, ne sernavê pîşeyî û ne rewşa kar e.
Dane û cih ji ku tên?
Her fakulte li ser cêwîyekî cihekî rastîn ê ji daneyên vekirî hatî avakirin ders dide; her qat peydaker, lîsans û dîroka xwe hildigire, û her encam li ser Academy çavkaniya xwe diyar dike. Nexşe û wêne ji bo fêrkirinê nîşander in, qet ne nirxandina cihekî ne.
How do I take part beyond the courses in water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus?
Şaneyeke jêhatîbûnê ji sê heta heft kesan ava bike, rêyeke hevpar bixwîne, erkeke bi çavdêrî di National Working Groups de bigire, an komeke ji saziya xwe bîne. Ji bo rêxistinan.

Têgehên sereke

Têgeh

Water-energy-food nexus

The interdependence of water, energy and food security and the need to manage them together.

Têgeh

Trade-off

A gain in one sector that comes at a cost in another.

Têgeh

Synergy

An action that brings benefits in more than one sector.

Têgeh

Embedded water

The water used to produce a good, also called virtual water.

rêzeya Pergalên StratejîkBeşdar bibe

Ji vê rûpelê delîl bidin.

Reports is the Consortium’s quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

Risk Academy
Têkiliya av-enerjî-xwarin-ekosîstem

Start with an open course

The catalogue lists each course with its outcomes, laboratuwarên, hours and level.