Digital catchment inception using community project components

Abstract

It is becoming recognised that synergistic integration of knowledge and methods from a variety of allied disciplines is needed to study, engineer and manage water resources. Until recently this comprehensive investigative approach was limited, in part due to a lack of appropriate technologies. Recent advances in computer, communication and information technologies have led to increasingly pervasive and sophisticated ‘cyberinfrastructure', which enables integration in a common digital environment using remote and in situ measurements with geotemporal databases and high-performance computational models. This paper describes the initial efforts carried out by a University of Iowa research group in implementing and customising software components created by a hydrologic community project to support a local digital catchment. The initial goal was to test what types of data queries the digital catchment can handle and to see how it performs in cases where data streams are coupled with models for continuous forecasting of river water quality. The paper also discusses the general context for digital catchment development and summarises the lessons learned during this initial developmental stage. Given the uniform and scalable nature of the community project components, the workflows described are transferable to other users and other catchments. This synergistic initial effort led to the conclusion that community project components can successfully underpin the national effort of creating a network of ecohydrologic observatories.

A data management and publication workflow for a large-scale, heterogeneous sensor network

“…Conner et al (2013) describe a simplified version of the CUAHSI HIS HydroServer software stack that can be implemented by research labs and groups for archiving and sharing environmental observations data. Muste et al (2010, 2013) describe a CI for supporting integrated water resource management with similar use of the CUAHSI HIS components to support management of environmental sensor data. Muste et al (2010) point out that a system built around the CUAHSI HIS has the benefit of broad community support and facilitates implementation of data management to support science in local observatories.…”

“…Muste et al (2010, 2013) describe a CI for supporting integrated water resource management with similar use of the CUAHSI HIS components to support management of environmental sensor data. Muste et al (2010) point out that a system built around the CUAHSI HIS has the benefit of broad community support and facilitates implementation of data management to support science in local observatories. Mason et al (2014) and Izurieta et al (2011) describe a system for sensor data management within ecological research laboratories.…”

“…Researchers and practitioners that are operating environmental observatories and sensor networks need CI tools for data import and storage as well as data discovery, access, and distribution (Muste et al 2010, 2013; Mason et al 2014). In addition to addressing challenges presented by the sheer quantity of data, monitoring networks need practices to ensure high data quality, including procedures and tools for post-processing (e.g., Steiner et al 1999; Foken et al 2005; Collins et al 2006; Campbell et al 2013).…”

End-to-End Cyberinfrastructure for Decision-Making Support in Watershed Management

“…2. The common denominator of these CI platforms is the assemblage of off-the-shelf components developed by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc.-Hydrologic Information System (CUAHSI-HIS) project in customized workflows serving various purposes (Muste et al 2010b). Specifically, the following CUAHSI-HIS project components were customized for this paper's applications: (1) observational data model (ODM), a relational database schema; (2) streaming data loader (SDL), updating continuously data streams from a file (or the web); (3) WaterOneFlow (WoF), active server pages dot net -simple object access protocol-based web services customized for hydrologic data using the WaterML information exchange schema; (4) WoF Central Metadata Repository, a registry of publicly available data sets shared through WoF and WaterML, (5) ODM Tools, software for query, export, management, and data visualization, and (6) data access system for hydrology (DASH), ArcGIS dot net web application developer framework application.…”

“…CI-based technologies are increasingly available and sufficiently mature to facilitate development of digital platforms that support both scientific investigations and management at the watershed scale. These platforms have the potential to transform the ability to understand and address ecosystem changes, protect the environment, and predict and prevent natural and human disasters through knowledge-based adaptive management (Muste et al 2010b).…”