Keywords
Watershed Modelling; Data Visualization; Decision Support System; Occoquan Watershed
Location
Session D1: GIS and Environmental Modeling for Decision Support
Start Date
16-6-2014 2:00 PM
End Date
16-6-2014 3:20 PM
Abstract
Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory (OWML), has been monitoring the Occoquan Reservoir and its tributary watershed in Washington DC suburb for over 40 years. OWML has also developed and maintained a state-of-the-art water quality and quantity model for the region based on seven HSPF and two CE-QUAL-W2 software. To make the data and modeling tools easily accessible to stakeholders, OWML has embarked on an experiment to use modern Information Communication Technology (ICT) along with web-mapping systems. As a result the web-portal https://wqdata.owml.vt.edu has been developed to provide easy access to the real-time and historic water resources data for the Occoquan watershed region. Another portal is under development that will allow users from the internet to delineate land use changes through their web browsers and then analyze the impact of these land use changes by executing calibrated water resources models for the region. The technologies used to develop these portals are open-source and have a wide user-base permitting for easy extension to other regions with water resources data or model to share. Due to reliance on the modern ICT there were numerous hurdles in development of this system and several problems still exist, such as need for constant updates to keep the system relevant. Based on experience in OWML, this paper will present the problems faced in the development and maintenance along with benefits of having such systems. We will also discuss possible answer based on cloud computing and wider collaboration that may help extend this experiment beyond Occoquan watershed and benefit other researchers.
Included in
Civil Engineering Commons, Data Storage Systems Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Hydraulic Engineering Commons, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons
An Extendable Experiment with GIS and ICT to make Environmental Data and Modeling User-Friendly and Accessible
Session D1: GIS and Environmental Modeling for Decision Support
Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory (OWML), has been monitoring the Occoquan Reservoir and its tributary watershed in Washington DC suburb for over 40 years. OWML has also developed and maintained a state-of-the-art water quality and quantity model for the region based on seven HSPF and two CE-QUAL-W2 software. To make the data and modeling tools easily accessible to stakeholders, OWML has embarked on an experiment to use modern Information Communication Technology (ICT) along with web-mapping systems. As a result the web-portal https://wqdata.owml.vt.edu has been developed to provide easy access to the real-time and historic water resources data for the Occoquan watershed region. Another portal is under development that will allow users from the internet to delineate land use changes through their web browsers and then analyze the impact of these land use changes by executing calibrated water resources models for the region. The technologies used to develop these portals are open-source and have a wide user-base permitting for easy extension to other regions with water resources data or model to share. Due to reliance on the modern ICT there were numerous hurdles in development of this system and several problems still exist, such as need for constant updates to keep the system relevant. Based on experience in OWML, this paper will present the problems faced in the development and maintenance along with benefits of having such systems. We will also discuss possible answer based on cloud computing and wider collaboration that may help extend this experiment beyond Occoquan watershed and benefit other researchers.
