The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is seeking public comment on part 1 of the new WaterML 2.0 data standard for time-series data encoding

Aquatic Informatics is actively participating in the Hydrological Domain Working Group, which has a mandate from both the OGC and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), to explore issues of hydrological data interoperability.

We are very excited for the potential that international adoption of a common data exchange format will have for advancing hydrological science and improving water resources management. No one agency can provide data that comprehensively spans all three socio-spatial scales of relevance namely the Assessment scale, the Management scale and the Engineering scale.

• Assessment scale information is for ‘big’ questions such as the effect of climate change on water resources or the amount of water in a shared, trans-boundary basin.
• Management scale information is for regional analysis of water problems such as ecosystem health and water resource allocations.
• Engineering scale information is for very local issues like flooding where the data is analyzed in the context of a very specific problem or landscape.

Data sharing is a necessity because there is no one source of hydrometric data spanning all scales of relevance. Open standards for data sharing will create a future where all relevant data are discoverable, searchable and accessible. Accessibility of all of the data needed to support evidence-based decision-making for water related problems from the scale of culvert design up to global environmental policy-making will make the world a better place.

For more information, check out the presentation:

World Water Online – Proposing An Integrated System for Global Water Information
Presented by: Fernando R. Salas
Prepared by: Fernando R. Salas and David R. Maidment
University of Texas at Austin
GEOSS in Americas Symposium – Santiago, Chile
October 6th, 2011