Hydrologic Information Use and Needs Assessment Utah State University

1. Hydrologic Information Use and Needs AssessmentUtah State University • Examples of Existing Systems • User Needs Assessment Survey Results David G Tarboton with input from Jeff Horsburgh, Rob Gillies, Christina Bandaragoda, John Weeks, Doug Ramsey

2. Some existing hydrology related information systems at USU • Bear River Watershed Information System • Intermountain Region Digital Image Archive (IRDIAC) • Climate and Weather Data Server • UNIDATA port

4. Internet Based WISBear River http://water.usu.edu/wis/bear_river/Great Salt Lake http://greatsaltlake.utah.edu/ • Web browser as client software • All databases and data analysis managed on master server • ESRI’s ArcIMS powers the map server and provides visualization of GIS datasets • SQL Server and Time Series Analyst manage time series data and provide access to analysis and visualization

5. Click

7. Servers • Web Server Dell PowerEdge 700, $3000 • Database Server Dell PowerEdge 2800, $3000 • Base Station for real time data collection, Pentium III 600 MHz, < $1000 now. Operating Systems • Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Software • IIS v6.0 • .Net Framework v1.1 • ProEssentials v5 (for time series plotting) • ArcIMS v4.0 • ArcGIS • Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition

8. Disk Space • 223 GB hard drive/~20 GB used Communication • 100Mb connection to USU internet Operators • Jeff Horsburgh – Research Engineer with expertise in data analysis, data manipulation, GIS, modeling, custom GIS application development, etc. • Rick Satterfield – Graduate Student system programmer with expertise in developing and deploying Internet applications • Crystal Yap – data technician (downloading, formatting, etc.) • Amber Spackman – data technician (downloading, formatting, etc.)

9. http://earth.gis.usu.edu

10. Servers • Sunfire 280R server with 2 1.2 GHz processors and 8GB RAM, ~$20,000 • Partnership in Beowulf Linux Cluster • Windows Server to support ArcGIS geodatabase processing Operating Systems • Solaris, Linux, Windows Server XP Software • MSQL • Apache and Tomcat web services • MapServer, PHP, PHP Mapscript • GDAL and IDL/ENVI for image processing • ESRI Geodatabase Server

11. Disk Space • 2TB at 95% capacity Communication • 1GB connection to USU internet Operators • 1 FTE programmer/analyst with knowledge of C, PHP, IDL, GIS programming languages and scripts. • ½ FTE web developer • ¼ - ½ FTE System Administrator with knowledge in Solaris, Linux, and PC networking architecture, security, installation and integration if 3rd- party software, etc. • ½ FTE Project Manager to oversee and manage daily activities. • ¼ – ½ FTE Project Director. • 3 student technicians (1.5 FTE) that organize, process imagery and data, populate the image database, and provide programming and web support. • 2 postdoctoral fellows to provide research support

12. Climate and Weather Data Server

13. Integrated Weather and Climate Database Goals • Data Ingestion from Many Sources • WEB Accessible • User Friendly Navigation and Interfaces • User Friendly Data Output • High Quality Reports and Graphs • High Quality Maps • All available climate data in one location Currently offline - undergoing restructuring!

14. Servers • One Windows PC, $3000, System Management Front end • Two Redhat Linux PC, $3000, Apache Web Servers • 1TB RAID Disk Array $6000 Operating Systems • Windows Server 2003 • RedHat Enterprise Linux Software • PostgreSQL • Apache Web Services • In house developed applications

15. Disk Space • 120GB, 30% full • 250GB, 40% full • 1000GB (1TB), 60% full Communication • 100MB connection to USU internet Operators • Systems Administrator - MS Windows, RedHat Linux • Programmer to build custom utilities: Java, C, C++, Perl • Software Management and Maintenance - Third Party or In house • Subject Matter Expert - Climate

16. UNIDATA- access and visualization of meteorological information IDD Data Feed Data is ingested using a client / server program - Local Data Manager. Scripts are configured to select data through pattern matching techniques which define data requested and amount. Currently USU ingests 1GB / hour.

17. Visualization and Analysis • Several custom software packages are made available for analysis and visualization of data • Interactive Data Viewer (IDV) - shown on left • McIDAS • GEMPACK

18. Servers • Solaris Ultra 10, < $500 now Operating Systems • Solaris Software • LDM • Unidata • McIdas

19. Disk Space • 250GB, 90% full Communication • 10MB connection to USU internet Operators • Systems Administrator - Solaris • Programmer to build custom utilities: Java, C, C++, Perl • Software Management and Maintenance - Third Party or In house • Subject Matter Expert - Climate

20. User Needs Assessment Survey Results 18 USU Respondents

21. User Needs Assessment Survey Results 36 CUAHSI Respondents

23. Software - USU Please rate each of the following software packages and programming languages with respect to how important they are for hydrologic analysis in your research. Other Software mentioned: SAS - 3 Surfer- 2 R, Groundwater Vistas, STAMMT-L, HEC-RAS, Adobe Illustrator, Kaleidagraph, MS SQL Server, ArcIMS, MapWindow, Macromedia, Minitab, SigmaPlot

24. Software - USU Please rate each of the following software packages and programming languages with respect to how important they are for hydrologic analysis in your research.

25. Software-CUAHSI Rate the following software packages and programming languages with respect to how important they are for hydrologic analysis in your research

26. Software-CUAHSI Rate the following software packages and programming languages with respect to how important they are for hydrologic analysis in your research Other Software Mentioned • Rockware (2) • Imagine/IDL (2) • MySQL (2) • Perl (2) • RiverTools • SWS • Tcl/Tk(GUI) • Web – Python “2ope” • Visual/Modeling – IDL/PV-Ware • Global Mapper • TELEMAC • Virtualization – UML/VMware/etc • PHREEQC • Aqua Chem • IPW • GEMPAK • GRADS • Hydrus2D • DSSAT • Topmodel • ArcIMS • Pro Essentials

28. Please rate each software functionality with respect to the priority for including this functionality in a hydrologic information system - USU

30. Independence - USU:Please indicate the following on a scale of 1-5, where 1=not important, 5=essential HIS software should work independently from any 3rd party software HIS software should work on all computer systems

31. Independence - CUAHSI:Please indicate the following on a scale of 1-5, where 1=not important, 5=essential HIS software should work on all computer systems (Windows, Linux, Mac, Unix) HIS software should leverage commercial software systems (e.g. ArcGIS, SAS) HIS should be implemented using open source software

32. List data standards and file formats that you think CUAHSI should adopt - USU • NetCDF • check the ALMA convention for Land Surface Modeling • Grib • USGS • NASA - hdf

33. Are there data for which CUAHSI should define standards - USU • Standards are important, but I do not know what they all are. • Streamflow, Precip, Landuse, Topography, Landcover • Unpublished data in technical reports must be protected, esp when graduate theses and dissertations are involved • Of course, mostly in terms of denomination of the variables. Check ALMA standards as an example. • Time series of any sort should have a standard that controls how they are stored and distributed (this is primarily so that qualifying comments or metadata are not lost). • Data should probably be available in a variety of export formats. • EPA storet- have good chemical data AND flow from the same sample site. Otherwise it is pretty useless.

34. List data standards and file formats that you think CUAHSI should adopt - CUAHSI • Time series • Space time grids • Some image formats • Hydrologic Observations • ISO • HDF • NetCDF • NASA DIF • GeoTiff • XML based formats • At least conversion from difficult data formats • Flat files • Data model for time series needs more development • How should I know? I’m just a user. • Any raster grid supported by ESRI • Ascii, shapefile, MS Access, XML • XML, XML, and XML

35. Are there data for which CUAHSI should define standards - CUAHSI • Probably • Transboundary datasets • Sediment transport • Domain specific data – whatever is going to be offered to users • Adapt existing standards • In situ observational data – such as SCAN network data • Metadata format and ontology structure • Vector data, raster data, image data

36. USU

37. Rate the ease of access to hydrologic data and information - CUAHSI

38. USU Other data mentioned Water Use/Diversion data - 2 ET, Groundwater level, Water Quality/Chemistry, Energy balance components (latent and sensible heat)

39. Rate the priority for data inclusion in HIS - CUAHSI

40. Other National Datasets you think should be considered - CUAHSI • Corps of Engineers Stream stage/discharge • WRRI – Institutes • Reservoir storage/elevation/chemistry (Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation) • National orthophotography • Higher resolution HUCs • Urban/anthropic/water-related infrastructure • General geology • Population density • Various NRCS/WCC & NOHRSC data • NADP precip chemistry • Stream sediment data • Hydrogeologic data (K, Chem, etc.) • Snow courses • Vegetation maps • US Census/population data • Ecological data/ecoregions • Agricultural census data

41. Local Datasets that you think should be included - USU • Geomorphic/Channel Characteristics, (.shp) • Fish Distribution and abundance (Excel) • Other biotic data on streams( Excel) • Abiotic data on streams (Excel) • LIS (Gribs) • U Washington (NetCDF) • Unidata • Real time river diversions and reservoir elevations (txt) • Real time water quality monitoring data • Real Time climate/weather observations (like Mesowest) • Local government records indicating land use changes • US govt Population Census data • Meteorological and edaphic state variable data from CSI loggers • Precipitation (ASCII, Excel)) • Soil Moisture (ASCII, Excel) • Soil temperature (excel) • Soil characteristics (ascii) • Meteorological data (wind speed, humidity, air temperature, solar radiation) (ASCII)

42. Local Datasets that you think should be included - CUAHSI • Borehole data – geologic electric and geologic logs – locations • Seismic reflection lines • NPDES sites • Geologic surface profiles with original data points • Groundwater raw water chemistry • Irrigation diversions • Pressure, moisture, concentration (SQL) • USGS FRI – Forest growth data • National rangeland condition data • US breeding bird survey • Airborne Lidar – filtered bare earth and first return • High resolution orthorectified aerial photographs • Various mountain datasets • RAWS & other mesonets • Precipitation isotope data • Calsil (data system), Cdoc (data system) • Weather Mesonets • High level land use • High resolution topography • Land management practices • Water management practices • Model input for specific watersheds • Met and flux tower • Realtime water quality data • Diversions, water management, water rights • Water use • GAP analysis

43. USU

45. Additional Comments/Suggestions • Transboundary approach should be included into the HIS project (e.g., all watersheds along the US/MX border are binational on both surface and GW hydrology • Need tools to easily register raster data at different scales (e.g., MODIS, Landsat, orthophotos, NED, gridded climate) • Consider uncertainty • Consider anthropic influences • Prioritize ingestion and dissemination of data, methods for data visualization, manipulation and, analysis • Need attention to ease of use, intuitive interfaces, responsiveness, etc. • Don’t forget the hydrogeologists, hydrochemists, and stream geomorphologists • Is there more interest in accessing unfiltered data than model results? • Each observation needs quality information (adequacy of time series data model) • Priority on simple data model for hydrologic observations with derivatives for groundwater, streamflow, etc. Priority 2 = data fusion and assimilation technology • Needs – integrated models, data to models, standard models, software for analysis of model output and uncertainty