Earth observation data is increasingly ubiquitous, easily accessible, freely available, and generally usable due to improvements in software, data standards, network infrastructure, and national policies. As a result, greater opportunities arise for using these data in a wider field of application including decision support for local and regional environmental and water resources management efforts. In parts of the world where in situ data are less readily available, global Earth observation data used in such decision support tools can be a boon to underfunded government and private water management agencies. The United Nations Group on Earth Observations Global Water Sustainability initiative (GEOGloWS) works to coordinate such solutions, bringing global water management capabilities to local decision makers. The recent development and deployment of a global hydrologic modelling system based on historical simulations and daily ensemble forecasts from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) using Earth observations and streamflow routing on every river of the world results in a highly informative and potentially transformative dataset for users at local scales. However, for this data to reach its full potential at the local level, it needs to be subsetted at a regional or local scale, presented in a local geographic context, and interpreted in terms of local water management challenges. Furthermore, this subsetting allows for customization to support the way information is used and the kinds of decisions that are made. This paper presents the design, development, and experimental testing of the GEOGloWS HydroViewer, which is an open source, web-based software that effectively localizes global ECMWF forecasts to meet the needs of water managers and decision makers through subsetting the mapping and modelling services and supporting other customization as needed. The unique Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) deployment method, developed and tested here, allows for individual water management agencies to automatically generate custom HydroViewer applications that can be managed and/or customized depending on need and capacity in-country without reliance on external software and capacity, removing typical interdependence relationships that often define technology transfer to developing countries.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-9921 |
| Date | 02 April 2021 |
| Creators | Ashby, Kyler Ralph |
| Publisher | BYU ScholarsArchive |
| Source Sets | Brigham Young University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/ |
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