(356c) Integrated Hydrologic Science and Environmental Engineering Observatories: Their Promise and Current Status

As population levels and the rate of urban development rise in the U.S. our society grows increasingly concerned with balancing the need to maintain water supplies of adequate quantity and quality for human use while preserving the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. Researchers are now in a position to answer questions about multiscale, spatiotemporally distributed hydrologic and environmental phenomena through the use of remote and embedded networked sensing technologies. Recognizing this potential, NSF awarded $2 million to a coalition of 12 institutions in July 2005 to establish the CLEANER Project Office (Collaborative Large-Scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research; http://cleaner.ncsa.uiuc.edu). Over the next two years the project office, in coordination with CUAHSI (Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc.; http://www.cuahsi.org), will work together to develop a WATer and Environmental Research Systems Network (WATERS Network), which is envisioned to be a collaborative scientific exploration and engineering analysis network that will transform our scientific understanding of how water quantity, quality, and related earth system processes are affected by natural and human-induced changes to the environment. With the construction of the WATERS Network, individual investigators will have an unprecedented opportunity to leverage data from laboratory investigations and single field sites with data collected nationwide and to collaborate with their colleagues in real-time on complex environmental research questions. Ultimately the plan will lay the foundation for a new infrastructure that will transform how environmental research and education are conducted. The cyber- and physical infrastructure of the network to achieve this goal must be capable of adequately identifying, monitoring and analyzing processes relevant to water resources research and includes: 1. Sensor hardware for data collection at field facilities within the observatory; 2. High-speed data transmission and high-capacity data storage to manage these data; 3. Computational hardware and resources for retrieval and visualization; 4. Computational hardware and software for data interpretation, modeling, parameterization and prediction, and collaboration for remote researchers to share and interpret these results; and 5. Experts and technical staff to support and manage the cybercollaboratory. The presentation will give an overview of the vision, goals and capabilities of a cyber-based research network. This will include the draft preliminary program plan for WATERS, the status of the cyber- and physical infrastructure capabilities and current limits to the achievement of the WATERS vision.