WATER RESOURCE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

A NEW GENERATION OF OBSERVATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL AND HYDROLOGICAL DATA IS CURRENTLY COMING ON-LINE. INFORMATION ABOUT RAINFALL AND WEATHER CONDITIONS WITH SUCH HIGH TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL RESOLUTION OVER A LARGE AREA HAS NOT BEEN GENERALLY AVAILABLE FOR HYDROLOGIC AND WATER RESOURCE APPLICATIONS. THIS NEW GENERATION OF OBSERVATIONAL DATA COUPLED WITH ADVANCES IN HYDROLOGIC MODELING AND COMPUTATIONAL CAPABILITIES WILL ENABLE SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THE NATION'S WATER RESOURCES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH SEEKS TO DEVELOP A REAL-TIME, STATEWIDE WATER RESOURCE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM BASED ON THIS NEW GENERATION OF OBSERVATIONAL DATA AND COMPUTATIONAL TECHOLOGIES. A WATER BUDGET MODEL WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO THE SYSTEM TO ESTIMATE HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS FROM REAL-TIME OBSERVATIONS OF METEOROLOGICAL AND HYDROLOGICAL INPUTS AND INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAND SURFACE (E.G., SOILS, VEGETATION). VISUALIZATION WILL BE USED TO PRESENT SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED INPUTS AND MODEL RESULTS AND DEPICT PHYSICAL HYDROLOGIC PROCESSES. THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM WHICH PROVIDES WATER RESOURCE DECISION MAKERS WITH READILY AVAILABLE, EASILY UNDERSTOOD INFORMATION ABOUT METEOROLOGICAL AND HYDROLOGICAL CONDITIONS.