Hydrometeorological Monitoring Network and Geodatabase

Today, the hydrometeorological monitoring networks established in Soviet times in Central Asia are out-dated and due to lacking financial resources a great number of stations have been abandoned. Thus, the sound basis for the analysis, evaluation and prognosis of hydrological processes and a sustainable water management is missing.

In close cooperation with the Central Asian National Hydrometeorological Services as well as the WMO and donor organizations, CAWa intends to design an up-to-date transboundary hydrometeorological monitoring network including automated sensors and satellite-based real-time communication.

In addition to hydrometeorological sensors GPS sensors will be installed in selected monitoring stations. They will provide data e.g. on the water vapor distribution in the atmosphere, which may be used to improve weather forecasting and the prognosis of precipitation events. These innovative methods are currently being developed at the GFZ and tested in practice in Germany and may later be applied in Central Asia as well.

As a first step, CAWa is going to establish 4 pilot stations in Central Asia which will serve to test both sensors and communication facilities in order to select the most appropriate equipment and minimize operational costs.

The data collected by the newly established monitoring stations is going to be processed and stored in a central data management unit – the SOPAF („System Operation Processing and Archiving Facility“). The operation centre is going to be established at CAIAG in Bishkek.

Besides, a database for meta data is going to be developed which will contain the meta data of time series available at the Central Asian NHMS. Since historic data series are often available as hardcopies only, CAWa is supporting the NHMS in step-by-step digitalization.

In Central Asia, the general exchange of hydrometeorological data among the NHMS but also between national water management institutions is not common practice and the data quality is often mistrusted. Hence, the provision of a sound, reliable and independent data basis is of substantial significance. Within CAWa, the newly collected data is going to be shared among all participating partners via a web portal.

WP 1 is coordinated by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) Potsdam in cooperation with the Central Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences (CAIAG) in Bishkek and the Central Asian National Hydromet Services.

Contact:

Dr. Tilo Schöne
German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ)
Phone: +49 331 288-1739
Email: tschoene@gfz-potsdam.de