After the collapse of the former Soviet Union in Central Asia and during the War in Afghanistan, the existing ground-based hydrometeorological monitoring networks degraded substantially, especially in the higher elevations. The resulting “observational gap” hinders research on climate and hydrological change as well as operational tasks in water management such as the seasonal runoff forecast.

In the frame of the CAWa project, GFZ supports the Central Asian Hydromet services by establishing a number of automated hydrometeorological monitoring stations as part of a regional monitoring network. This involves also the installation of river discharge measurement stations.
Beyond the CAWa project, several international donor programmes focus on the rehabilitation of the hydrological monitoring networks and prepare the procurement of high-tech equipment for mobile river discharge measurements.

In the envisaged training, we would like to give an overview about available equipment for river runoff measurements – both stationary and mobile. The objective is the presentation of various measurement systems, the demonstration of their handling under real-life conditions, and the discussion of the related knowledge and maintenance requirements. Special emphasis will be put on the discussion of the application ranges for the selected sensor / measurement principle and the limitations. 

The training will enable the participants to select the appropriate measurement methods and equipment for the specific applications in their home institution. In addition, the training will raise awareness about the needed personnel and technical capacities in the home institutions and encourage the participants to develop an according capacity development strategy with the support of international donor agencies.

For details, please see the course announcement.

Stephan Duckert

Helmholtz Centre Potsdam
German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ
Potsdam, Germany

phone +49 331 288-1038
email: duckert@gfz-potsdam.de