This project has ended | -
SHARING WATER SCARCITY RESEARCH WITH THE WORLD
Project summary
The objective of the GLOWASIS project was to pre-validate a GMES Global Service for Water Scarcity Information. In European and global pilot studies it combined hydrological models with water cycle information derived from in-situ observations and satellites, as well as statistical data on water demand. GLOWASIS provides an open data portal, where users can download time series from water scarcity models and water cycle parameters derived from satellite information. The project has raised awareness of the complexity of water scarcity research. By creating a community of users and scientists (through stakeholder consultation, linking with GEOSS and GEO community, blogs, etc.), GLOWASIS guides earth observation scientists to efficient innovation for the specific purpose of assessing and forecasting water scarcity.
Key achievements
- An initial river routing scheme
- An extreme forecast index on the seasonal time scale
- Open data portal for downloading times series from water scarcity models and water cycle parameters derived from satellite information
- Increased awareness of the complexity of water scarcity research
Approach and results
By linking water demand and supply in 3 pilot studies with existing platforms, including the European Drought Observatory and PCR-GLOBWB, for seasonal forecasting in Europe, Africa and worldwide, GLOWASIS provides information on emerging drought events as well as climate change time series. GLOWASIS combines water cycle variables with water demand to streamline the variety of water scarcity information.
River routing scheme
GLOWASIS has developed an initial river routing scheme, which will be developed further in the future.
Extreme forecast index on the seasonal time scale
Using a novel semi-analytical technique, the project has applied the extreme forecast index (EFI) concept to seasonal forecasts (S4) of 2-m temperature (T2M) and total precipitation (TP) from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Results derived from synthetic data highlight the importance of large ensemble sizes to reduce the uncertainty in the EFI calculation due to sampling. This new diagnostic complements current diagnostics as exemplified for the 2012 warm summer in south, central and eastern Europe. The EFI provides an integrated measure of the difference between a particular seasonal forecast ensemble and the underlying model climate, which can be used as an early warning indicator.
Open data portal
The GLOWASIS data portal is set up to disseminate integrated data for open standard applications. By disseminating on a data portal as well as on a popular website, including a daily newspaper, the project raises awareness of the complexity of water scarcity research. The service uses data from the GMES Land Monitoring Core Service (Geoland2) and the Marine Core Service (MyOcean), agricultural and industrial water use, and demand and additional water-cycle information from existing global satellite services. Also, data sources from GEWEX initiatives (i.e. International Soil Moisture network) and GEOSS are promoted.
Collaboration
In-depth interviews and advisory workshops have taken place with the UN-WFP, the EEA and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. GLOWASIS plays a role in the joint drought-flooding forecasting platform within the Group on Earth Observations 2012 Work Plan, GEO task WA-01-C2: “Information Systems for Hydro-meteorological Extremes (incl. Floods and Droughts”).
Partners and stakeholders
- Deltares (Netherlands, co-ordinator)
- CNR-ISAC (Italy)
- ECMWF (UK/International)
- JRC (EC, Belgium)
- NEO (Netherlands)
- University Utrecht (Netherlands)
- TU Wien (Austria)
- TNO (Netherlands)
- University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
- IMGW (Poland)
- University of Kwazulu-Natal (South Africa)
Further reading
Dutra, E., Diamantakis, M., Tsonevsky, I., Zsoter, E., Wetterhall, F., Stockdale, T., Richardson, D. and Pappenberger, F. (2013), The extreme forecast index at the seasonal scale. Atmosph. Sci. Lett., 14: 256–262. doi: 10.1002/asl2.448
Dutra, E., M. Diamantakis, I. Tsonevsky, E. Zsoter, F. Wetterhall, T. Stockdale, D. Richardson and F. Pappenberger, 2013, The extreme forecast index applied to seasonal forecasts, ECMWF Report, TM703
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Framework Programme under grant agreement number 262255.
The work of GLOWASIS will be continued in eartH2Observe.
A collaborative project aimed at pre-validation of a GMES Global Water Scarcity Information Service (GLOWASIS)
The main objective of the proposed project GLOWASIS is to pre-validate a GMES Global Service for Water Scarcity Information. In European and global pilots on the scale of river catchments, it will combine in-situ and satellite derived water cycle information and more government ruled statistical water demand data in order to create an information portal on water scarcity. This portal will be made interoperable with the WISE-RTD portal. More awareness for the complexity of the water scarcity problem will be created and additional capabilities of satellite-measured water cycle parameters can be promoted, but also directly matched to user requirements.
- By creating the user-scientist community, GLOWASIS will guide earth observation scientists to efficient innovation for the specific purpose of water scarcity assessment and forecasting.
- By linking water demand and supply in three pilot studies with existing systems (EDO and PCR-GLOBWB) for medium- and long-term forecasting in Europe, Africa and worldwide, GLOWASIS information will contribute both in near-real time reporting for emerging drought events as well as in provision of climate change time series.
- By combining complex water cycle variables, governmental issues and economic relations with respect to water demand, GLOWASIS will aim for the needed streamlining of the wide variety of important water scarcity information.
Infrastructure is set up for dissemination and inclusion of current and future innovative and integrated multi-purpose products for research & operational applications. The service will use data from GMES Core Services LMCS Geoland2 and Marine Core Service MyOcean (e.g. land use, soil moisture, soil sealing, sea level), in-situ data from GEWEX' initiatives (i.e. International Soil Moisture network), agricultural and industrial water use and demand (statistical – AQUASTAT, SEEAW and modelled) and additional water-cycle information from existing global satellite services.
GLOWASIS – A collaborative project aimed at pre-validation of a GMES Global Water Scarcity Information Service – FP7-SPACE-2010.1.1-04 – Grant Agreement # 262255