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The hydrologic science community has repeatedly emphasized the importance of coherent observations of multiple phases of the hydrologic cycle and associated biogeochemical cycles as well as the various biological, chemical and physical properties that control these cycles. CUAHSI has responded by coordinating with other scientific communities continuing to advance the case for environmental observatories.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) will soon announce the first Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs). Twenty-three proposals were submitted to this NSF solicitation which used an interdisciplinary earth-surface process approach to observatory design, combining hydrology, geochemistry, geobiology, geomorphology, and stratigraphy. These will be five-year, $4.25M awards. Details of data publication, community access, and other governance issues remain to be determined. Once the initial CZOs are chosen, CUAHSI will post further information about them on our Web site (see: www.cuahsi.org).
Concurrently, CUAHSI has been collaborating with the environmental engineering community on the WATer and Environmental Research Systems (WATERS) Network, a large-scale infrastructure project that is being developed for consideration by the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction program. This planning effort has completed a high-level Conceptual Design report and Integrated Science and Education Plan report that are scheduled to be released in Fall 2007 for community comment. We are entering the final phase of the planning process to increase the specificity of these documents and to develop cost estimates. We hope to be ready for a conceptual design review by late 2008 or early 2009. More information is available at www.watersnet.org.
These two efforts are complementary, but distinct from each other. CZOs are analogous to Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites. Such sites are led by Principal Investigators to address specific science questions, but also are part of a network with requirements to publish site data and to accommodate external researchers. WATERS Network, on the other hand, is more akin to the National Ecological Observing Network (NEON), which is a top-down design that provides data and research facilities for the environmental science and hydrologic communities.
Progress on both fronts will help to bring to fruition the aspirations of the CUAHSI community in acquiring more, and better, field observations that are needed to advance hydrologic science.
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