Reds Wolman died peacefully at his home Wednesday afternoon, February 24, 2010, at the age of 85. We have lost a giant, marking the end of an era. Even more, we have lost an extraordinary human being who inspired and delighted so many of us. Information on memorial activities and condolences will be forthcoming. [Read Peter Wilcock letter]
CUAHSI is kicking off a community exercise to perform a comparison among field sites around the globe on the stores of water and chemicals and the dynamics of these stores. This exercise is structured as an initial set of exploratory calculations at individual sites to be presented as webinars during the Fall of 2009. [Learn about CCE2010]
Computer models play a central role in meeting the science challenges facing hydrology and other water-related sciences because we need them to test hypotheses, and ultimately to provide simulations that guide policy and decision making. Despite their importance, aspects of simulation tools are far from ideal and this has motivated recent workshops and projects to seek improvements. Learn about a proposed new web-based, collaborative infrastructure for science and engineering fields broadly related to water. [Learn about HydroHUB]
The goals of the Social/Behavioral/Economic (SBE) Science Agenda Workshop were to crystallize fundamental SBE science questions that will advance the goals of improved prediction, priority setting and management and that will be advanced by national-scale data collection concerning people and institutions in relation to water resources; and identify SBE science data collection infrastructure required to enable the scientific agenda.
Participants in the workshop included psychologists, economists, geographers, political scientists, and sociologists, as well as WATERS Network natural scientists and engineers and NSF representatives. The format of the workshop included background sessions followed by breakout/discussion sessions which were the primary constituents of the workshop. [Workshop Final Report]
The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc's Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standards enable developers to make all types of sensors, transducers, and sensor data repositories discoverable, accessible, and useable via the Web. The SWE effort involves OGC members in developing the global framework of standards and best practices that make linking diverse sensor related technologies fast and practical. Standards make it possible for users to assemble sensor systems and components together efficiently; protect investments; reduce likelihood of dead-end technologies, products or approaches; allow for future expansion and encourage collaboration between Sensor Web components and users. [Learn about SWE2010]
The theme of the meeting, Aquatic Sciences: Global Changes from the Center to the Edge, will pull all of our aquatic sciences together and build strong synergy and collaboration between societies and scientists. The Planning Committee invites proposals from all interested scientists in the aquatic sciences and leaders of major programs in this area for special sessions of interest to this joint conference. [Visit the meeting website]
The summer soil institute provides a unique opportunity to gain a fundamental and applied understanding of soil biology, chemistry, and physics with world-renowned faculty. Students will gain hands-on experience with lab and field techniques and will gain an enhanced appreciation for the importance of managing our soil resources sustainably. The course will be limited to a maximum of 25 students. [Visit the Institute website]
This major international conference will target the developing interdisciplinary science themes in the interface between hydrology and other scientific disciplines, including climate change, biology, chemistry and social sciences. These subjects are of particular relevance as population increases and a changing climate bring new pressures on hydrological systems around the world. [Visit the website]
NSF released a multi-million dollar foundation-wide solicitation on Water Sustainability and Climate. A synopsis of the solicitation is available on the Water Sustainability and Climate web page. This solicitation supports projects up to $5M. Letters of intent are due March 15, 2010 and full proposals are due April 15, 2010.
"One of the most urgent challenges facing the world today is ensuring an adequate supply and quality of water in light of both burgeoning human needs and climate variability and change. Despite its importance to life on Earth, there are major gaps in our basic understanding of water availability, quality and dynamics, and the impact of both a changing and variable climate, and human activity, on the water system. The goal of the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) solicitation is to understand and predict the interactions between the water system and climate change, land use, the built environment, and ecosystem function and services through place-based research and integrative models." (quoted from the NSF)
• Got Water Data? Come join the CUAHSI Water Data Federation!—[read more]
Publish your data with a CUAHSI-HIS Server and register it with the CUAHSI-HIS Central Network Registry. It will then be available in federated search engines just like NWIS and STORET. [more information]