An Environmental Flows Information System
for Texas
Eric S. Hersh, CRWR
Table of Contents
Project
Summary
Data describing
the stream flow, water chemistry, geomorphology, and biology of streams and
rivers is often contained in a variety of formats and in many geographic
locations. We have developed an
information system to facilitate the discovery, acquisition, and sharing of
data relevant to the study of environmental flows, including data from
hydrology and hydraulics, water quality, climatology, geomorphology and
physical processes, and biology.
Working cooperatively with the Consortium of Universities for the
Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) Hydrologic Information System
(HIS) project, an NSF-supported effort to improve access to hydrologic data at
the nation’s universities, environmental flows data are stored in the CUAHSI
Observations Data Model and web services are established for the
computer-to-computer communication of data in order to extract data from
disparate sources in disparate formats, to transform the data into the common
language of CUAHSI WaterML, and to load the data into an end user’s
system. The environmental flows
information system includes a linkage to a geo-referenced digital archive of
documents, providing for parallel access to both data and the knowledge
products derived from that data. Via the
Data Model and accompanying Document Model, an information system capable of
managing observational data, geographic data, modeled/constructed data, and
documents is offered.
A prototype environmental flows information system is developed
for the State of Texas that incorporates relevant known available datasets from
federal, state, academic, river basin, and local sources. Tools are developed to assist in the
publishing, visualization, and access of data and documents via map-based,
spreadsheet-based, and other methods.
The information system might be used to provide: (1) rapid low-cost data
integration, (2) improved data access by the public, and (3) support for the
analysis and determination of environmental flow needs. The environmental flows information system
represents the integration of the physical, chemical, and biological information
for rivers and streams in a consistent and accessible manner in one system in
one place.
Additional
information from this project can be found online at: http://www.crwr.utexas.edu/gis/gishydro_08/InstreamFlows/EFIS_files/EFIS_07_29_08.pdf
Texas water data services: http://data.crwr.utexas.edu/
Document management system: http://lisa.lib.utexas.edu/
Eric S.
Hersh
Graduate Research Assistant
Center for Research in Water Resources
University of Texas at Austin
E-mail: ehersh@mail.utexas.edu