"INNOVATION IN HYDROMETRY"
2017 WORKSHOP IN GENEVA
18.01.2018

The hydrological cycle is essential for understanding the natural processes. However, the monitoring systems currently used by national hydrological departments are very costly to install and maintain. The conventional systems are too costly an investment for low-income countries. The limited budgets of developing countries, as well as budget reductions in developed countries, mean that manufacturers and hydrometry equipment clients must find more affordable solutions. MOXXI and HydroHub respond jointly to the need to improve data quality, spatial and temporal resolution and the availability of hydrological observations through innovation and multidisciplinarity.

The WMO’s HydroHub (global hydrometry support facility ) has been specifically designed to set up operational systems and waterway monitoring services, expand the hydrological database and facilitate free and open data sharing. Its main aims consist of offering a framework for developing innovative operational tools for hydrometric monitoring and water information systems using new hydrometric designs and favouring coordination between ongoing projects and funders. The end goal is to integrate innovative approaches into traditional hydrometry to improve efficiency and durability in the water process. This also includes formulating adequate standards and quality management practices.

This joint IAHS MOXXI and WMO HydroHub workshop will create a sight check for scientists from MOXXI and the WMO community for:

• stimulating discussion on the future integration and implementation of innovative hydrological measuring systems;
• sharing and circulating research results within the MOXXI community;
• identifying the main gaps in observation, methodology issues and research needs that could benefit from MOXXI’s innovative and interdisciplinary approach.

The meeting will bring together innovators and scholars on the one side, and water management and national hydrometeorological department experts on the other, to share experiences and facilitate the integration of the new technologies into the standard hydrological observation networks.

The different contributions from the event’s participants will concern innovative sensors, opportunistic observations, data from the public, remote sensing, innovative data analysis methods, detection networks and innovative observations in all areas of earth sciences. Particular attention will be paid to assessing the quality of the data in view of standardising innovative approaches.