Potential of Modern Data Types for Future Water Resources Management

Abstract

Presently a change of paradigm in the field of planning and operation of water management schemes can be observed. The introduction of the principle of sustainable development by the United Nations and the principle of integrated river basin management postulated by the European Union play a major role in this context. Introduction of these new principles requires development of new planning tools, which in turn require a much better data basis than available hitherto. This paper deals with new data types already partly available now, partly to be expected to be developed in the medium-range future. The present data situation is discussed, along with the obvious deficits of conventional data. New data types will not be limited to point measurements, but rather must comprise information covering large areas with a higher resolution in time and space than presently available. Remote sensing data will play a more important role in the future. Furthermore, digital maps, digital elevation models, etc. are also of growing importance and will be processed, together with remote sensing and other data, within Geographical Information Systems of future generations also exposing the potential for working with multi-temporal imagery. In the paper it is shown that in the future more accurate data will be available, not only in terms of data quality, but also resolution in time and space. It is shown how the new types of hydrometeorological data postulate new types of hydrological models. Here, distributed system models are of growing importance. Furthermore, it is shown how the combination of remote sensing with other information leads to new data types that allow integrated planning of water resources systems. The potential of real time data is highlighted, particularly in the context of real time operation of water resources systems, especially for flood control. The potential of large-scale data schemes in the context of regional and continental water management schemes is discussed. Global atmospheric models coupled to hydrological models are discussed, and their potential to consider long-distance effects of certain phenomena (e.g., El Niño) are mentioned. For sustainable development of water resources, the potential of long-term data prediction scenarios is evaluated, and an example of this principle for planning future water supply systems is presented. The paper ends with a vision of future developments in planning water management schemes on the basis of new data types