Hydrological information systems and Database Management issues Jean-Pierre BRICQUET 10 th WHYCOS International Advisory Group, WMO, Geneva, Switzerland, 10-11 October 2013
Challenges of data management Many stakeholders involved in various initiatives, programmes and/or projects, produce and/or use water-related data. Production of the data required for natural resources management is insufficient Challenges 1.Sustainable capacity building for the production of the data required; 2.Developing procedures, tools and methods to enhance the value of the existing data
Some elements of NMHSs on the national level Harmonization of databank system: One bank per country at national level; Facilitate use and dissemination (one format); Maintenance and Training are easier; Reduce the costs of maintenance (one system); Integration of historical and recent data; Way to standardization
Main functions of a database Database design Centralize and organize data correctly Modeling data Eliminate data redundancy Establish integrity constraints Software «Database management system» Support for application control modules Querying, coherence, sharing, management of breakdowns, backups, publications etc. Administration facilitated of data Management of the rights to access data and functions
Database management systems Most used tools Web servers Microsoft IIS Apache Database servers (DBMS) Ms SqlServer Oracle MySql Design of the database is crucial for efficiency
Database functions A hydrological database must be able to accumulate and manage the target data and provide data services quickly and accurately. It should also permit comprehensive automated reporting. Technology now permits a database to accumulate and manage an infinite quantity of data, for multi-purpose applications time series (any type), discharges (current meter, ADCP ), measurement conditions, rating curves, stations characteristics and history, equipment maintenance, location sketches, maps and photos, etc.
Examples of processes
Administration Only ONE database: Secure system (Oracle, MySQL..); One Administrator; Multi users; Rights per user; Without annual fee; Store historical and real time data; Quality insurance; Managed backup procedures
Common facts The institutional framework for coordination of data management activities must be established; The Information System should be managed by a permanent and competent staff within the organization; There should be only a single information system in the agency; each project cannot manage parallel and redundant systems; To ensure the sustainability of monitoring, internal financing of the agency should not only concern the staff managing the Information System, but also the collection and operating costs of the system itself and its hardware, which may be important.
Data dissemination In most of the agencies No proper catalogue about available data (metadata) No set policies for data dissemination pricing eligibility time frame for supply Historical data largely as paper records inefficient dissemination and lot of duplication of efforts by various users in computerizing the data and then using the same set.
Information Systems
Information Systems Definition (Wikipedia) It s an organized set of resources (staff, data, procedures, hardware, software,...) allowing to collect, store, organize and disseminate data and information in the form of texts, images, sounds, or encoded data in organizations... The SIE or the Environmental Information System is all the computing tools which supports the Environmental Management system (EMS) by operating the eco-data and the eco-functions to perpetuate and share your eco-data (for example the regulations, the aspects, the environmental impacts and the rejections, the emissions issues, the indicators) which are included and maintained in an integrated reference table, assuring an optimal availability of the information.
Purpose of HIS The primary role of a HIS is to provide reliable data sets and information for planning, design and management of water resource and for research activities. The system should function in such a manner that it provides the information to users in time and in proper form (different type/level of information according to users. Sometimes, the scope of HIS is extended to provide data to users on a real-time basis for short-term forecasting or operational purposes.
Functionalities of HIS Functions Integration of data from different sources, archiving and management of data Data sets documentation (metadata) and access via a catalogue Visualization (images) and data download Analysis of data (statistics, information crossing, simple GIS analyses).
Functionalities of HIS http://www.chebro.es/
Hydrological Information System Analysis, Modeling, Hypothesis testing Hydrologic Database
Some new trends CUASHI, and Water ML, shared platform Netview (OTT), data hosted by supplier, on line http://netview.ott.com/demo/ Remember: An hydrological database must be managed separately from the HIS; HIS could/should be connected to the base HYDROLOGICAL DATA MANAGEMENT: PRESENT STATE AND TRENDS OPERATIONAL HYDROLOGY REPORT No. 48 (WMO, 2003)
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