GIS in Water-related Information and Decision Support Systems

Josef Frst IWHW-BOKU

Learning objectives
In this section you will learn:
Overview of functions and structure of GIS based information and decision support systems for hydrological and water management purposes Selected GIS based information systems

Outline
Introduction Overview of GIS based information and decision support systems GIS as a platform for inter-disciplinary communication: eco-system case study hydropower plant Altenwrth (Danube) DOLWIS Donau Landschafts- und Wasserwirtschafts-Informationssystem HA Hydrological Atlas of Austria Summary

Introduction
Increasing inter-disciplinary approach to hydrological and water management problems Interaction between water and related areas like agriculture, forestry, ecology or spatial planning Different scales of time and space Wide bandwidth of water management information systems

Overview of GIS based information and decision support systems

History
Development of DSS started in the 1980s Until mid 1990s mainly sectoral applications in basin management Presentation of thematic maps of results plays an important role

Integrated solutions Public participation

PEIS Public Environmental Information Systems

Elements of GIS based DSS

Overview of DSS

Hierarchy of components in DSS RAISON (after Booty et al 2001)

Knowledge
Visualisation

Optimisation Expert systems Neural nets Risk analysis Models

GIS

Data

Data bases Science Strategy

Elements of GIS based DSS

System architecture of DSS
GIS Databases Knowledge base

Overview of DSS

Hypertexts

Pre-processors

Optimisation tools

Simulation models

Expert systems

Analytical tools

Post-processors

Interactive user interface Visualisation/Menu system/Help & Explanations

Inter-disciplinary communication: eco-system study hydropower plant Altenwrth (Danube)

Wide range of problems for different earth and environmental sciences Objectives Eco-system study Altenwrth:
Analysis of the impacts of construction and operation of the power plant on the environment, Development of management alternatives and assessment of their economic, social and ecological impact, Transfer of results to similar situations.

Inter-disciplinary approach

Inter-disciplinary communication: eco-system study hydropower plant Altenwrth (Danube)

System for management and processing of spatial data ArcInfo/AML

Menu driven user interface MISTA

MAP BASE
Maps Map administration Map display

POOL of METHODS
GIS functions 3D-model generation hydraulics models hydrological models

Inter-disciplinary communication: eco-system study hydropower plant Altenwrth (Danube)

Map base
Map base
Ecosystem study Danube hydro Groups Limnologie Soziokonomie

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Forstkologie

Hydrologie

Zoologie

Topics Gelnde
Oberflchenwasser

Bodenwasser Maps

Grundwasser

Qualitt

DOLWIS Donau Landschafts- und Wasserwirtschafts-Informationssystem

environment Au comprehensive information about hydrology, water resources und landscape
up-to-date historical different context of space, time and content different data sources

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uniform, user friendly access allow comparisons and overlays Desktop - GIS

DOLWIS Donau Landschafts- und Wasserwirtschafts-Informationssystem

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DOLWIS

Cooperation between IWHW und AU Gdll (H): Digital Visual Landscape Inventory for the Danube between Vienna and Budapest, Racz et al., 1996 digital database for water management, hydrology and landscape planning to combine the heterogenuous database in a common reference system and to make it accessible in a uniform, user friendly system

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Information in DOLWIS

DOLWIS

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ArcView project

DOLWIS

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HAA Hydrological Atlas of Austria

Motivation

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

there was no spatially consistent, map-based presentation of the hydrology of Austria a large amount of relevant information exists, but they are not fully compatible, do not have a common cartographic base, ... for some elements, like groundwater, erosion, extreme precipitation, snow cover, spatially consistent maps are missing at all new hydrologic atlasses in CH and D

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Objectives

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

basic information for water resources planning modern instrument for public authorities (reporting to EU) transfer hydrologic knowledge to a wider public promote water awareness in higher education present Austria as a whole (not the details) target groups: Hydrologists, Planners in related disciplines, hydraulic engineers, consultants, politicians, higher education it will NOT be THE Hydrological Information System of Austria with detailed and current data

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Products

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

primary product is a collection of thematic maps at a printed scale of 1 : 1 Mio

a GIS-application with all datasets in usable GIS format

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Contents
10 Chapters:

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

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Contents

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

Series of map plates in each chapter, from monitoring via base maps to specialized topics, 52 plates with over 100 thematic maps, e.g.
2 Precipitation
2.1 Precipitation stations 2.2 Mean annual precipitation - Modelled with uncorrected data 2.3 Mean annual areal precipitation using water balance data 2.4 Variability of precipitation 2.5 Heavy convective storms - Precipitation during 15 minutes 2.6 Heavy convective storms - Precipitation during 60 minutes 2.7 Heavy convective storms - Precipitation during 180 minutes 2.8 Maximum observed daily precipitation 2.9 Duration of dry spells 2.10 Extreme multi-day precipitation 2.11 Seasonal trends in precipitation

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Contents
e.g.,
6 Groundwater

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

6.1 Groundwater stations - Groundwater table and springs 6.2 Hydrogeology 6.3 Long-term trend of the groundwater table 6.4 Mean depth to groundwater table 6.5 Mean annual fluctuation of the groundwater table 6.6 Thermal and mineral waters

7 Water balance
7.1 Water balance regions, climatic water balance and runoff characteristics 7.2 Seasonal water balance 7.3 Seasonal trends in the water balance

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Example:
2.1 Precipitation stations

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

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Example:
2.2 Mean annual precipitation modelled with uncorrected data

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

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Example:
5.3 Seasonality of precipitation and runoff

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

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Example:
6.4 Mean depth of the groundwater table

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

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Desired features of GIS version

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

GIS-datasets on CD-ROM for users Simple and user-friendly presentation of maps and associated information To maintain the cartographic identity of the HAA (Outline, color scheme, classifications, ) User-defined spatial and attribute-based queries Links between maps and tables, texts, graphics Distribution without extra individual license costs (software, data) Multimedia in GIS approach

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Realisation: MapObjects LT2

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

Distribution of digHAO Viewer without individual license costs Moderate effort of development (appr. 5 PM) Direct use of Shape files Appearance of maps and use similar to familiar ArcView Proven and reliable product Visual Basic facilitates customized development and integration of time series, histograms, images, HTML,

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digHAO user interface

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

Simple structure: menus, tools, map selection, overview and map display

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digHAO user interface contd.

Display density according to scale

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

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digHAO user interface contd.

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

Links between maps and tables, e. g. time series at stations, details of stations

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Geometric-topological adjustment of rivers and catchment divides

Initial position: many topological errors, federal coding system is good for administration, but does not map river hierarchy efficiently Procedure for HAA:
River network of HAA 1 : 1 Mio, appr. 4440 reaches, mean length 5.47 km 1 catchment for each reach (on avg. 20.6 km) Coding follows recommendations by Danube countries (Pfafstettercoding, similar to LAWA)

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Coding of cachment hierarchy

Adaptation of object oriented ArcHydro data model

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Map 1.3: Basins

Catchment based analysis and reporting

Click to select a catchment and all its upstream parts Aggregate areal precipitation, evapotranspiration and other catchment information

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digHAO user interface contd..

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

Explanatory texts in HTML Metadata: Documentation of data sources and history

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Summary HAA

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

The Hydrological Atlas of Austria is a dual cartographic product, consisting of a printed and a digital, GIS-based version The printed edition contains maps in high cartographic quality GIS-based presentation is achieved by a digHAOviewer developed with MapObjects LT2 User-friendly access to HAA contents and linked information The most important feature of the digital HAA is the provision of data in a format that enables users to incorporate them in their own projects and programs for regional hydrological studies

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Summary HAA

Hydrological Atlas of Austria

digHAO presents the contents of the HAA in the corresponding information density and is thus not THE all-including hydrological information system of Austria! HAA was published in a series of 3 instalments 2003 2007 Final contents: 51 map sheets, including > 100 maps Distribution: sterreichischer Kunst- und Kulturverlag, Wien office@kunstundkulturverlag.at

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Summary
Water management or hydrological components of a DSS are often not indepent tools, but rather part of a comprehensive environmental information system, in which GIS has an important role, integrating different disciplines Pure information systems almost completely in GIS Decision Support Systems also contain analytical model components GIS support for eco-system study suitability of GIS to support inter-disciplinary communication DOLWIS Integration of diverse data sources by a Desktop-GIS HAA GIS support of dual cartography