HDWG Forecasting IE

For more information please contact innovation@ogc.org

This interoperability experiment will advance the development of WaterML 2.0 and test its use in a forecasting context with various OGC service standards (SOS, SES, WFS, WMS and WCS). It will also contribute to a co-operation with the Met-Ocean domain working group. Where relevant to the forecasting context, it will contribute to the development and evaluation of a hydrology domain feature model and vocabularies, which are essential for interoperability in the hydrology domain, although these are not the main focus for the IE.

The use of O&M compliant WaterML 2.0 and OGC web services for data exchange is foreseen to improve real time operations between mutually dependent organizations by allowing easier access of frequently changing time series data. The ultimate use of the exposed data will depend on the context of participating organizations and their driving requirements. We expect the IE will result in further development of WaterML 2.0 and profiling of SOS to accommodate various time dimensions of a forecast as well as the ensemble capabilities. This may include a schema, example instances, and documentation describing the schema, a usage profile and best practice documents. It will also result in a documented evaluation of the compatibility of WaterML 2.0 with OGC services, which can feed back to OGC. In particular, the IE will implement and test WaterML 2.0 and OGC services within a real time forecasting context, addressing the time and ensemble dimensions of a forecast as well as the ability of the services to facilitate incremental data updates and notifications to trigger data exchange. capabilities.

This hydrologic forecasting IE will build on the work conducted in the Surface Water IE by adding the real time forecast context. We expect that the project will discover issues related to the forecast and ensemble dimension of the information model and the usage of event services for incremental data updates. New and upgraded web services amongst participants are also expected, increasing the overall availability of water data and the interoperability of water information systems. Development of client applications is a secondary concern; the focus of work is testing information models and service delivery mechanisms.

There have been some discussions toward the establishment of a joint experiment with the Met-Ocean DWG to include the incorporation of weather forecasts and ensembles.  However this has not let to a mature plan at this time.  We intend to continue this discourse and revisit a joint experiment in the future, perhaps as a follow-up activity to this Forecasting IE.

The WMO is supporting the Interoperability Experiment within the scope of the existing MoU between OGC and WMO.

The OGC members that are acting as initiators of the Interoperability Experiment are:

• US National Weather Service (NOAA/NWS)
• Deltares USA Inc
• US Geological Survey (USGS)
• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
• KISTERS Environmental and Resource Management Software Solutions (KISTERS, DE)

The OGC members that are acting as participants of the Interoperability Experiment are:

• Aquatic Informatics
• INCLAM Water Engineering

 Other organizations and their contributions, as they come on-stream, will be posted here. 

Objectives

The aim of this IE is:

(1)       Extend and complement the work already underway in the Groundwater and Surfacewater IEs, with the goal of advancing the development of WaterML 2.0 to the sub domain of hydrologic forecasting

(2)       Test compatibility of WaterML 2.0 with modified and new services by NOAA/NWS, and USGS by implementation of the OGC SOS, SES, WFS, WMS standards;

(3)       Test compatibility of WaterML 2.0 for use with hydrological forecasting systems.

(4)       Establish a limited surface water feature model and vocabularies suitable for the provision of surface water forecast data using WaterML 2.0.

(5)       The data will be served by all participants using WaterML 2.0 and OGC services (SOS, SES, WFS, WMS).

(6)       Optional:  Test compatibility of O&M based weather forecast information model for use with hydrological forecasting systems.