HR: 16:15h
AN: H12I-02 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Hydrologic Observatories: Design, Operation, and the Neuse Basin Prototype
AU: * Reckhow, K
EM: reckhow@duke.edu
AF: Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Durham, NC 27708 United States
AU: Band, L
EM: lband@email.unc.edu
AF: University of North Carolina, Dept. of Geography, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 United States
AB: Hydrologic observatories are conceived as major research facilities that will be available to the full hydrologic community, to facilitate comprehensive, cross-disciplinary and multi-scale measurements necessary to address the current and next generation of critical science and management issues. A network of hydrologic observatories is proposed that both develop national comparable, multidisciplinary data sets and provide study areas to allow scientists, through their own creativity, to make scientific breakthroughs that would be impossible without the proposed observatories. The core objective of an observatory is to improve predictive understanding of the flow paths, fluxes, and residence times of water, sediment and nutrients (the "core data") across a range of spatial and temporal scales across `interfaces'. To assess attainment of this objective, a benchmark will be established in the first year, and evaluated periodically. The benchmark should provide an estimate of prediction uncertainty at points in the stream across scale; the general principle is that predictive understanding must be demonstrated internal to the catchment as well as its outlet. The core data will be needed for practically any hydrologic study, yet absence of these data has been a barrier to larger scale studies in the past. However, advancement of hydrologic science facilitated by the network of hydrologic observatories is expected to focus on a set of science drivers, drawn from the major scientific questions posed by the set of NRC reports and refined into CUAHSI themes. These hypotheses will be tested at all observatories and will be used in the design to ensure the sufficiency of the data set. To make the observatories a national (and international) resource, a key aspect of the operation is the support of remote PI's. This support will include a resident staff of scientists and technicians on the order of 10 FTE's, availability of dormitory, laboratory, workshop space for all scientists, and the awarding of travel support out of observatory funds. The conflicting goals of support for a PI-designed observatory and a network of community-available observatories will be achieved by allocation of resources to assure both goals will be met. It is proposed that these resources be divided into three pools: $\bullet$ Core data pool. Data to be collected by the observatory PI's and staff, and where possible, augmented by existing (e.g., USGS) data collection. $\bullet$ Design pool. Available to support the designs of observatory PI's. $\bullet$ Community pool. Available to non-PI scientists to test cross-observatory hypotheses. Application of these design and operation concepts to the design of the Neuse basin prototype hydrologic observatory is briefly discussed.
DE: 1836 Hydrologic budget (1655)
DE: 1848 Networks
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting