Objective Problems to be solvedThe protection of Europe's precious freshwater resources and the implementation of measures that promote their sustainable use are complex tasks that demand improvements in our scientific understanding of the fundamental hydrological processes that act at the catchments scale. At such large scales there is not yet a modelling approach that unifies, in a rigorous physically based sense, the stream channel, land surface, soil, and groundwater components of the hydrologic cycle. Nor has there been much progress in applying theoretical methods, as they have been developed and successfully used in ocean and meteorological sciences, for combining data and simulation models in an optimal way to provide an effective tool for rational water resources management. Developing, implementing, and testing such a unifying and integrative framework is the focus of the research being proposed. The formal approach to be used in the proposed project combines data assimilation methodologies with state-of-the-art basin scale modelling.Scientific objectives and approachThe main objectives of the proposed research are:· To develop a unifying modelling framework applicable at the catchments scale and based on rigorous conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy, and entropy, in order to study the important hydrological processes operating at and interacting across the stream channel, land surface, soil, and groundwater components of a river basin;· To implement data assimilation methodologies within this unifying hydrological modelling framework that will enable the optimal use of remote sensing, ground-truth, and simulation data for more reliable forecasting (floods, water distribution for agricultural planning, etc) and a better incorporation of information about data and model uncertainty in hydrological simulations;· To rigorously test these new and unifying modelling and data management tools, with due consideration of efficiency, accuracy, and complexity aspects, on a subcatchment of the Meuse river basin. This evaluation requires the establishment and involvement of a user-group, composed of the end-user partners of the consortium and interested water resources managers.Expected impactsThe objectives of the proposed research are directly linked with the Water Framework Directives COM(96) 49, COM(97) 614, and COM(98) 76. This Framework builds upon previous Directives related to Community water policy. The Framework Directive requires integrated management of surface water and groundwater in terms of quality and quantity through Management Plans covering the whole of a river basin.On the technological level, this project addresses two of the most important challenges in hydrology and water resources management, namely(i) how to use and incorporate various types of data, including in-site measurements and remote sensing, into models in order to improve our understanding of the hydrological cycle at various scales and to make water resources management more efficient;(ii) the need for a general purpose physically based modelling framework applicable to catchments across various scales and capable of treating in a unified way channel, surface, and subsurface (saturated and unsaturated zone) processes.This project represents a first large scale attempt on truly European river basins to integrate commonly available data sources, using predominantly existing data sets, within an rigorous systems approach for the study of hydrological processes. Fields of science social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiespublic policiesengineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringremote sensingnatural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologydrainage basinsengineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringnatural resources managementwater management Programme(s) FP5-EESD - Programme for research, technological development and demonstration on "Energy, environment and sustainable development, 1998-2002" Topic(s) 1.1.4.-1. - Key action Sustainable Management and Quality of Water Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY EU contribution No data Address 11,Nieuwe Kanaal 11 De Nieuwelanden 6709 PA WAGENINGEN Netherlands See on map Total cost No data Participants (7) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all CENTRO DI RICERCA SVILUPPO E STUDI SUPERIORI IN SARDEGNA Italy EU contribution No data Address VI Strada Ovest Z.I. Macchiareddu 09010 UTA (CAGLIARI) See on map Total cost No data COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Italy EU contribution No data Address 1,Via E. Fermi 1 21020 BARASSO See on map Total cost No data ENTE AUTONOMO DEL FLUMENDOSA Italy EU contribution No data Address Via Mameli 88 09123 CAGLIARI See on map Total cost No data REGIONAL WATER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY IN WROCLAW Poland EU contribution No data Address Wybrzeze wyspianskiego 39 50-370 WROCLAW See on map Total cost No data ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF BELGIUM Belgium EU contribution No data Address Avenue Circulaire 3 1180 BRUXELLES See on map Total cost No data Technische Universiteit Delft Netherlands EU contribution No data Address 1,Stevinweg 1 2628 BL DELFT See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE Belgium EU contribution No data Address Boulevard du Rectorat - Sart Tilman B19 4000 LIEGE See on map Total cost No data
