Leveraging Open-Source Software and Data Standards within the Integrated Water Resources Science and Services Initiative

Abstract:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration together with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey establish the Integrated Water Resources Science and Service (IWRSS) consortium in 2011. IWRSS is a cross cutting, multidisciplinary approach to addressing complex water problems. The IWRSS Interoperability and Data Synchronization Scoping Team was tasked with documenting requirements related to the sharing of data sets essential for monitoring, forecasting the water nation’s water resources as well as informing operations and management of hydraulic structures. A number of open source software tools were identified in the team’s report as well as the need to adopt open source data structures and standards. This presentation will discuss the potential applications of open-source software and development practices within the IWRSS-Interoperability and Data Synchronization construct as well as explore the underlying benefits that open-source approaches offer to the federal water resources community. Programmatically this strategy facilitates a common operating picture between the federal water enterprise that is essential for a weather and water ready nation.