H43C-1512
An integrated multiscale river basin observing system in the Heihe River Basin, northwest China

Thursday, 17 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Xin Li1, Shaomin Liu2, Qing Xiao3, Mingguo Ma1, Rui Jin1 and Tao Che1, (1)CAREERI/CAS Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Lanzhou, China, (2)Beijing Normal University, State Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing Science, Research Center for Remote Sensing and GIS, and School of Geography, Beijing, China, (3)RADI Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Abstract:
Using the watershed as the unit to establish an integrated watershed observing system has been an important trend in integrated eco-hydrologic studies in the past ten years. Thus far, a relatively comprehensive watershed observing system has been established in the Heihe River Basin, northwest China. In addition, two comprehensive remote sensing hydrology experiments have been conducted sequentially in the Heihe River Basin, including the Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (WATER) (2007-2010) and the Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER) (2012-2015).
Among these two experiments, an important result of WATER has been the generation of some multi-scale, high-quality comprehensive datasets, which have greatly supported the development, improvement and validation of a series of ecological, hydrological and quantitative remote-sensing models. The goal of a breakthrough for solving the “data bottleneck” problem has been achieved.  

HiWATER was initiated in 2012. This project has established a world-class hydrological and meteorological observation network, a flux measurement matrix and an eco-hydrological wireless sensor network. A set of super high-resolution airborne remote-sensing data has also been obtained. In addition, there has been important progress with regard to the scaling research. Furthermore, the automatic acquisition, transmission, quality control and remote control of the observational data has been realized through the use of wireless sensor network technology. The observation and information systems have been highly integrated, which will provide a solid foundation for establishing a research platform that integrates observation, data management, model simulation, scenario analysis and decision-making support to foster 21st-century watershed science in China.