GIS in Water Resources Consortium Bringing together these two communities by using a common geospatial data model GIS Water Resources

Goals for the Conference Describe GIS object modeling process for water resources Obtain feedback on Arc Hydrology Data Model Form a larger core group of people to work on the model Discuss how to make the Consortium more effective

Research Members: $25,000+ per year to support basic investigations –ESRI, Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TMDL &WAM), Lower Colorado River Authority Technical Members: $10,000 per year by donation or in-kind support –Dodson and Associates; Camp, Dresser & McKee Business Members: ESRI business partners Cooperating Members: Anyone wishing to help! Consortium Membership CRWR

Applying for Consortium Membership

Supporting University Research Supporting a graduate student for a year costs ~ $35,000 with all expenses and University overhead included Typical Master’s student stays 2 years ($70,000), PhD student stays 4 years ($140,000) Research projects cost: –$25,000 (small), $100,000 (good), $300,000 (large) Typical duration: 1-3 years We have to work within the rhythm of the academic calendar and within the research and education mission of the University

This Data Modeling Activity Should Have Integrity – try to make fair decisions based on the facts Consistency – we have evolved a sound intellectual framework and we’ll stick with it Continuity – the process will not be dependant on any single individual

Some Reflections …. The numbers I expected at this Conference –Wednesday 100 –Thursday 40 The number who actually attended –Wednesday 140 –Thursday 100 There is a stronger interest, especially nationally, in this effort than I had anticipated

What Did I Learn …. Importance of language –Dale Honeycutt read the definition of each object class before we discussed it –An important part of a successful data model is that it provide a vocabulary of well-constructed concepts to help in structuring our thinking (e.g. Hydropoint, Hydroline, ProfileLine, CrossSectionLine, FlowLine, ….) –This is not just a software engineering effort

What is still not well understood? We have a framework for connecting entities (Watershed, channel, cartography, network, points) but most of the detailed content of these entities is not specified yet –Use HydroObjects for this? (“Whatness” vs “whereness” of things) Required behaviors of objects are not specfied How to connect all of this to solve commonly needed tasks.

A model or a modeling process? This is both a model and a modeling process What is the appropriate relationship between a core model and its extensions? “Need to be able to support at least a few tiers of users & applications, from heavy-GIS to novice- GIS to non-GIS, and they should all come up with same answer to the same questions on a given set of data” (from David Arctur’s notes on the Modeling Breakout Session)

A Quotable Quote “Dates, when viewed in a mirror, seem closer than they actually are” (Tommy Dewald, concerning the National Hydrography Dataset) Work began on EPA Reach File 1 in 1965 NHD appears 35 years later (after RF2, and RF3) This is a long process!

How to engage the community? Newsletter –Lori Armstrong has offered to edit and publish it –She needs 3 stories for the first edition Web Page –Post conference slides –Possibly also streaming video of presentations

Consortium Web Portal Being built with help from our Instructional Media Laboratory as an electronic forum for information and community interaction A threaded discussion server ( To be added –Information content on the present web site –A posting board for updates to the Arc Hydrology Data Model as they occur –A posting board for data model extensions –………..

Helping you to build extensions Existing cartographic datasets are in coverage format – how should they be expressed in geodatabase format? Links to water resources models need to be redesigned to use objects as the means to access GIS data We will learn a lot by working with particular datasets and models and the people who know them well

GIS Hydro 2000 Part of program for the 2000 ESRI User Conference, San Diego Sunday, June 25 - All-day Seminar Intermediate/Advanced Cost: $ 295 GIS Hydro 2000 CD-ROM will be presented there and devoted to the data model (deadline is May 31 to get all content done for this CD)

1.Introduction 2.GeoDatabase Modeling 3.River Network 4.Landscape and Watersheds 5.Channels and floodplains 6.Time Variation 7.Implementation Case Study (1) 8.Implementation Case Study (2) 9.Implementation Case Study (3) 10.Conclusions The Book: “Arc Hydrology Object Model ”

Time Line for Completion of the Book and Data Model Model needs to be tested with ArcInfo 8.1 Need to release the book at a public event –GIS in Water Resources Conference in Austin in Feb 2001? Need to conduct implementation studies to gain experience with data model Need to establish data model functionality requirements Tentative time table: –Data Model Version 2 April 15 –Data model Version 3, map templates, sample data, and pdf documentation completed for GIS Hydro 2000 CDROM by May 31 –ESRI User Conf., June –Final draft data model by August 31 –Book drafting and editing: Fall 2000 –Release: Feb 2001

We Need Your Help!! An effort of this kind to be successful needs to rest on a consensus of the community Building consensus depends on acquiring and synthesizing input effectively We are listening Please tell us what you think