Global monitoring of runoff and lake storage: - important elements of Integrated Global Observing Systems - integral parts of water resources management including prevention of water-induced disasters New Project, facilitated by GEO: Hydrological Applications – Runoff Project (HARON) Basic Rationale of the Initiative IGWCOGCOS

Provision of near real-time monitoring data and products of large scale rivers and lakes from: in-situ gauge observations, and satellite observations (based on developing altimetry technology) Will fulfill goal of observing / analyzing surface runoff and lake storage variations over time. IGWCOGCOS HARON: Basic Rationale (cont.)

Development of new in-situ and remote sensing sensors for water cycle measurements Near real-time regional and global computation of the water balance, as input for climate models and seasonal forecasting Validation of large-area precipitation fields against basin-wide hydrological records to validate GCMs Detection of climate variability signal in changing hydrological patterns of river runoff on seasonal and inter-annual scales Estimation of bio-geochemical fluxes from continents into world oceans Variation of freshwater fluxes from the continents and influence on thermohaline circulation / ocean currents HARON Project: Raison d ’ être

Main Goals Support water resources management while contributing in a cross-cutting fashion to all societal benefit areas of GEO Improve & support the closure of the global water budget, in line with requirements of GCOS and the Global Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Main Objective Integrate, in a phased approach, dedicated river gauging networks of existing hydrological stations into a global runoff observation network Goals & Objectives

Strengthening of in-situ and satellite monitoring networks of estuaries, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater levels Expected Results

PHASE I – Upgrade & sustained maintenance of major global run-off stations, monitoring continental freshwater fluxes into the world’s oceans PHASE II – Integration of hydro-meteorological and related in-situ components with satellite observations PHASE III – Consolidation of integrated hydrological observation network development and application of user-oriented information products made available by HARON Production of an implementation plan for a broad global water cycle data integration system, combining water cycle in-situ, satellite, and model output data Implementation Phases

Global Terrestrial Network - Runoff Network consists of 380 gauging stations worldwide

….Complement terrestrial with satellite (radar altimetry) observations

….Arriving at multi-platform integrated observations… Red indicates area where NRT products are currently generated Blue indicates area where products may be generated in the future. Source: ESA, De Montford University, UK

Main Global Groundwater Regions Phase 2 (example I) Establishment of phased connections with relevant existing or proposed networks

GEMS-Water Stations: Global Distribution Establishment of phased connections with relevant existing or proposed networks Phase 2 (example II)

Rehabilitation of the in-situ observational infrastructure Technical upgrade, as required, of the major run-off stations which monitor continental freshwater fluxes into the world’s oceans of the GTN – R network Linkage with relevant research and development activities Use of satellite altimeters to measure inland water heights for major rivers - relevant research issue to supplement in-situ observations for the derivation of discharge data Continuous follow-up on results of national and regional initiatives for application during project implementation Main Elements