IGCP 565 Project Workshops

IGCP 565 Workshop 4: Integration of geodetic observations and products in models of the hydrological cycle Support for water management through hydrological models and data assimilation November 21-22, 2011 Johannesburg, South Africa

Rationale: The IGCP 565 Project "Developing the Global Geodetic Observing System into a Monitoring System for the Global Water Cycle" has been organizing a sequence of annual workshops which successively addressed scientific questions related to the development of products for regional water management. The first workshop held in 2008 in San Francisco, USA identified the open scientific questions related to the water cycle and regional water management and the extent to which geodetic observations could help improve monitoring and address the scientific questions. Considering the importance of satellite gravity missions, the second workshop organized in Graz, Austria, developed a road map for future satellite gravity missions. The third workshop convened in Reno, Nevada, USA focused on the separation of tectonic and hydrological signals in geodetic observations. Thematically, the fourth IGCP 565 workshop focussed on the assimilation of geodetic observations into hydrological land model schemes to better simulate terrestrial water storage and transfer, and had a particular focus on local to regional scales. This event was of particular relevance for water management researchers and applications users.

Co-Location: The Workshop was held in conjunction with the AfricaArray Workshop, which was held on November 20-21, 2011, and the UNAVCO GPS Short Course eld on November 17-19, 2011. The IGCP Workshop session on Monday, November 21, 2011 was a joint AfricaArray-IGCP session.

Format: The Workshop was organized into three half-day sessions. The first session presented an appropriate platform for reaching out to, and exchanging information with African researchers involved in the AfricaArray. The second and third sessions were used to discuss, coordinate and, where possible, integrate on-going and proposed projects and programs linked to hydrogeodesy.

Scope of the Workshop: The goals of the workshop were:

1. to advance and inform the potential progress towards low-latency products that would efficiently support regional water management applications;
2. to discuss on-going and proposed projects and programs that have the goal to improve information on water resources and to support their sustainable management.

Participation: The Workshop was open for all interested participants, including the participants of the AfricaArray Workshop.