Water Information Research and Development Alliance
The Water Information Research and Development Alliance (the Alliance) brings together CSIRO's research and development expertise in water and information sciences and the Bureau of Meteorology's operational role in hydrological analysis and prediction to transform the way Australia manages its water resources.
Over the five years from 2008 to 2013, the Alliance will deliver most of the scientific and research innovation required by the Bureau to fulfil its national water information mandate. The Alliance has $50 million over five years to fund work by 40 leading CSIRO researchers on hydrologic modelling, water accounting, water resources assessment and data compatability.
A major research and development program
The Alliance builds on the achievements of CSIRO's Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship.
Building on insights gained from projects sych as the Sustrainable Yields Project, which assessed water availability in the Murray-Darling Basin, CSIRO will deliver new science and technology to help the Bureau undertake real-time interactive analysis of water information. These new technologies will also help the Bureau to improve water availability and flood forecasting across Australia.
The Bureau of Meteorology's role has expanded to include transforming Australia's water resources information by improving its accessibility, integration and use. These improvements will be achieved through substantial innovation and will yield huge benefits through more informed policy and infrastructure decisions.
WIRADA Implementation Strategy (2010-2013) (61kB)
Alliance projects
Alliance projects cover four broad categories:
- Water information systems
- Foundation data products
- Water accounting and assessment
- Water forecasting and prediction
- 1.2 Hydrologists workbench (345KB)
- 1.4 Water data transfer standards (281KB)
- 1.5 Sustainable water information models (326KB)
- 1.6 Australian Spatial Research Data Commons (Associate Project)
- 2.1 One-second Continental DEM (363KB)
- 2.2 Foundation Data Products (406KB)
- 3.1 Australian Water Resources Assessment (AWRA) (508KB)
- 3.2 AWRA system integration
- 3.3 AWRA model development
- 3.4 AWRA dynamic land cover and landscape water
- 3.5 AWRA model-data fusion
- 4.1 Water forecasting and prediction - short term (346KB)
- 4.2 Water forecasting and prediction - seasonal to long term (286KB)
- 5.0 Improving rainfall forecasts (391Kb)
Key WIRADA Documents
- Media Release - $50 million for new water research alliance
- Alliance Science Plan 2008 (624KB)
- Annual report 2011–12 (4.7MB)
- Annual report 2010–11 (4.5MB)
- Annual report 2009–10 (6.5MB)
- Annual report 2008–09 (2.1MB)
Links
A water information R&D initiative between the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO's Water for a Healthy Country Flagship
