Water Information Research and Development Alliance

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Water Information Research and Development Alliance

A new joint initiative between the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO has been launched that will be the largest water information research project in the southern hemisphere.

The Water Information Research and Development Alliance (WIRADA) is a five-year, $50 million research partnership between the Bureau and CSIRO. It aims to provide a state-of-the-art, national database on Australia's water resources.

Through the new WIRADA initiative, CSIRO will perform research specifically for the Bureau that will be integrated into the way its water monitoring, analysis and prediction systems are developed. Water for the Future has four key priorities: tackling climate change, using water wisely, supporting healthy rivers, and securing water supplies.

It appears that CSIRO will have the key role for the development of DEM’s and hydrological models for BOM and that this program will drive the agenda in this area. In addition WIRADA will act as a data collection point and coordinator for hydrological data.

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The Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric (AHGF)

The Australian Hydrological Geospatial Fabric (AHGF) is a suite of well data products representing every hydrologic feature, and the connectivity between features, of the Australian water system. These products are capable of supporting a wide variety of uses for many users. The AHGF will become the geospatial information framework upon which Australia’s water information related activities are based and through which they are related.

National cover will include:

Surface Water – Hydrology;
Surface Water – Measurement Sites;
Groundwater – Hydrology;
Groundwater – Measurement Sites;
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) at 1 arc-second resolution (approximately 30m); and
Key Catchments.

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