WMO HydroSOS, starting in 2018, strives to build an operational system for assessing the current status of surface and groundwater hydrological systems, and predicting how they will change in the next future, in comparison to normal situations. Once operational, the worldwide operational system will regularly provide information on current global hydrological status, including groundwater, river flow, large lakes, reservoirs and soil moisture, and will help identifying where the current status could be significantly different from ‘normal’, for example indicating potential drought and flood situations, assessing likelihood of improvement or worsening over coming weeks and months.
WMO HydroSOS will be built on in situ and remote sensing hydrological data, global/regional/basin scale weather, climate and hydrological models.
Partner: World Meteorological Organization
Target Segment of the Conference: Hydrological Products
Relationship to other Conference Segments:
WMO HydroSOS will directly build on existing and planned WMO and partner initiatives in relation to hydrological monitoring, data sharing and sub-seasonal to seasonal meteorological forecasting. Hence, there are connections with the other two segments.
Geographical coverage:
Global, starting with pilot on Lake Victoria and Ganges-Brahmaputra.
Connection to the development and delivery of a hydrological service for prosperity:
WMO HydroSOS will deliver a unique operational system providing up-to-date hydrological information and products from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to a wide range of end-users, providing easily accessible hydrological information and products that can be made accessible to government bodies as well as to regional and international aid agencies and the general public. This information can be critical for water management and mitigating negative effects of floods and droughts, as well as to reduce risks of conflicts in water sharing
