Hydrographic service

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A hydrographic service is a hydrological service provider that usually works on behalf of a state or the public sector (municipality, state, canton, etc.). There are also numerous cross-border associations along the major rivers and sea ​​coasts .

tasks

Collect hydrographic services and map the waters and their catchment areas , both surface water and groundwater systems ( Hydrographic in the sense of discipline of geography) and observe and measure hydrologic processes (Hydrographic in terms of data recording). The central concern is the scientific research for precise knowledge of the water cycle (the recurring sequence of precipitation , runoff and evaporation ).

The hydrographic services provide the basis for water management (use of hydropower ), shipping , water supply and flood protection and the associated water management . Tasks are the determination of usable water resources , the forecast of hydrological processes (hydrographic intelligence service) - especially flood warnings (flood warning service, flood reporting service) - and the hydrological dimensioning of water management systems , as well as environmental monitoring ( e.g. for bathing water ).

History and forms of organization

Historically, the hydrographic services developed from the pure water geography in the 19th century in the field of flood protection , from the 20th century increasingly also in the development of hydropower . In the 1960s, research into the availability of groundwater and the water balance became more and more important, and from the 1970s the ecological aspect of water pollution control was added, making hydrographic services an important factor in environmental monitoring . In the 21st century, geographic information and the effects of climate change are coming into focus.

Hydrographic services are often closely related to meteorological services connected ( Hydrometeorological Service ) . In addition, there is also a connection with water management institutions in economic terms, or with environmental authorities in terms of environmental and nature protection . Where inland navigation is relevant, there is also cooperation with the shipping authorities (many offices are setting up river information systems for their river basin , which include both transport and hydrography).

Data sources and measurement networks

The basis of the work is the cartographic recording, recording and measurement of the water systems and catchment areas , as well as the water beds ( water profile ) and hydraulic structures ( e.g. transverse structures such as dams, weirs, sediment barriers, but also ports , drainage channels or canals ). These were earlier maps collected today will work primarily in geographic information systems electronically instead, and with other geoscientific networked information.

The recording of the waters includes their location, the stationing (kilometering) and their context (hierarchy according to receiving waters , classification via river order numbers ), and the allocation of identification codes ( water body numbers ) as well as definition of the names of the waters ( hydronymics ). For this purpose, directories such as a water book are kept.

The recording of the hazard potential of a body of water is based on the determination of its discharge regime , i.e. its behavior with regard to precipitation and inflow above a certain point.

The basic methodology is the construction of a comprehensive measuring network and the development of hydrographic models , both in the static sense ( water network models) and dynamic inflow and outflow models (in conjunction with precipitation models and glaciology ).

Important, more specific measuring networks are:

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ What do hydrologists do? , bmlfuw.gv.at, accessed August 10, 2014.
  2. ↑ What is Austria's hydrography? History of hydrography and perception of extraordinary events , bmlfuw.gv.at, accessed August 4, 2014.
  3. ↑ see Hydrographic Data , bmlfuw.gv.at, accessed August 10, 2014.