Collaborative Groundwater Modeling: Open Source, Cloud-Based, Applied Science at a Small-Island Water Utility Scale
Abstract
The process traditionally used to execute most groundwater modeling projects has several drawbacks. The typical client-consultant relationship is expensive, produces products with limited longevity, and is technologically dated. Recent advancements in cloud-computing and social-networking are influencing how we communicate professionally, work collaboratively, and approach data-science tasks. Here we show how the groundwater modeling process is especially well positioned to benefit from these technological advancements. This work presents a case study detailing a vertically-integrated, collaborative modeling framework jointly developed by participants at the American Samoa Power Authority and at the University of Hawaii Water Resources Research Center. The framework includes a chain of modular components extending from the direct collection and analysis of climatic and streamflow data, through the development of a water budget model and a dynamic regional groundwater model. The process we present is entirely open-source and employs newly available data-science infrastructure such as Python-based tools compiled with Jupyter Notebooks, GitHub, Binder, and Microsoft Azure. These resources facilitate the collaborative model development process and deliver seamless integration of multiple computational components into a dynamic cloud-based workflow that is immediately accessible by stakeholders, resource managers, or anyone with an internet connection.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.H23F..08S
- Keywords:
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- 1880 Water management;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 6344 System operation and management;
- POLICY SCIENCES;
- 6309 Decision making under uncertainty;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES;
- 6620 Science policy;
- PUBLIC ISSUES