User Needs for a Community Hydrologic Information System

This paper reports the results from a user needs assessment conducted to gather information on how a Hydrologic Information System (HIS) can best be developed to facilitate integrated hydrologic research. Here we present the results of a web-based survey of the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) members and their affiliates which has clarified important HIS development issues, informed HIS project decision-making and will help create an effective, efficient, and functional HIS. CUAHSI is an organization representing more than 100 universities, sponsored by the National Science Foundation to develop infrastructure and services for the advancement of hydrologic science and education in the United States. The CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System (HIS) project is a component of CUAHSI's mission that is intended to improve infrastructure and services for hydrologic information acquisition and analysis. We have learned from our survey that there is a definitive, quantifiable need for a Hydrologic Information System. Most researchers spend a significant amount of time preprocessing data for their research and believe an information system such as the CUAHSI HIS would be helpful and relevant to their work. Data services are the most important services for the HIS to provide while addressing critical data use difficulties such as inconsistent data formats, the existence and consistency of metadata, and irregular timesteps.