Customizing an interactive hydroclimate dashboard for large lakes in Africa
Abstract
Numerous on-line interactive tools and data sets have been developed to better understand climate and hydrological variability across Earth's large lakes, including the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America. Many of these tools were developed through an interactive process involving broad teams of scientists, water management practitioners, and representatives from the public at-large. Here, we present the most recent evolution of this work involving the customization of an on-line tool for viewing, understanding, and accessing hydro-climate data for lakes in Eastern Africa. Specifically, we highlight ongoing work with Malawi government officials and research scientists to synthesize historical water level and water balance data for both Lake Malawi and Lake Chilwa (Malawi's two largest lakes). This work strives to generate and help visualize a new historical record that reflects the impacts of a changing climate while allowing managers to better plan for future water level variability as well. The development and deployment of the new interactive dashboard represents both direct engagement with practitioners to address specific needs for visual representation of hydro-climate data, while also underscoring the value of leveraging existing, demonstrated technology to bridge knowledge gaps across Earth's largest fresh surface water resources.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMPA33C1112J
- Keywords:
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- 1918 Decision analysis;
- INFORMATICS;
- 1976 Software tools and services;
- INFORMATICS;
- 6309 Decision making under uncertainty;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES;
- 6334 Regional planning;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES