Science provides a sound basis for operational hydrology

The fifth of the eight long-term ambitions on water aims to reduce the gap between research and operational hydrology applications, and to improve the understanding of Earth system science and of how the hydrological system responds to extreme conditions, as foreseen in the WMO Vision and Strategy on Hydrology.

Scientific knowledge should be strengthened to support operational hydrological predictions and modelling as part of an integrated Earth systems approach. The development of operational services needs to be based on the state of knowledge of water resources and the current and foreseeable pressures on them. Fundamental research, on the other hand, needs to be tailored to user needs, in an applied research approach. 

The Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) project, as part of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), is dedicated to understanding Earth’s water cycle and energy fluxes below and at the surface and in the atmosphere. It is a key program to observe and model the hydrological cycle and energy fluxes. The World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) is currently establishing a program on integrated hydrology and precipitation (InPHRA).