|
May 4, 2018
The Bureau of Reclamation’s mission depends on data: from weather to river flows, from canal to reservoir operations. The Reclamation Water Information System consolidates and publishes water and related data from throughout Reclamation, making it easier to locate and access. RWIS, launched as a pilot in April 2017, is a web portal that makes Reclamation’s water-related daily time series data available in human and machine-readable open formats at https://water.usbr.gov.
RWIS allows users to browse available data through an interactive map or search for data through a text-based query. Once the data query is complete, the user can utilize the data in a method that meets their needs, whether it is downloaded in a standardized format or a graphical or tabular display. Now you can bookmark a query and copy the URL for a query to make it easier to put into your own apps and websites. RWIS is designed to meet modern data standards allowing for anyone to view, access and download Reclamation's water data.
Data in the pilot system enables users to track past and present streamflows, reservoir water releases, canal flows and other types of water data. In the year since it was launched, the RWIS team has updated the system to include data for the full period of record for sites wherever possible, improved the web service, which allows data retrieval to be automated for use in models and applications; and developed a visualization demonstration feature that shows teacup diagrams for reservoirs; as an example of using RWIS data.
The RWIS pilot was the first step toward a sustainable open data platform within Reclamation. The Reclamation Information Sharing Environment Project is a multi-disciplinary, multi-office effort to create a system for sharing even more of Reclamation’s data. Currently, only time-series data is shared, but RISE will aggregate, store, manage and publish a variety of data in different formats.
RISE will evolve from and absorb the existing RWIS pilot system to become a mature, sustainable application. RISE will do the following:
- Expand data offerings to include the following:
- A broader range of water data, as well as environmental data (e.g., biological and water quality data), hydropower data, and infrastructure/assets data (e.g., facilities and lands).
- Additional time steps for time series data (e.g., hourly, 15-minute, monthly, annual) as well as geospatial data and binary data (e.g., documents, multimedia and file archives)
- Support data access and use for internal and external users, including Reclamation staff, partners from federal, state, and local agencies, stakeholders such as water and power users, researchers, media outlets, and the general public
- Standardize and centralize Reclamation’s data publication to provide access to Reclamation’s mission-related data in a single portal in common, machine-readable formats
- Comply with open data policies and coordinate with other data management efforts.
We’d like to know what you think; what data would be useful for your operations?
The RISE Project is funded through two Science & Technology Program research projects: the RWIS Enhancement (S&T Project 1627) to improve the features and functionality of the pilot system and add additional water data and RISE (S&T Project 7127) to expand to include more Reclamation datasets in the environmental, hydropower and infrastructure/assets domains.
For more information, please visit https://water.usbr.gov. This site features RWIS’ query and map tools, fact sheets, release notes and a help file. To submit your thoughts, please email rwis@usbr.gov.
|
