Hydroinformatics and Environmental Integrity

Human society is part of the global ecological system that is under threat because of the way society has abrogated to itself the control and mastery of that environment without recognising the inherent dangers in doing so. We pollute and over exploit our vulnerable water resources in particular with adverse consequences for the rest of the ecological system. We destroy rainforests, over-farm rich but sensitive arable land, use up natural flood plains for development, drain valuable wetlands, and over-regulate rivers through dams. We are changing the delicate balances within the aquatic ecosystem without understanding the consequences of such changes, and more often than not generating irreversible trends. There is a need therefore for an integrated appreciation and understanding of the very complex inter-relationships between the important parts of the ecosystem, especially involving water.
Hydroinformatics, with its emphasis on flows of information associated with modelling water-based systems, can provide effective support for decision making associated with integrated water management as it affects the environment. Modelling systems for surface and groundwater interaction enable wetlands to be studied. New modelling paradigms such as cellular automata throw light on the growth and decay of biological populations. The pollution impact on receiving waters from agriculture, sewage overflows and industrial outfalls can be assessed. Decision support systems enable knowledge to be shared and transferred between different groups, which can be supported by communities of practice. Hydroinformatics can therefore play an important role in helping us to improve our coexistence with and management of our environment as a whole.

Recent IHE MScs in the area of environmental integrity include:
A decision support system for environmental assessment
Applications of self organising feature maps for the analysis of hydrological and ecological data sets
An environmental impact assessment system for small-scale water resources developments in Bangladesh
Cellular automata for ecological modelling
Application of artificial neural networks for carrying out scoping studies in urban pollution management projects
Remote sensing and numerical modelling of suspended sediment

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