IGRAC groundwater monitoring activities in 2019

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Groundwater monitoring is one of the core activities of IGRAC, and the Global Groundwater Monitoring Network (GGMN) Programme continues with its mandate of improving quality and accessibility of groundwater monitoring information. The year 2019 started with a new development in this matter: the release of the GGMN app. The GGMN app is a tool complementary to GGMN to assist groundwater specialists in the field, enabling them to georeference and register groundwater monitoring stations and groundwater level monitoring data without having to use paper forms.

Groundwater monitoring training in Baku

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Kura workshop in Baku
Kura workshop in Baku

Groundwater specialists from Azerbaijan and Georgia were first to be trained to use the GGMN app during the Groundwater Monitoring Training held in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the GEF-UNDP Kura II Project. The training was organised to increase knowledge on groundwater monitoring, including (spatial and temporal) data processing and international data sharing and cooperation.

Monitoring networks and initiatives

IGRAC also contributes to several initiatives of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) related to groundwater monitoring, as the Global Climate Observation System (GCOS) through the Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate (TOPC) and the WMO Global Hydrological Status and Outlook System (HydroSOS).

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GCOS meeting in Marrakech, Morocco
GCOS meeting in Marrakech, Morocco

GCOS is a programme that regularly assess the status of global climate observations of the atmosphere, land and ocean, and produces guidance for its improvement. In March 2019 the Joint Panels Meeting took place in Marrakesh, where IGRAC was present to represent groundwater as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV), and discuss cross-cutting issues as energy coastal land-ocean water fluxes and extreme events. Also, during the individual panel meeting of TOPC, the workplan was updated and new actions were defined. 

HydroSOS will be an operational system that will regularly produce: 

  1. A report on the current global hydrological status;
  2. An assessment on where the current status differs from normal; and
  3. A forecast to see if the situation is likely to get better or worst. 

IGRAC has been contributing actively to provide methodologies currently in use by countries to assess the status of their groundwater resources, and in November, IGRAC was present on the 1st Technical Workshop and 3rd Task Meeting at the Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute (NHRI) in Nanjing, China.