| Director: |
Babak Shabani |
| Other Researchers: |
Ginger Davis,
Kathleen Griffin,
Garrett Marietta,
Ben Romlein
|
| Funding: |
Indiana University - Indiana Geological & Water Survey
|
| Issue: |
Climate change with its associated droughts and floods highlight the need to improve our understanding of water budgets in Indiana to facilitate improved water-resource planning. |
| Objective: |
The Indiana Water Balance Network (IWBN) was developed to to monitor long-term trends for various components of the hydrologic cycle, including near-surface atmospheric conditions, soil physical parameters, and groundwater level. |
| Approach: |
Monitored hydrologic components include precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and groundwater levels. Preliminary data from monitoring sites are available in real time on the IWBN website and water-year compilations of daily data will also be made available. |
| Products: |
• Website hosting data and providing an overview of the importance of water-balance measurements (developed, maintenance required)
• Real-time soil-moisture/temperature monitoring network
• Hydrologic databases from sites throughout Indiana (data QA/QC work has begun but more personnel are needed to implement standardized procedures) |
| Benefits: |
• The data are available as a product from the IGWS demonstrating the organization’s capabilities with respect to hydrologic investigations
• The data are also used for specific hydrologic research problems leading to peer-reviewed publications
• Data are also used by IGWS staff and IU faculty to develop research proposals and collaborations with other agencies and universities
• Monitoring site equipment installation, datalogger programming, data management, data analysis, and data presentation provide excellent training opportunities for students in search of applied hydrologic training. |
