Started by two Ph.D. students in the field of hydrology at the University of Zurich, CrowdWater is a global Citizen Science project that collects hydrological data in order to develop cheap and easy data collection method that can be used to predict floods and low flow.
Today, we are faced with many challenges, both locally and globally, regarding our most precious asset, water. Scientists are, therefore asked again and again to explore the essential basics needed for decisions in water management. In order to develop models for flood or drought forecasts, measurement data is used across many different criteria, which often proves difficult, as these are often not sufficiently collected. This is especially true of developing countries where urgent water management decisions need to be made.
The decrease in official hydrological and meteorological observation data is often frustrating, especially in terms of the new challenges. Remote sensing, geophysical methods, and wireless sensor networks are useful measuring techniques. However, important hydrological variables such as soil moisture or streamflow remain difficult to observe with a high spatiotemporal resolution.
Here Citizen Science is collecting environmental data with the help of citizens, offers a solution, and the CrowdWater App by SPOTTERON the perfect tool:
Here it is possible to build virtual stations and to submit estimates.
The collected data will be used to improve hydrological models that predict floods and droughts. The results form the basis for the two initiators' doctoral thesis and are also published in scientific journals.