Towards a virtual observatory for ecosystem services and poverty alleviation
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Civil & Environmental Engineering
Abstract
For the indigenous communities of the Pacaya-Samira National Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon, turtle farming is a successful survival strategy. The practice keeps the natural animal population numbers up and provides a necessary source of food and income. However, the success of the activity is highly dependent on information about the erratic river level, which may flood nesting beaches at crucial times. In the Yasuni national park in the Ecuadorian Amazon, bush meat hunting regions are threatened by encroaching deforestation. At the same time in the Andean headwaters of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, the availability and quality of irrigation water depends strongly on mountain wetland management, and is potentially threatened by global climate change. These are striking examples of many situations where the livelihoods of local communities depend on crucial ecosystem services. However, a sustainable management of these services is only possible using an advanced integration of climatic, hydrological, and ecological data. Current approaches to integrate such data have largely failed for a variety of reasons. In Pacaya Samira, little local data are available resulting in very large uncertainties in the model predictions. In the Andean highlands, local politicians and managers have difficulties interpreting model simulations and design proper land management schemes. Finally, both systems can benefit strongly from the incorporation of local expert knowledge to reduce model uncertainties. Recently, many methodologies for data integration and user interaction have been developed. They are known under the common umbrella of a 'virtual observatory' (VO). The ultimate goal of a VO is a perfect integration of data, models and users. Worldwide, many coordinated activities are ongoing to make this integration a reality. However, far less attention has been paid to the question of how these developments can benefit environmental services management and poverty alleviation. This project will design and implement an environmental prediction system for the above mentioned case studies, using existing virtual observatory tools. In a next step, we will develop, implement and evaluate tools to improve the value of these systems in the specific conditions of poverty alleviation, i.e., (1) Improved communication of simulations. This action will particularly focus on the visualisation of modelling results and their uncertainties; (2) Assessing the value of collected data. In a data sparse and resources constrained environment, an optimal design of new data collection strategies is essential. Here we will develop methods to simulate the value of different data on the model predictions; (3) Integrating local managers' knowledge and practice in modelling systems. This module deals with the development of a user interface to evaluate models, identify model failures and reject models. Heavily relying on public domain software, open standards and existing VO efforts, we will develop a platform for interdisciplinary, cost-efficient and highly tailored environmental data analysis and simulation. This platform will be available immediately for the selected case studies, thus enabling direct poverty alleviation action benefiting an estimated 15000 local inhabitants. Close collaboration with local stakeholders and integration in existing initiatives ensures a quick adoption of the platform. For instance, the InfoAndina website of project partner CONDESAN which will be integrated, has more than 1600 registered users. At the same time, the project will generate novel scientific insights in model simulation, communication and improvement in a developing context. The involvement of the PI in the global Virtual Observatory community will ensure that the research results will optimally benefit ongoing research in this area.
Publications
Guyot J
(2015)
A Comparative Analysis of TRMM-Rain Gauge Data Merging Techniques at the Daily Time Scale for Distributed Rainfall-Runoff Modeling Applications
in Journal of Hydrometeorology
Guyot J
(2014)
A Comparative Performance Analysis of TRMM 3B42 (TMPA) Versions 6 and 7 for Hydrological Applications over Andean-Amazon River Basins
in Journal of Hydrometeorology
Zulkafli Z
(2013)
A critical assessment of the JULES land surface model hydrology for humid tropical environments
in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
Greene S
(2015)
A geospatial framework to support integrated biogeochemical modelling in the United Kingdom
in Environmental Modelling & Software
Buytaert W
(2014)
Citizen science in hydrology and water resources: opportunities for knowledge generation, ecosystem service management, and sustainable development
in Frontiers in Earth Science
Karpouzoglou T
(2016)
Environmental Virtual Observatories (EVOs): prospects for knowledge co-creation and resilience in the Information Age
in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
Arnillas C
(2017)
From patches to richness: assessing the potential impact of landscape transformation on biodiversity
in Ecosphere
Buytaert W
(2017)
Glacial melt content of water use in the tropical Andes
in Environmental Research Letters
Description | We found that participatory approaches to data collection and analysis can be very effective to alleviate data scarcity on natural resources in remote mountain areas. We have developed new concepts and methods for joint data analysis with local stakeholders in Peru and Ecuador to generate new knowledge about local water resources, and the impact of climate change on these resources. |
Exploitation Route | The tools and methods that we developed are available in the public domain and are actively used by several NGOs and other local stakeholders, in particular the IMHEA monitoring network (http://imhea.condesan.org/). |
Sectors | Environment |
Description | Demonstration of the Environmental Virtual Observatory developed during the project |
Sector | Environment |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | Invited policy briefing on "Information requirements for land management" |
Geographic Reach | South America |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Presenting the results of the project to around 40 participants from governmental and non-governmental organisations, in a workshop on climate change impacts on water resources. Location: Lima, Peru |
Description | Invited policy briefing on "The role of hydrological Models in decision making on water resources" |
Geographic Reach | South America |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Presenting the results of the project to around 60 participants from governmental and non-governmental organisations, as part of a workshop intended to develop a policy framework to stimulate the implementation of mechanisms for benefit sharing. Location: Lima, Peru |
Description | Ecossytem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) |
Amount | £1,800,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/K010239/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2013 |
End | 05/2017 |
Description | Incubator of projects for watershed services |
Amount | £400,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation |
Sector | Public |
Country | Switzerland |
Start |
Description | Incubator of projects for watershed services |
Amount | £400,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation |
Sector | Public |
Country | Switzerland |
Start |
Description | The impact of glacier melt on the water resources of the Andes |
Amount | £13,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | France |
Start | 03/2013 |
End | 02/2014 |
Description | The impact of glacier melt on the water resources of the Andes |
Amount | £13,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | France |
Start |
Title | Hydrometeorological records of the Pacaipampa highlands, Peru |
Description | 3 precipitation and a riverflow time series at 30 min temporal resolution |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2012 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The dataset has been used by regional and national policy makers in Peru (National Water Authority ANA, National Service for Hydrology and Meteorology SENAMHI) as well as a local NGO (Nature and Culture International) for policy decisions on water resources management in the study region (northern Peru). |
Description | memorandum of understanding with the Peruvian hydrometeorological services SENAMHI |
Organisation | National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology of Peru |
Country | Peru |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | A formal collaboration was set up between the hydrology group of Imperial College London and SENAMHI to share data, knowledge and technologies |
Start Year | 2012 |
Title | RHydro |
Description | Package for hydrological modelling in the R environment |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2009 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | This software consists of hydrological models and tools to represent and analyze hydrological data. |
URL | https://r-forge.r-project.org/projects/r-hydro/ |
Description | : Local stakeholder meeting of Mountain EVO, November 2014 & June 2015, Dhakarjhong, Phalyak and Chhoser, Mustang |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Main institutions that participated: Mukhiya, Users group, local people, teachers and local social/ political leaders |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015 |
Description | Hydrological Models for Decision making on water resources |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation for policy makers organised by the NGO Forest Trends, Lima, 08/11/2012 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Information requirements for land management in the tropical Andes |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | presentation for policy makers in the Andean Community of Nations, Lima, Peru |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Workshop 23 July 2012 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | workshop on ecosystem services and virtual observatories in Iquitos, Peru on 23 July 2012 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Workshop 23 May 2011 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | workshop on ecosystem services and water in the Pacaipampa highlands, Peru. Held on 23 May 2011 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | Workshop 25 July 2012 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Workshop on ecosystem services and environmental virtual observatories in Piura, Peru on 25 July 2012 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Workshop on interpolation of precipitation data |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Workshop with people from the Peruvian hydrometeorological service (SENAMHI) and the agrarian university of La Molina, Peru, about geostatistical interpolation of precipitation data to generate precipitation maps for Peru. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | workshop 25 May 2011 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Workshop on ecosystem services of the Pacaya Samiria reserve |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |