WaterWorld

Purpose: Water policy support system.
Developer: Kings College, London; AmbioTEK
Key Features: Processing performed in cloud; GIS data provided; visualization
Latest Release: Version 2. [.92]
OS Platform: Web based
Cost: Free, subscription license

Introduction

WaterWorld is a fully distributed physically based hydrologic, model that is utilized as a policy/ support system especially in un-gauged and or data poor environments. The program incorporates a water quality model and a sediment transport model. More specifically, the program computes a hydrological baseline and is then compared to a potential scenario. Hydrologic computations use the water balance equation. WaterWorld can been applied to determine the hydrologic change from climate change, land use change, hillslope erosion, human impact on water quality, land management decisions, and the impact of population and demography as well as any combination of these as well as perform.

WaterWorld key features such as the ability to use cloud computing, freely available dataset when data is not available, rapid learning time, process results within 1-hour and the ability to download the output data. The program offers different level of functionality which is based on tiered based pricing.

Advantages and Limitations

Advantages Limitations
  • Cloud base computing
  • Program uses Google Maps interface
  • Globally available dataset is provided
  • Allows for comparison between different various policy scenarios including change in land use and climate change
  • Results can be obtained within 1 hour and requires little user training
  • Output data can be downloaded into a GIS format, Google Earth or presented in Excel
  • Hydropower can be linked to the WEAP software
  • Functionality of datasets is based on a tiered based pricing
  • Model should not be calibrated
  • Cannot predict exact and current future magnitude at a particular point
  • Requires at least a 140 input maps
  • Groundwater flow is not considered
  • Doesn’t provide yearly values

Additional Information

WaterWorld Homepage

Sample Applications

Africa East Asia and the Pacific Europe & Central Asia Latin America & the Caribbean Middle East and North Africa South Asia
Kenya (Management Decisions) Ecuador (Climate Change on Hydropower) Nepal (Land Management Decision)

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