Watersheds Global Solution Group
Where does data come from? Integrated watershed/basin planning and management requires a synoptic view of several biophysical and socio-economic aspects of an area. These data are usually collected in a “bottom-up” fashion using people or in-situ sensors or in a “top-down” fashion using earth observation.
Data Access: There have been excellent advancements in the way data is accessed. For example, open data portals have provided access to not only the data but also data services that can be accessed online using standard formats (e.g. from the Open Geospatial Consortium) and customized access protocols (such as Application Programming Interfaces or APIs). In particular, open data concepts are growing rapidly and improving public-domain access. Open data or content is open if anyone is free to use, re-use or redistribute it, subject at most to measures that preserve provenance and openness (find more information about open data definitions, licensing options, and examples). Cloud services are becoming increasingly popular to host big data and support cloud computing.
Examples of Accessible Data, Information & Knowledge Services: Many international governmental and non-governmental organizations, foundations, academic institutions, private sector organizations, CSOs, etc. have been actively involved in promoting integrated watershed management over many years. These have resulted in many datasets and online data services of relevance to forest management. ICT tools and applications have made possible for the availability of vast amounts of relevant data, some near real-time and some curated over years, and which can be accessible anytime, anywhere on any device (such as through this e-book) for those working in these areas. Some illustrations of this rich set of watershed data resources can be found in the following resources.
Watersheds Global Solution Group