Representatives from all five Central Asia Hydromets have gathered for a four-day meeting in the mountains near Tashkent. Hydromets, short for hydrometeorological services, are government agencies in Central Asian countries responsible for monitoring and forecasting weather, atmospheric, and hydrological conditions. In a friendly atmosphere, 20 experts discussed the benefits and challenges of modernizing operational hydrology and river discharge forecasting in their corresponding institutions. The meeting was held under the SAPPHIRE Central Asia Project, which hydrosolutions GmbH implements and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation supports. The project develops the digital assistant called iEasyHydro for operational hydrologists in Central Asia Hydromets to manage, quality control, and exchange operational hydrological data, update discharge-stage relationship curves, and produce operational journals and hydrological bulletins. The emphasis is on ensuring that the organisations can also operationally process high-frequency data from modern gauging stations, which is impossible so far.
Furthermore, the project also focuses on implementing a river discharge forecasting toolbox, allowing forecasters to use state-of-the-art hydrological modeling approaches for forecasting. Additionally, the project establishes a network of experts, known as a community of practice, to enable regular exchanges and collaboration on these important topics. This network allows professionals across Central Asia to share their experiences, learn from each other, and collectively improve their methods and techniques in hydrology and river discharge forecasting.
