The Clear Creek Eco-hydrologic Observatory: from Vision toward Reality

There is growing recognition that a synergistic integration of data, knowledge, and methods from a variety of water-allied disciplines is needed to study, engineer for, or manage water resources. This integrated approach is necessary if we are to consider all components of the water cycle and their complex interactions with ecological, biogeochemical and human systems at a watershed-scale. The paper describes the initial stage of the development of a pilot cyberinfrastructure-based eco-hydrological observatory obtained by integrating in situ eco-hydrological measurements and geographically referenced data collected by third parties with modeling and analysis tools within a common digital platform. The long-term objective of the observatory is to enable collaborative scientific investigations and support the decision-making process for the watershed stakeholders.