CIROH Training and Developers Conference Workshops

The workshop will provide users with an introduction to the NextGen-in-a-box. Participants will be able to use cloud resources for executing simple NextGen framework-based model simulations. Some prior experience running Docker will be helpful but not required.

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Recurrent deep networks like long short-term memory (LSTM) have made enormous improvements in recent years in hydrologic applications. This “crash-course” workshop with PyTorch shows you the basic principle of gradient-based optimization and backpropagation. Then, we show you how to apply LSTM to a hydrologic problem (soil moisture modeling). Google Colab will be the platform for the workshop so you need nothing more than a web browser with a Gmail account. You will have the chance to work on another hydrologic problem (streamflow modeling) as an exercise and see how you can obtain high-quality simulations. While this workshop assumes no background in deep learning, some python background is recommended.

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CIROH research necessitate collaboration and data sharing.  Advancing the knowledge needed to support research to operations in hydrology depends on collaboration around model and data sharing. It requires open data supporting the integration of information from multiple sources; easy to use, generally accessible, shareable computing; and working together as a team and community. The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) HydroShare platform established over the last 10 years enables best (FAIR, Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) practices for data sharing and collaboration, and for improving reproducibility and reusability of research outcomes, through sharing and publishing both the data and models and analyses that underpin research findings.  This workshop will overview best practices for collaboration and data sharing and the use of HydroShare and linked computing.  It will focus on capability presently available, for immediate use, and outline advances forthcoming through upcoming CIROH supported research. It will provide an overview of HydroShare, examples of data resources in HydroShare and best practices, and JupyterHub Platforms linked to HydroShare for access to NWM data and computing.

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HydroLearn is a platform to support collaboration in developing, adapting and adopting educational material across universities teaching hydrology and water resources engineering.  With many new students starting CIROH research this fall, and many CIROH institutions enhancing their courses to prepare these students for CIROH research, there is an opportunity to collaboratively share course content, sharing expertise and benefiting from teaching material shared by others using HydroLearn.  This workshop will introduce attendees to HydroLearn and, if time allows initiate creation of an active learning HydroLearn module.  A CIROH project starting this summer will offer a more extensive workshop and module development hackathon in July 2023, and this workshop will preview this more extensive workshop. The workshop will include an overview of HydroLearn, overview of July 2023 workshop and module development hackathon, hands-on training on using HydroLearn, introduction of existing HydroLearn modules, creation of a mini (one lecture) module including development of learning objectives and preliminary activities to support the objective.

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This workshop will focus on the science, software, and data used to model and evaluate flood inundation maps (FIMs) produced at the National Weather Service (NWS). The National Water Model (NWM) currently produces streamflow forecasts at hourly intervals across multiple forecast horizons for nearly 3 million river locations throughout the US. In order to model inundation for these streamflows at high spatial resolutions (10 m), Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) along with synthetic rating curves (SRC) must be computed. From the NWM streamflows, HAND, and SRCs, we can produce FIMs for the entire US for forecast and retrospective scenarios. Users can expect to learn about the science behind HAND/SRCs as well as generating and evaluating FIM. An overview of the software used to compute these products will be given as well as introduction to the data models employed.

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This training session focuses on HydroLang, a web-based framework for hydrological and environmental research. The session, intended for individuals with basic HTML and JavaScript knowledge and web-based application experience, and will provide hands-on experience and a practical case study to demonstrate the framework’s capabilities and real-world applications. The session will be interactive, covering an overview of the HydroLang framework, a practical coding session, and a discussion of feedback and issues. The goal is to equip participants with the skills and knowledge needed to develop hydrological and environmental applications using HydroLang, providing a clear understanding of the framework’s architecture, functions, and capabilities. HydroLang is BMI compliant library allows connecting with NWC NextGen model. The workshop will include example data connections to CIROH model/map outputs, CIROH app store, BMI compliance demo, and many features to support ongoing CIROH projects.

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This training session focuses on HydroCompute, a client-side web-based computation framework for optimizing environmental and hydrological tasks using modern web libraries such as WebAssembly, WebGPU, Web Workers, and WebRTC. The 1.5-hour in-person training is designed for individuals with basic HTML and JS knowledge and experience with web-based applications. The session will be interactive, with an overview of the HydroCompute framework, a real-world use case demonstration, and hands-on coding sessions. Participants will be evaluated through coding challenges and ongoing support and guidance will be provided. The HydroCompute training session aims to provide participants with the skills and knowledge to effectively use the framework in their own work and make use of the latest web technologies for creating powerful research applications. The workshop will include example data connections to CIROH model/map outputs, CIROH app store, BMI compliance demo, and many features to support ongoing CIROH projects.

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Complementing the “NextGen for Beginners” workshop, in this hour-and-a-half, users will learn how to prepare the input datasets for execution of a CFE model within the NextGen Water Resources Modeling Framework. Input will be generated using retrospective and operational forcing datasets from the current National Water Model and from the latest draft versions of the NextGen NWM Hydrofabric.

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Software engineering for Hydrologic Science

Come refresh your basic software engineering skills and brush up on key-but-basic software engineering topics that will help you get more work done more efficiently, cleanly, and with more shareable results. We plan to cover (among other things) software design, peer code review, and testing.

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The workshop will focus on communicating hydrologic science and engineering research to three important stakeholder groups for young hydrologists: their peers, the press, and the general public. A primary tenant of science communication is to know your audience; thus, the workshop will be divided into three sections to address strategic communication fundamentals and best practices for communicating with each unique population. The first part of the workshop will provide hands-on training for designing aesthetically appealing presentations based on the principles of cognitive science. As floods and droughts often dominate mainstream news media related to climate science, working with journalists is vital, yet often considered intimidating. This part of the workshop will offer a primer on media relations and cover preparing for interviews. Finally, with community outreach an important component of many national funding agency grant requirements, today’s scientists must learn to communicate about their research to the public. The workshop will conclude with strategies and tactics for effectively, and enjoyably, engaging with a variety of common public audiences—hopefully resulting in appreciation of the work, understanding potential benefits, and supporting continued research.

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This session will introduce the Basic Model Interface (BMI) from the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) group and how its functions allow easy model coupling and runtime control via the Next Generation Water Resources Modeling Framework from the NOAA-NWS Office of Water Prediction. We will cover some BMI basics, including supported languages, general function types, and model requirements for BMI compliance. We will also include a demonstration of how these functions integrate into a hydrologic model running in NextGen. 

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Science communication (SciComm) plays a crucial role in CIROH’s efforts to communicate scientific advancements and engage with a wider audience on water-related challenges of societal significance. This workshop will consist of a SciComm activity and a collaborative science-art piece. In the first part, participants will learn about successful science communication and knowledge mobilization initiatives and methods, including the use of poetry and art. In the second part, participants will share their water perspectives on a large map of the CONUS. Participants will use provided drawing supplies and paper (available throughout the conference) to illustrate the hydrological challenge they currently work on and write a short accompanying text about it (using prose or poetry), then place it on the map in the corresponding location. The final map, created at the conference, will provide a visual snapshot of the hydrological challenges faced and tackled by the community across the CONUS. The map will be digitized and distributed via the CIROH website. We hope you will join us for this exciting SciComm workshop and contribute to the community’s efforts to communicate water-related challenges!

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The CIROH Integrated Evaluation System aims to be a flexible and scalable hydrologic evaluation system to support research and testing of potential forecast system advancements. The system is being developed in coordination with the infrastructure team and will link directly to NextGen-in-a-box outputs.  It will also support evaluation of current NWM operational outputs and other user defined sources of research outputs.  This workshop will first present the overall vision and progress we have made in development of the prototype to date.  Then, we will facilitate a hands-on demo so attendees can experiment with the system using example datasets.  We will prepare at least 2 examples – one focusing on evaluating current operational NWM forecasts for a recent flood event and one evaluating outputs from model runs using NextGen-in-a-box.  At the end of the workshop, we will collect feedback on additional functionality that would be useful to researchers and the community.

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Participants will be introduced to the NextGen hydrofabric, how it is created, and how to subset model domains for their own experiments. Part one will focus on describing the data model, attributes, and concepts of the hydrofabric and walk users through subsetting a basin of their own from the official NextGen data products. The second part will walk users through the creation of the NextGen hydrofabric and the tools available to make their own NextGen compliant hydrofabric for experimentation and application.

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Tethys Platform is an open-source, Python-based toolkit that lowers the barrier to developing geospatial web applications. Using Tethys Platform, you can create interactive web applications to better engage decision-makers, stakeholders, and the public on important water resources issues. Tethys Platform brings together the best tools for web visualization and computation that Python and JavaScript have to offer. Tethys apps can leverage powerful tools like Open Layers or Cesium Globe for visualizing spatial datasets; Plotly, Bokeh, or Highcharts for graphing; and Dask or HTCondor for distributed computing. Backed by the Django web framework, all backend logic in Tethys apps is written in Python with the full suite of scientific Python libraries at your disposal. In this tutorial workshop participants will learn how to transform their geospatial water-resources Python workflows into full-fledged web applications using Tethys Platform. This is an introductory Tethys Platform tutorial: no web development experience is required but scientific programming experience is recommended (e.g. Jupyter Notebooks).

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The publics’ perceptions about risks and protective actions can vary as a consequence of a social-psychological process that includes personal assessments of the situation, and a clear understanding of the recommendations included in the warning messages. This process must be strategically considered while developing flood hazard tools and resources. This workshop will provide essential knowledge about communication theories and models that can increase the reach and effectiveness of NOAA products. This workshop will focus on possible communication pitfalls and potential strategies broadly, as well as specifically towards NOAA products. The main goals are: 1) discuss effective communication strategies, including crisis and risk communication concepts and approaches. 2) Examine some of the current NOAA products e.g., FIMs and hydrographs, and identify potential communication issues. 3) Discuss social behavioral data and how it can be developed and interpreted to better understand likely responses by stakeholders to communications. 4) Describe relevant theories and models that can be leveraged to assist in decision support, message design and communication strategy.