Digital methods are set to become pervasive. Some of the most important advances will come from interweaving generalised digital methods and data from a network of gauges.
Although my GIS skills are underdeveloped, I have a strong
interest in methods of display, integration and interpretation
of hydrological variables that exploit generalised conceptual or statistical models
based on digital catchment data.
Figure 12.1 of Flood Estimation Handbook Vol. 1 provides an example. Here is a reminder.
The width of the blue line denotes a hydrological variable estimated
from digital catchment descriptors, while the diameters of the (barely
visible) red dots denote more direct estimates at a small number of gauged sites.
[Thumbnail reproduced with acknowledgement to CEH Wallingford.]
Potential applications are:
In operations, to trigger alarms that draw attention to extreme or anomalous data;
In design, to blend estimates from a generalised digital method (available at all sites) with best estimates of the variable (derived at gauged sites).
The latter is a kind of interpolation problem, for which geostatistical methods based on detrended kriging can offer a powerful and relatively general solution. There will also be applications in network design.
Because of the large resources required to develop and implement generalised digital methods, I am more likely to act as advisor than executant. But please get in touch if you would like to discuss possibilities.