Web-based agricultural water management information system
Improving water management in Bangladesh in times of climate change impacts
Agriculture is vital to Bangladesh’s economy, with irrigation playing a crucial role in food production. Despite a significant increase in irrigation coverage from 3.4 million hectares in 2000 to 5.4 million hectares in 2013, unregulated groundwater extraction has led to declining groundwater levels, crippled irrigation systems and increasing water scarcity. These challenges, coupled with climate change, underscore the need for sustainable water management. Web-AIS aims to integrate hydrological, crop, and climate models to provide real-time, data-driven solutions. Linked to the Bangladesh Agro-meteorological Information System (BAMIS), it will guide irrigation decisions, promote efficient use of surface water, and help address salinity issues. The overall goal of the project is to ensure food security by improving decision-making and supporting sustainable development while mitigating disaster risks.
52°North’s main task is to implement a web-based information system that acts as a decision support system for all stakeholders. This system is the central link and interface of the Web-AIS project to the local stakeholders and will include the products and results of all project partners. The system provides access to relevant information on the current situation regarding irrigation management techniques, information on available water balance, crop water demand, irrigation schedule and also early warning in case of drought or other extreme events that may affect the irrigation activities. The spatial data infrastructure (SDI) block forms the core of the architecture. This comprises various OGC API web services, such as OGC API – Features, OGC API – Records or OGC API – Processes. Our team will use open-source implementations of the various OGC API standards to realize the architecture. The concept of OGC API – Building Blocks allows the different forms of OGC APIs to be combined into one comprehensive, standardized API. This approach is intended to create a gateway that serves as an access point for client applications. We will develop a web-based front-end application using Open Pioneer Trails as the centerpiece of the web information system.
Partners
TH Köln: Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics, Germany
TU Darmstadt: Institute of Applied Geoscience, Germany
University of Bonn: Institute of Crop science and Resource Conservation, Germany
Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology: Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN), Luxembourg
Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh
Institute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh
Dhaka University: Department of Geology, Bangladesh
Institute of Water Modeling, Bangladesh
Sreejon Investment and Consultant Ltd., Bangladesh