engleski

ICT FOR DANUBE RIVER BASIN: WATER QUALITY AND NAVIGATION SURVEILLANCE

Management of river navigation is a field of great economic importance, which is directly connected with environmental protection. It depends on hydrometeorological conditions and hydrological characteristics, and significantly influences the water quality within a navigable river basin. Timely information about momentary water levels is important for river traffic as well as for the protection against flooding at very high water levels. Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is crucial for efficient water quality protection in Europe based on river basin management (EU Water Framework Directive, WFD) and for efficient inland waterborne transport management in Europe (River Information Services, EC RIS Directive). Development of complex systems, applications and services requires timely communication and information management between the European bodies responsible for both fields. Since 2003, the Croatian Government has made great efforts to enhance this kind of activities at national level and to support cooperation at pan- European level. We have actively participated in several European projects and working groups through the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) and the GIS Forum Danube for establishment of the Integrated European RIS Platform. Our research and development activities have included ICT applications to environmental protection and river navigation surveillance. The main focus was the development of specialized information systems, web applications for temporal and spatial presentations and services necessary to provide efficient management of complex data and processes in investigations of water quality, natural and anthropogenic pollution sources, risk assessment and particularly the influence of river navigation on the waterways. In this paper, the most significant ICT-based research activities concerning the Danube River Basin will be presented and discussed.

Danube River Basin ; ICPDR ; water quality ; inland navigation ; ICT ; specialized information system ; Web GIS applications ; river information services

Pozvano sudjelovanje. It is intended to prepare special issues of several SCI Journals.