Engaging the Earth Science and Engineering Communities in Developing a River Morphology Information System (RIMORPHIS)

ABSTRACT: River morphology data are critical for understanding and studying river processes and for managing rivers for multiple socio-economic uses. While such data have been acquired extensively over time, several issues hinder their use for river morphology studies such as data accessibility, variety of data formats, lack of data models for data storage, and lack of processing tools to assemble the data in products readily usable for research, management, and education. A multi-university research team has prototyped a web-based river morphology information system (RIMORPHIS) for hosting and creating new information and data processing tools to be shared with the broader earth science communities. The RIMORPHIS design principles include: (i) broad access via a publicly and freely available platform-independent system; (ii) flexibility in handling existing and future data types; (iii) user-friendly and interactive interfaces; and (iv) interoperability and scalability to ensure platform sustainability. Development of such an ambitious community resource is only possible by continuously engaging stakeholders from the inception of the project. This paper highlights the research team’s strategy and activities to connect and engage with river morphology data producers and potential users from academia, research, and practice. The paper also details outcomes of stakeholder engagement and illustrates how these interactions are positively shaping RIMORPHIS development.