Delta Life Nr. 3 February 2015

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28 DELTARES, FEBRUARY 2015 29
Delft-FEWS linked to Twitter
A flood warning system in Jakarta has been
extended to include real-time data supplied
through Twitter. The Jakarta Flood Early Warning
System, J-FEWS, is based on Delft-FEWS. This is
the first time that Deltares has used Twitter for
Delft-FEWS.
The thinking is that there are large numbers of
relevant tweets during flood events. They are
collected and analysed using FloodTags. On
occasion, as many as ten tweets a second come
from affected areas. The link with Delft-FEWS
results in a good, real-time overview of the flood.
That means that emergency organisations have
an impression at an early stage of how a flood is
developing, allowing them to take specific action
quickly.
The observations collected using Twitter can also
be used to improve flood models. Deltares and
FloodTags are now planning to look at whether
this approach can also be used in other regions.
For more information:
Water managers prefer lakes and
brooks to house a wide variety of
water plants rather than excessive
algae because this indicates that
the water is healthy. However, it
is not a good thing to have too
many water plants either. That
can create problems for boats or
bathers, and produce unpleasant
smells if the plants start rotting in
large numbers.
To respond to this problem, a
special module for water plants
has been added to Delwaq, the
software package for water quality
and ecology that models the water
plants in lakes, brooks and rivers.
The module can also be used to
model species in salt water. In that
way, water managers know where
specific water plants are located
and how fast they are growing.
The new software can also be used
to identify the impact on water
quality, giving water managers
the opportunity to implement
dedicated measures to keep the
water healthy, and resulting
in efficient and cost-aware
management.
No more
problems with
water plants
UNIQUE SUBSURFACE MODELLING
M Delft 3D Fast Forward, a Delft 3D application, produces century-scale simulations of
deltas and their stratigraphic make-up in extremely high resolutions. This is good news
for coastal managers and policymakers, for whom sustainable coastal management is
becoming increasingly important. The model is also interesting for the oil and gas industry
because it allows more realistic estimates of the properties of oil and gas reservoirs.
Delft 3D Fast Forward, which is process-based software, can simulate a range of delta types, together
with specific subsurface characteristics. As far as we know, there are no other models that can
simulate stratigraphic structures so realistically and in such detail. Delft 3D Fast Forward is also
unique because it can provide century-scale simulations: existing models deal in much shorter time
periods (decades) or much longer time scales (thousands of years).
Many policymakers are under
the mistaken impression that
knowledge leads to better
policy, or that it can resolve
all policy problems. But what
can knowledge actually contri­
bute to policy?
Six young scientists, some
of whom work for Deltares,
studied this question.
On the basis of five research
projects in the Wadden area,
they mapped out the rela­
tionship between knowledge
and policy, and developed
action perspectives to im­
prove that relationship. The
Action Perspectives were
published late last year.
Deltares organised a special
day for business in our
Environmental Laboratory in
Utrecht that gave the visitors
the opportunity to learn about
the laboratory, which was
opened recently. They were
given presentations about
ongoing experiments, such
as passive sampling, CO2
emissions from dredging
sludge, microbial corrosion
and BioSealing.
The Environmental Labora­
tory is a part of the Joint
Environmental Laboratory
(JEL), where Deltares colla­
borates closely with the Earth
Sciences Faculty of Utrecht
University, GeoLab, and
TNO Applied Environmental
Chemistry. Concentrating
the expertise and facilities
has resulted in a high-tech
laboratory that can house
advanced chemical and
microbiological experimental
research and analyses. At the
JEL, Deltares will be involved in
research for external parties,
such as water authorities,
municipalities and business.
Freshwater
supplies can be
more efficient
and cheaper
With the €ureyeopener, Deltares is developing
a tool that provides national and regional
water authorities with a rapid picture of
their freshwater stocks and the measures
needed to manage those stocks better. The
€ureyeopener also works out the costs and
benefits of any intervention so that the
managers can take sound decisions. This
makes freshwater management a lot more
efficient and cheaper when drought or
salinisation are factors. In the past, managers
often had to make decisions on the basis of
an incomplete understanding of how the
freshwater system works. The impact of
the various interventions, for example on
agriculture, was also unclear. In practice, the
€ureyeopener has demonstrated that the tool
can produce surprising insights. It was used,
for example, to enhance the understanding of
the Rijnland rinsing system. It was also used
to calculate the benefits for agriculture asso-
ciated with a switch to alternative freshwater
supplies during the transition to salt water
in the Volkerak-Zoom Lake. Deltares is deve-
loping the €ureyeopener with Wageningen
University-Alterra, Wageningen University-
Agricultural Economics Research Institute
and the De Bakelse Stroom consultancy.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
KNOWLEDGE FOR POLICY
COMPANY DAY IN ENVIRONMENTAL
LABORATORY
More information: