Hydrometeorological Measurements and Analysis in Interdisciplinary Watershed Projects; A Strategy Paper Prepared for the PARDYP Project

PARDYP is an interdisciplinary watershed research project which begun in October 1996. It is managed by ICIMOD and operates in five watersheds located in four countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas: Pakistan, India, Nepal, and China. Hydrology and metrology are very important elements of the project. This discussion paper is based on one and a half years experience with the PARDYP project. In order to be able to compare the results in the five watersheds, common procedures and methodologies for data collection as well as for analysis have to be developed. This document is a contribution to this task and is focused on the hydrology and meteorology components. It provides guidelines for data collection, data handling, data processing, and analysis. The paper differentiates between compulsory activities in data collection and analysis in all the five watersheds and optional, more specialized steps to be carried out only if the necessary infrastructure and skills are available. For a rapid overview of the elements of data collection and analysis, Table 5, 6,7,8,9 and 10 can be consulted. This discussion paper is based on experiences from the PARDYP project. However, the guidelines, the approaches, and the ideas discussed in the document may be useful for other watershed research projects also.