Web GIS for analysis of the past and future of the climate and hydrological conditions in the North-West of Russia

Abstract

This paper discusses the development of a specialized web GIS (geoportal) dedicated to the analysis of changes in climate conditions and hydrological regime in the North-West of Russia. One of the main goals of geoportal is to provide a tool to answer simple questions about climate for wide range of users. For example, how has the climate and hydrology changed in a particular city over the past 70 years? What will it be like in 50 years? The main functionality, data and creation technologies are presented. Geoportal offers the tools that allow interactive processing of daily data time series on minimum, average, maximum air temperatures, precipitation and surface runoff, represented by both reanalysis data from 1950 and predictive data up to 2100. Information about actual observations at weather stations and hydrological posts is also available. Access to the geoportal is provided through the user’s web GIS interface and through the HTTP interface for developers, which opens up opportunities for integrating data into third-party services.