WARM-GIS Tools

(Water Resources Management GIS Integrated Tools)

Introduction

The WARM-GIS Tools toolkit consists of a set of operations aimed at facilitating watershed management in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment. It allows, from a predefined hydrographic base, the insertion of water availability data and water uses (withdrawals, effluent releases and reservoirs), allowing the qualitative-quantitative simulation and verifying the impacts of the uses on the availability and the quality of the water. It also corresponds to an update of the SAD-IPH system.

The model is operated on a permanent basis, that is, without variation in time, allowing a picture of the river basin at a given moment. This time, is usually defined as a scenario of low water availability, and can be characterized statistically as the flow with 90% or 95% permanence (amount of water that is equaled or surpassed in 90% or 95% of the time), extracted from from observed or calculated series of flows. Thus, it is possible to have a baseline of the impacts of water withdrawals in times of scarcity, or the impact of effluent releases in periods of reduced availability of water for dilution.

The scheme of obtaining the hydrographic base that represents the system of rivers to be evaluated is represented in the figure below. In (a), we have represented a Digital Elevation Model – MDE (raster type file where each cell presents the terrain quota for a certain spatial resolution), in (b) we have the result of processing this file with obtaining units (c) an application of the WARM-GIS Tools with the insertion of water withdrawals and the verification of the impact on the water availability is presented. SRTM MDEs with 90 m spatial resolution for the entire world are available from the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) at this link.

Scheme of obtaining the hydrographic base used in the WARM-GIS Tools model.

The WARM-GIS toolkit is divided into two distinct modules, namely:

Water Balance Simulation Module: performs the water balance between availabilities and demands, allowing the simulation of up to 12 scenarios simultaneously;
Integrated Water Quality and Water Balance Simulation Module: Simulation of water quality, considering the effluent releases and water abstractions, allowing the simulation of only one scenario at a time.

Application examples

The WARM-GIS Tools toolkit has already been applied in several basins in Brazil, both in the academic context, as well as in the development of projects such as River Basin Plans. The figures below illustrate application examples of the tool, using the water balance module and the water quality module, respectively.

Example of application of the water balance module in the Almas river basin (GO), with the results being expressed on the map through the Water Stress Index in the month of lower water availability, and also from the generation of graphs showing the annual situation for a certain section of the basin.

Example of application of the water quality module in the Guandu river basin (RJ), indicating the outputs of the model through maps (expressed through the CONAMA framework classes) and the generation of longitudinal concentration profiles.

Available Downloads

WARM-GIS Tools Plugin

Theoretical-Practical Manual

Input files (example river basin of the Almas)

Note: This version of the template available for download may contain some bugs or code errors that were not identified in the tests performed with the system. We will always try to keep the template up to date when problems are reported, but be patient if any errors occur.

Academic work developed

KAYSER, R. H. B.; Tschiedel, A. F.; Cybis, F. A.; COLLISCHONN, W. Comparativo entre o modelo QUAL 2K e uma metodologia simplificada de modelagem da qualidade da água integrada a um ambiente de Sistema de Informações Geográficas: Estudo de Caso na Bacia do Rio Macaé. In: XXII SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE RECURSOS HÍDRICOS, 2017, Florianópolis. Anais do XXII SBRH. ABRH, 2017 (submetido)

SILVA, M. M. ; FARIA, S. D. ; MOURA, P. M. Modelagem da qualidade da água na bacia hidrográfica do Rio Piracicaba (MG). Eng. Sanit. Ambient. vol.22, n.1, pp.133-143, 2017.

COSTA, C. A. M. Aplicabilidade de Modelos Matemáticos Para Elaboração de Cenários de Enquadramentos de Corpos Hídricos: O Caso da Bacia do Ribeirão Taquaruçu, Palmas – TO. Dissertação (Mestrado Profissional). – Curso de Pós-Graduação Profissional em Engenharia Ambiental Universidade Federal do Tocantins. 150 p. 2016.

KAYSER, R. H. B.; COLLISCHONN, W. Integrando Sistema de Suporte à Decisão para Gerenciamento de Recursos Hídricos a um SIG de Código Aberto. In: XX SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE RECURSOS HÍDRICOS, 2013, Bento Gonçalves. Anais do XX SBRH. Porto Alegre: ABRH, 2013.

PEREIRA, M.; KAYSER, R. H. B.; COLLISCHONN, W. Integração do Modelo Hidrológico para Grandes Bacias MGB‑IPH e Sistemas de Informação Geográfica para suporte à decisão de outorga de direito de uso da água. Revista de Gestão de Água da América Latina, v. 9, no. 2, p. 21-33, 2012