Developing national virtual teaching tools for hydrology

Water management is a topic of great importance in Australia. Future and current professionals specifically need quantitative skills in Hydrology due to the increase in available data (remote sensing and dataloggers). In addition, numerical models have become the main tool for prediction and forecasting in operational hydrology. Hydrology is taught at many of Australia's Universities at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. A review of undergraduate units highlights that most, understandably, focus on the more basic principles of the hydrological cycle and field observations in water quality and quantity. Explicit mention of hydrological modelling is rare and is generally limited to more advanced postgraduate courses. This paper reviews current education in Australian hydrology and suggests how modular hydrological modelling and on-line virtual educational tools can be integrated to support current programs The suggested modular modelling and virtual tools emphasise the "what" and "why" of hydrological modelling relative to the "how". For example, the focus is on assumptions and structures and thus leaning towards top-down and conceptual modelling. In addition it highlights designing models for specific tasks, i.e. not using a simulation model for forecasting. For this, universities and industry can work together to further develop a cohesive set of virtual tools that will deliver the underlying hydrological modelling skills that 1) meets the needs of industry and academia; and, 2) can be build on in graduate development. This core set of tools should be a modular and open source system that can be readily expanded and adjusted by users. One example would be to develop a set of virtual tools to explore the new Australian Rainfall and Runoff. Another example is the existing R package "hydromad", which delivers the open source and modular approach that would be required. There are many other tools that can be combined to deliver a powerful teaching and research tool that can benefit the future of the hydrological profession.