ABSTRACT
The advent of digital instruments and non-intrusive measurement technologies based on acoustics and optics principles has resulted in unprecedented opportunities for acquiring high-density temporal measurements at points, along lines and across surfaces and volumes within experimental facilities. The recent advances in measurement and information technologies now facilitate an "informatics" approach to investigation and management that capitalizes on measurements and their interpretation. This chapter first introduces hydroinformatics, explaining the role of this science in organizing the data, irrespective of their source. It describes the concept of Digital Environmental Observatories (DEOs) as a contemporary approach for assembling various sources of water-related data characterizing large spatio-temporal scales, including river measurements. Finally, the Arc River data model is introduced as a prototype data model for handling and processing multiple databases containing measured or simulated river characteristics. The model allows efficient characterization of rivers and the ancillary processes affecting them.
