Data-visualizations to support the understanding of data on water and aquatic environments

The production and availability of environmental data are prerequisites for knowledge of the natural environment, as well as for decision-making and action orientation. Since its creation, the International Office for Water (IOWater) has been working to share reliable data and information, one of the keys to developing skills to better manage water resources and aquatic environments.

The latest innovation proposed is a section on its website dedicated to data visualizations, or data-visualizations, relating to all the themes of water and aquatic biodiversity. These dynamic graphs are intended for:

• to offer an overview of the available data;
• to facilitate the understanding of the situation in these areas;
• to encourage the reuse of this information;
• like the headings already available, such as key figures or information monitoring. These activities are carried out with the financial support of the French Biodiversity Agency (AFB).

All this content is freely available, and can be reused thanks to export functionalities and interfaces (API, web service, RSS feed) that allow us to simply query our information systems. Data-visualizations can for example be included in a web page using a few lines of HTML code.

For example, some of these products are now integrated into the Eaufrance portal, www.eaufrance.fr, the public information service on water and aquatic environments.

• Access the "Data visualizations" section on the IOWater website
• Also to be discovered: the IOWater brochure "Information Systems, Data and Knowledge".