The main aim of this project is to further deepen broaden and integrate our knowledge and improve our tools (add-ons and coupling) for the situation of highly morphodynamic rivers to be able to link multiple sources of data with models in an operational mode.The data sources include:
 depth data collect by vessels sailing along a given route via CoVadem Box
 meteorological data from local stations and from open sources
 discharge and water level data from measurement stations and
 river planform from satellite images.

The models include:
 Hydrological (rainfall run-off) model for discharge computation
 hydrodynamic model for water level computation.

The tools and add-ons aim to:
 generate bed level and consequently depth maps from scarce data (few ships equipped with CoVadem and low traffic intensity and
 develop an approach that is suitable for morphodynamic active rivers.

The research component in this project focuses on the data-model integration data assimilation techniques and the development of tools.

Inland waterway transport is an excellent example of ecosystem services that benefit societies living around rivers. The dominant approach has been to adapt the river by means of river engineering measures to facilitate the navigation needs (viz. stable deep channel). However this approach disrupts the natural system and leads to long term impacts on the riverine environment. To minimise such impacts the concept of Building with Nature emerged.With the recent technological development in the digitalisation domain (e.g. connectivity and availability of large open source datasets) it is possible to take a step forward to enable an improved operational management approach of the fairway. Building on the CoVadem technology (www.covadem.org) that offers new opportunities to manage the navigation the shipping can be adapted to the changing river conditions rather than the river being adapted to the shipping needs this concept is called Navigation with Nature and will be piloted in the Chindwin river in Myanmar. The concept is particularly relevant for morphodynamic active rivers (e.g. Ayeyarwady Mekong Rio Magdalena etc.). These rivers share a common aspect of having a rather fast migration of the navigation channel which may shift hundreds of meters during a wet season. Consequently navigation may be hampered because of these changing conditions ultimately risking accidents by grounding vessels. Such an approach also supports navigation in a more sustainable way by reducing the dependency on hard interventions. (www.covadem.org) offers new opportunities to manage the inland waterwayDeltares with CoVadem Services and CDR international are aiming to build on the recent developments of CoVadem to offer solutions which are applicable for rivers other than the Rhine where the technology has been developed. In that there are new challenges that require improvement of our knowledge about data-model integration automated utilisation of data feeds from the ves

Within this project the following main activities will be carried out:
1- Modelling in data-scarce environment utilising earth observation datasets in combination with local measurements (Industrieel onderzoek)
1.1- Catchment modelling:We further develop adapt and utilise the recently developed rapid hydrological modelling approach (3 clicks to model) to build and utilise models for data scarce environment – upscaling to application in relation to CoVadem.
1.2- Hydrodynamic modelling one-dimensional modelling of long river reach in a data scarce environment.We further develop adapt and utilise the recently developed EO-Rivers toolbox which is rapid river model building python toolbox that is recently developed to function within Delta Shell – upscaling to application in relation to CoVadem.

2- Configuration of an operational navigation depth forecast system (using FEWS) based on CoVadem Technology (Industrieel onderzoek)
2.1- Transformation of the specific FEWS configuration for a more generic applicability.The CoVadem system has been developed for the specific settings of the Rhine in the Netherlands. The challenge here is to transform such configuration to suite generic cases and suitable for the international market.
2.2- API adaption to allow the system to function in the cloudSo far the forecasting system is run locally. The next step is to enable the operationalisiation of the system in its entirety in the cloud (Amazon cloud)

3- Waterway depth forecasting procedures - (Industrieel onderzoek):
3.1 - Develop a methodology to deal with planform changes
3.2- Develop an approach for depth map creation suitable for scarce data (suitable for few number of vessels and low frequency of traffic)

The CoVadem technology has been developed in the context of the Rhine River which is a trained river with a stable navigation channel. The navigation intensity and the number of vessels with the CoVadem box are sufficiently many such that high quality data can be obtained. And models are well developed for operational use. These conditions are not the same the Chindwin River which is morphologically active deep channel position changes over time with few ships using the CoVadem box. Innovation is needed to enable the utilisation of the CoVadem technology for these conditions which is prevailing in many rivers.We can list a number of challenges that require innovation as follows: Modelling in a data-scarce environment Integration of meteorological datasets from open source data or global models (e.g. GLOFFIS) with data from local sources to improve the quality of the predictions of discharge and subsequently water levels. Development of an approach to identify river planform changes and major shifts in the location of the deep channel and to enable the assimilation of such information in updating the navigation route and update the hydrodynamic model with the most recent dimensions. Assimilation of the scarce depth data coming from the few vessels equipped CoVadem box with pre-exiting bed level data to maximise the quality of the navigation depth prediction. Offering Cloud computing based services which involves running the entire system in the cloud.

Alle partijen krijgen alle resultaten van het Project ter beschikking. De resultaten van de samenwerking kunnen breed verspreid worden. Partijen kunnen over deze resultaten vrijelijk publiceren. De resultaten zullen volledig openbaar beschikbaar zijn, met uitzondering van ter beschikking gestelde achtergrondkennis.

De informatie over dit project wordt kenbaar gemaakt via de website van de TKI Deltatechnologie (projectbeschrijving) en de projectwiki van Deltares (projectvoortgang en resultaten).

Na de datum waarop deze Overeenkomst in werking is getreden, maar uiterlijk tot een jaar voor de beoogde datum waarop het Project zal zijn voltooid, kunnen ondernemers en/of onderzoeksinstellingen, die op het terrein van het relevante subsidieprogramma van het TKI werkzaam zijn alsnog als Partij toetreden. Een later toetredende Partij zal een nader overeen te komen bijdrage in kind en/of in cash moeten leveren die in redelijke verhouding staat tot zijn relatief aandeel in het Project na toetreding. De overige Partijen ontvangen vervolgens naar rato een terugbetaling en/ of gedeeltelijke vrijstellingen van hun nog te leveren bijdrage in kind, voor zover niet besloten wordt de bijdrage van de later toetredende Partij aan het projectbudget toe te voegen.