Introduction to Hydro – Informatics Institute

Background

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has always been concerned about the water situation in Thailand. His Majesty emphasized on the use of information for water resource management and decision. During the flood crisis in 1995, His Majesty found the integration of water information in Thailand was disrupted. Later, in 1996, His Majesty initiated the collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board (RDPB), Thailand Research Fund (TRF), and National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) to develop a coherent plan for hydro - informatics management in Thailand.

“Thailand Integrated Water Resource Management (TIWRM)” project, chaired by H.E. Dr. Chaovana Nasylvanta, Privy Councillor, was initiated an assigned Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute (HAII), which was a research unit under National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), responsible for system development. In 1998, HAII started the development of information system and integrate water information of Chao Phraya river basin from 5 government agencies; Royal Irrigation Department, Thai Meteorological Department, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and The National Water Resource Committee (NWRC) The project finished in 2002 and it was used as decision support system for water management and development. This is an important starting point to accelerate the development and usage of information technology in water management in Thailand.

1998

The development of “Thailand Integrated Water Resource Management (TIWRM)” is an initiative of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej in using information technology to integrate all water-related information and visualize in one single system for holistic management.

The project is a collaboration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), High Performance Computing Research and Development Unit from National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (RDC/NECTEC), and other water-related government agencies: Royal Irrigation Department, Thai Meteorological Department, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and The National Water Resource Committee (NWRC) with the financial support from Thailand Research Fund (TRF) and advisory from the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board (RDPB), Chaipattana Foundation, and Kasetsart University. Within 4 years, September 1998 – August 2002, the project focus on research and development of Geographic Information System (GIS) and 2D and 3D modeling of Chao Phraya and Pasak river basin.

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2002

Terabyte Server - for storing big data and backup system - The server features 4 high performance personal computers with 1 Terabyte (TB) capacity and backup system by 1.2 TB IDE Harddisk. The system is a server of TIWRM system and keep record of water resource and other related information such as radar and satellite image

2003

Start telemetry research with the collaboration from National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO), Japan, in the “Field Server Workshop”. Field Server is the low-cost high-efficiency remote sensing technology.

It is adapted to use in the context of Thailand under the Agro – Informatics Network and collaboration from Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN)’s Agriculture Working Group. The establishment of “Field Server Forum” was created among interesting agencies.

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2004

16 January 2004, the Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony between the National Science and Technology Development Agency, Royal Irrigation Department, and Department of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation on the establishment of “Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute” was chaired by H.E. Sawad Wattanayagorn, Privy Councilor. This collaboration aimed to

manage hydro and agro informatics
integrate knowledge, information, and utilize for water and agriculture resource development
create development network for agriculture and water resources management to collaborate development and data support system among related government agencies with the connection from Office of the Royal Development Projects Board.

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2008 – 2009

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej proclaimed the Royal Decree dated 27 December 2008 on the Establishment of the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute (Public organization). It was announced at Office of the Council of State, Book 125/episode 138A dated 31 December 2008 and became effective on 1 January 2009.

2010

High Performance Computing (HPC) Network System was developed based on Cluster Computing technology that connects computing cluster via high speed network. HPC main function is to support National Hydroinformatics data center which required high processing power, long processing time, support either Sequential processing (High Throughput Computing) or parallel processing (High Performance Computing).

HPC will reduce the time for processing, restore and backup data, enhance capacity for complex calculation of mathematical modeling and big data management in both normal and crisis situations.

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HII High Perfomance Computing Facilities

2012

The National Hydroinformatics and Climate Data Center (NHC) is the integration of information from water resource organizations and weather related agencies. All data from related agencies are stored in the same database and available for exchange between agencies in order to maximize mutual benefits in managing water resources, analyzing and forecasting, supporting management in normal and crisis situation.