WFDVisual is a partnership between SNIFFER, the Environment Agency (England and Wales), the Environmental Protection Agency (Republic of Ireland), the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, to produce images that help to communicate groundwater issues and processes. WFDVisual has been developed to make these groundwater images available to anyone who wishes to use them.
Development of individual images (published May 2007)
In 2004 SNIFFER, on behalf of the Environment Agency and the Geological Survey of Ireland, initiated a project to develop a package of images intended to visually represent groundwater and its management for the WFD. Developed under SNIFFER project WFD32 (see www.sniffer.org.uk; project search WFD32), the images represent how groundwater bodies function within different geologies in the UK and Ireland and the effects of differing pressures.
The images were developed to make complex features associated with groundwater easily understandable so that their relevance under the WFD could be communicated to a wide range of users, including both groundwater specialists and non specialists. Under project WFD32, the following image representations were developed:
- A base image representing a cross section of a typical catchment within the WFD and the basic elements of the hydrological cycle;
- Cross sections of the base image which represent three different land use settings (Upland rural, Lowland Rural and Urban);
- Interchangeable layers that can be added to each land use setting as required. These layers represent geological and hydrogeological conditions as seen in different regions of the UK and Ireland, and pressures associated with the different land uses within each setting. In order to tell a particular story regarding a specific aspect of groundwater, registered users can produce use the detailed search function to access over 1000 images.
Development of storyboard images (published October 2009)
Following the success of project WFD32, SNIFFER, on behalf of the Environment Agency (England and Wales), the Environmental Protection Agency (Republic of Ireland), the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, commissioned work to develop additional images to add to the WFDVisual collection (SNIFFER project WFD70c: www.sniffer.org.uk; project search WFD70c).
The images have been designed to be viewed in sequence to help explain groundwater processes in floodplain, coastal, karst, and fluvial settings. There are over 70 images, which have been grouped together into storyboards with accompanying text to help explain the story. Users can also download individual images and create their own stories as required. Note that unlike the images developed for WFD32, the storyboard images will not appear in the search function: instead, users can easily browse the minisite to find the images they require.