Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to co-present a keynote at the CIROH Developers Conference (DevCon 2025), which attracted over 200 attendees. This presentation, which I presented alongside Dan Ames, focused on "CIROH HydroInformatics and Research Cyberinfrastructure." It was a fantastic experience to share insights into the powerful tools and technologies that CIROH engineers, students, researchers have been developing to advance hydrological research and operations.

Our keynote aimed to showcase the comprehensive ecosystem that CIROH offers. We highlighted four key pillars:

• Computing Resources: CIROH offers accress to public cloud infrastructure, on-premises HPC, and NSF ACCESS resources.
• Data Management: CIROH members handle and share vast datasets crucial for hydrological modeling. We've provided platforms to do so through HydroShare and CIROH AWS S3 buckets, as well as streamlining access and analysis of this data through tools like Google BigQuery API and Tethys Platform.
• Model Development: CIROH develops tools and frameworks for developing and refining hydrological models, including the NGIAB ecosystem.
• Knowledge Sharing: CIROH disseminates findings and best practices through the DocuHub and Portal platforms.

Value and Impact​

During the keynote, we emphasized the value that CIROH brings to new students and researchers. This includes access to:

• Computational resources (free for researchers) that would normally cost thousands of dollars.
• Datasets that would take months to compile.
• Tools that streamline research and increase its impact.
• Publications - https://portal.ciroh.org/publications

CIROH Ecosystem Tools

We also showcased several transformative tools within the CIROH ecosystem that are advancing the field of hydrology:

• NGIAB (NextGen In A Box) ecosystem (ngiab.ciroh.org): Revolutionizes water modeling by making the NextGen framework portable and accessible through containerized, open-source solutions.
• CIROH DocuHub (docs.ciroh.org): Your comprehensive knowledge center featuring technical documentation, monthly insights, and the latest developments in water science.
• CIROH Portal (portal.ciroh.org): A unified gateway connecting researchers to essential data, cutting-edge tools, and collaborative research opportunities.
• Google BigQuery NWM API (Documentation): Streamlines National Water Model data access with powerful cloud-based querying capabilities for efficient analysis.
• Tethys Platform: Transforms complex hydrological data and models into intuitive web applications, making advanced water science accessible to all stakeholders.
• AWS, Google Cloud, 2i2c JupyterHub and NSF Access: CIROH's AWS, Google Cloud accounts, CIROH 2i2c JupyuterHub and NSF Allocations for cloud computing in hydrology.
• Pantarhei and Wukong HPC: CIROH's state-of-the-art high-performance computing infrastructure, powering computationally intensive research and simulations.
• And many more innovative solutions driving water science forward!

Our overall message was that CIROH’s hydroinformatics and research cyberinfrastructure ecosystem is designed to support and amplify research efforts. We encouraged attendees to explore these resources and consider how they could be applied to their own work. Whether it's streamlining data workflows, tackling computationally intensive tasks, or sharing findings, CIROH provides the tools and infrastructure to push the boundaries of hydrological science.

We want to thank everyone who attended our keynote and engaged in the Mentimeter quiz. It’s an exciting time for CIROH, and we’re thrilled to be a part of this dynamic community!

Video voiced by Quinn Lee and prepared by Manjila Singh, Nia Minor, and Arpita Patel.