lntegration Blueprint for the Catchment Modelling Toolkit: Making the Whole from the Sum of the Parts

The Catchment Modelling Toolkit is the primary delivery mechanism for the research products of the CRC for Catchment Hydrology. Current CRCCH research projects are producing products in the form of computational modulesCthat are included in the toolkit. Modules can be thought of as packages that do a particular job, and that can be used in a stand-alone mode to do that job, or be linked with other modules to form more complex models. Other projects are producing other parts of the catchment prediction mosaic, resulting in over 50 modules that will be available as projects progress. To provide the target modelling capability by combining these parts it is necessary to do more than assume that they will easily link together. Issues of scale, temporal resolution, data type compatibility and conceptual commensurability between parts must be addressed, and any gaps between the parts being developed and what is required to deliver the target capability must be identified and filled. To ensure that the parts can be fit together and that there are no gaps that significantly reduce our modelling capability, the CRCCH has developed an lntegration Blueprint. This Blueprint identifies the inputs, output, linkages, and dependencies between the pa rtsiof the toolkit, as well as the gaps that require filling. Development of the Blueprint began at the same time as the development of research project proposals that included Toolkit module production. Through use of the lntegration Blueprint approach, development of the Toolkit is providing a number of benefits for researchers, including a framework for ensuring consistency in research products, a vehicle for delivery of these products, and a focus for the product integration that is required to achieve the target outcome of a whole of catchment modelling capability.