Monitoring aquatic bodies using Google Earth GIS applications

Abstract

In the RM more than 5,000 smaller dams have been built on rivers. The lifespan of them is usually 30- 50 years. Considering that most of them were built in the years 1960-1980, many of them have an expired exploitation period and the others are at the limit of the exploitation period. Another important aspect is the fact that their maintenance in the last 30 years was far below the requirements. The latest analyzes and findings highlight the precarious state of the hydrotechnical constructions, as well as the lack of an effective tool for periodic monitoring of aquatic bodies, which represents an environmental risk, especially floods. About the 126 reservoirs, have a capture capacity of more than one million m3 volume, which are used for fishing, irrigation, water supply, recreation. The effects of climate changes in recent years, marked by pronounced droughts on the one hand and torrential rains on the other, estimate the state of high risk of hydrotechnical constructions, especially the regularization systems. In this context the goal of this research is the monitoring and assessing of the current conditions of water body through a simple geo-informational application, easily accessible to officials, employees in the field. In this scope monitoring and administrate to assure the visualization and transparency of water body the application on the "blogspot.com" platform was created with properly configured geographic interest patterns. Cartographic data were published on Google Maps and integrated in blog. Thus, by accessing the blog, the views of the lake, the hydrotechnical constructions, the points of interest, with the necessary attributes is accessing with the possibility for the spatial analyses. The preliminary results show the positive effects and high interest of the stakeholders concerning of WEBGIS technology for the assessment of environmental conditions of water body.