Announcing the formation of - SMIG - The USGS Surface-water quality and flow Modeling Interest Group

To: "E  - All WRD Employees"<distribution@usgs.gov>
cc: "Stewart A Rounds, Hydrologist, Portland, OR" <sarounds@usgs.gov>
Subject: SMIG - new USGS Interest Group
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 14:19:53 -0800
From: "Stewart A Rounds, Hydrologist, Portland, OR" <sarounds@usgs.gov>


Announcing the formation of

                            - SMIG -
 The USGS Surface-water quality and flow Modeling Interest Group


The Office of Water Quality has provided support to create a USGS
Interest Group focusing on issues of importance in modeling surface-
water quality and flow.

If you have interest or experience in either of these fields, I
encourage you to join this new interest group.  Through this interest
group you will be able to:
 * network with other USGS modelers
 * keep abreast of current modeling activities with the USGS
 * discuss new modeling techniques, algorithms, interfaces, etc.
 * learn about new models
 * share ideas and experience, solve problems, ...

Mission:
  The mission of the USGS Surface-water quality and flow Modeling
  Interest Group is to heighten the awareness of surface-water quality
  and flow modeling activities within the U.S. Geological Survey,
  enhance communication, and facilitate the sharing of information and
  expertise among USGS modelers.

Scope:
  The scope of the USGS Surface-water quality and flow modeling Interest
  Group includes all surface-water modeling activities within the USGS.
  Topics of interest include any issues relevant to the hydraulic
  modeling and/or water-quality modeling of surface waters (lakes,
  reservoirs, rivers, estuaries, and watersheds).

Objectives and activities:
  1.  Maintain a keyword-searchable database of USGS personnel with
      surface-water modeling expertise.  For each person in the database,
      the following information will be included:
         name              FAX number        
         address           areas of expertise
         email address     sites they have modeled
         phone number      models they have used

      The SMIG will act as a clearinghouse for this information, thus
      creating a network of modelers that will:
       - provide expertise to aid the modeling efforts of novices, and
       - enhance communication, share ideas, solve problems, ...

  2.  Produce a bi-annual newsletter which will be distributed only via
        email (Postscript) and the WWW.  The newsletter will contain:
        - contributed feature articles, with topics such as:
          o  current modeling projects
          o  evaluations of the capabilities of selected models
          o  current model development activities
          o  model interfaces
          o  model algorithms
          o  visualization techniques
        - lists of recent publications of interest
        - lists of meetings of interest

  3.  Maintain a set of (USGS-only) WWW pages.  The SMIG web pages would
      include:
        - the latest newsletter
        - back issues of the newsletter
        - the membership directory, searchable by keywords
        - links to other pages of interest
        - links to ftp-able archives of models?
        - summaries of model capabilities/limitations?

  4.  Dependent on funding, perceived need, and approval, the SMIG will
      host a workshop or mini-conference to exchange ideas and present
      the latest results of modeling projects within the USGS.

Membership:
  Any USGS employee interested in surface-water modeling.


To join, please send email to sarounds@usgs.gov and include the following
information:
  name:
  postal address:
  email address:
  phone number:
  FAX number:
  areas of modeling expertise:
  water bodies you have modeled:
  models you have used:

Thanks for your interest in the SMIG.  You will be notified when the WWW
pages are activated and when issues of the newsletter come out.  If you
would like to contribute to the first issue of the newsletter, please let
me know.

- Stewart Rounds
  Hydrologist, USGS              Internet:  sarounds@usgs.gov
  10615 S.E. Cherry Blossom Dr.        Ph:  (503) 251-3280
  Portland, OR  97216                 FAX:  (503) 251-3470