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## About This Book {.unnumbered} This handbook is designed to serve as a comprehensive guide for early- or in-career water professionals engaged in the hydrological modeling of river basins within Central Asia. It addresses the intricacies of the natural and anthropogenically influenced hydrological systems characteristic of this region. The text underscores the dual nature of the challenges faced by these professionals. On the one hand, considerable potential exists for modernization within the water sector, a field that has historically seen constrained investment across the Central Asian nations. On the other hand, these professionals must navigate the complexities introduced by continuous demographic expansion and the multifaceted impacts of climate change. Concurrently, the handbook acknowledges the enduring significance of hydrological work in fostering the region's prosperity and development, a tradition that spans several centuries, if not millennia. This dual focus highlights the immediate challenges and situates the work within a broader historical and socio-economic context, emphasizing its critical role in the region's sustained growth and stability. This freely accessible online textbook is designed to be translated into any language through the utilization of browser-based translation functionalities. It is a valuable inspirational resource for students pursuing studies in hydrology or integrated water resources management. Additionally, the methodologies delineated within this text are intended for academic utilization, enabling educators to incorporate them into the existing curricula of higher education institutions at a local level. This feature enhances the textbook's utility by facilitating its integration into diverse educational settings, thereby broadening the scope of its applicability and impact in the field of water resource management education. ## What's New in the 2024.Q1 Edition? {.unnumbered} Changes include: - Increasing focus on providing YouTube learning materials in English and Russian languages to complement the existing text-based learning materials. The material is available on a dedicated YouTube Channel - subscribe [here](https://www.youtube.com/@HSOL-ot4fm/featured). - Work started on a step-by-step guide about quantifying climate change impacts with examples. See Chapter @sec-quantification-of-climate-change-impacts for more information. - Overall correction of errors and typos throughout the text. Selected updated Figures with a focus on increased consistency. We are aware that many more construction sites exist throughout the text. Furthermore, with the continuous advancements in watershed modeling, any future updates to the book should also reflect references to new technologies and approaches. ## Acknowledgments {.unnumbered} The development of this book was supported by the Global Water Programme and the Blue Peace Central Asia Project by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). ```{r titlePix, echo = FALSE} knitr::include_graphics('./images/cover/logos.jpg') ``` Many people indirectly contributed to the book through numerous discussions regarding its content. We especially thank Mr. Andrey Yakovlev for this critical feedback on the various book sections. The book is dedicated to colleagues at the Central Asian National Meteorological and Hydrological Agencies whose tireless work in collecting and analyzing hydro-meteorological data in Central Asia has helped to significantly improve our understanding of the complex runoff generation processes at work in the region. ## License [](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6349984)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ```{r include=FALSE} # Automatically create a bib database for R packages knitr::write_bib(c( .packages(), 'bookdown', 'knitr', 'rmarkdown', 'tidyverse', 'lubridate', 'leaflet', 'sf', 'raster', 'stars', 'terra', 'riversCentralAsia','ncdf4' ), 'packages.bib') ```