Abstract:

This work details the development of online technical courses of the AQUATOOL Decision Support System, which are intended to water engineers and managers. AQUATOOL is a software platform that was developed by the Water Resources Engineering Group of the Technical University of Valencia and serves as a Decision Support System for the planning and management of water resources systems. It includes modules for water resource assessment through precipitation-runoff modelling (EVALHID), simulation and optimisation of water allocation (SIMGES and OPTIGES), groundwater modelling (AQUIVAL), water quality modelling (GESCAL) and simulation of habitat series (CAUDECO). AQUATOOL has been a reference tool for the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive, which establishes the guidelines for the development of hydrological plans at the European level. AQUATOOL is also being used by several scientific institutions for research studies in Italy, China, México, Brazil, Cuba, Peru, Colombia, Morocco, Portugal and Tunisia, among others; as well as for real-world planning applications in a number of foreign countries, such as Algeria, Turkey, Argentina, Chile, Bosnia, Uruguay, El Salvador, Cyprus, etc.

The online technical courses take place in a web platform of the Technical University of Valencia (poliformaT) and are structured as follows. First, students watch video-presentations recorded by the teaching staff, in which theoretical fundamentals and practical applications of the different modules of AQUATOOL are detailed in six didactical units: introduction, modelling of water resource systems, analysis of water resource systems, assessment of water resources, conjunctive management of surface and groundwaters, and water quality modelling. After visualizing the videos, students review solved exercises of the different modules to practice and consolidate their knowledge. Complementary documents, such as technical and user manuals, are also provided to the students. Finally, to evaluate the learning of students, they must complete three tasks with AQUATOOL and elaborate a technical report of each task. The courses include forums, chats and internal emails to answer questions by students. In addition, once per week, the teaching staff organize a tutoring session in Microsoft Teams to solve doubts and issues raised by students. These sessions are scheduled outside of working hours to facilitate student attendance.

The course has already delivered in four different editions, with more than twenty attendees in each edition (https://aquatool.webs.upv.es/aqt/en/courses/). The results of the surveys fulfilled by the students after the courses highlight their satisfaction with the format and contents of the courses, as well as with the support of the teaching staff. These online technical courses are a great opportunity for professional engineers and managers to complement their training once they have finished their university studies and are working in companies or public administrations.

Keywords:

Water resources, hydrology, water allocation, water quality, AQUATOOL.