RESPEC Launches HSP² Tutorials

Rapid City, SD—Encouraging open collaboration with early adopters and water modeling professionals, RESPEC has created a worldwide forum that serves as a virtual, interactive think tank for the future of water and water modeling. Another first-ever from the global leader in watershed modeling and integrated technology solutions, RESPEC announced its public release of the software Hydrologic Simulation Program–Python (HSP²).

RESPEC’s public launch is hosted online on GitHub, a social network for programmers that features a platform for maximum interaction. RESPEC’s HSP² tutorials are written in online Jupyter Notebooks, a non-profit project that exists to “develop open-source software, open-standards, and services for interactive computing across dozens of programming languages.” GitHub and Jupyter combined represent a new means of mass collaboration and techno-community building in water science and technology.

By using an interactive computing environment among a diverse community of users and contributors, RESPEC aims to finalize conversion to HSP², which improves upon its predecessor: HSPF, which was also developed by RESPEC over the last 40 years. HSP² ensures that a tool is available to assist in developing watershed-based approaches for protecting and restoring waterbodies throughout the world. A powerful collective, experts in the modeling community will have open access and play a pivotal role by participating, training, and offering feedback.  The ongoing process will convert the earlier HSPF to a fully functional HSP² based on participant feedback. RESPEC’s new library of HSP² tutorials is designed to show full functionality. Together, RESPEC and its esteemed professional participants are expected to make a quantum shift in water modeling.

RESPEC’s executives envision that offering open access to HSP² tutorials will unite and synergize the water modeling community like never before. According to RESPEC’s Jason Love, PE, Senior Vice President, “RESPEC’s public release of HSP² is a groundbreaking innovation that is meant to invite and utilize all the water intelligence in the world. The unique socio-technical method of releasing tutorials online is that water professionals not only learn but also contribute their valuable feedback in the ongoing development of HSP² code. As a professional community in disparate locations, we will work together to continue to enhance HSP² into the future and improve upon the state-of-the-science in watershed modeling.”

Participants can download the model at https://github.com/respec/HSPsquared/wiki and work with RESPEC to continue to enhance HSP².

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