The document summarizes the Mekong River Commission's near real-time hydro-meteorological network (Mekong-HYCOS). It was established in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization and funded by the French Development Agency and Fonds Francais pour l’Environment Mondial. The network collects water level and rainfall data from 49 stations along the Mekong River and its tributaries every 15 minutes. The data is transmitted via GPRS to the MRC server and made available online. Management of the network was transferred to the member countries of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam in 2012. The long-term goal is to integrate the hydro-meteorological data into water

1. Sothea KHEM
IKMP, Technical Support Division, MRC, Office Secretariat in Phnom Penh
Phone: (855-23) 425 353, Ext. : 3063, Fax: (855-15) 594484, email : khem@mrcmekong.org
The MRC Hydro-Meteorological Network
(Near Real-Time River Monitoring System)
Introduction
In cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), MRC has established a near real-time
hydro-meteorological network, which is named Mekong-HYCOS (Mekong Hydrological Cycle Observing
System). The project was funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Fonds Francais pour
L’ Environment Mondial (FFEM). For a number of years, the AFD and the FFEM have contributed to
several programmes run by the Mekong River Commission (MRC). As a result of the agreement, the
Discharge and Sediment Monitoring Project also supported by FFEM and AFD from 2009-2010.
The main objective of the MRC hydro-meteorological network is to establish an efficient, reliable and
timely hydro-meteorological data collection and transmission system. During the set-up of the system
strong emphasis was paid to carrying out capacity building measures for relevant staff at regional and
national levels of the four Member Countries Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The project
also cooperated with China by sharing hydro-meteorological data from two upstream Mekong stations at
Jinghong and Man’an. The MRC hydro-meteorological network is a basin-wide hydro-meteorological
information system, which covers the Mekong mainstream and its main tributaries. The system is
integrated into the existing MRCS monitoring system. It has also improved the national hydrological
networks and river monitoring / forecasting capacities.
49 network stations provide near real-time water level and rainfall data at 15 min time step intervals for
the Mekong mainstream and its main tributaries as depicted in Fig. 1. Online charts from the stations are
available at: http://monitoring.mrcmekong.org/
Project Management
The project was managed by the Information and Knowledge Management Programme (IKMP) in the
Technical Support Division (TSD) of the MRC Secretariat. The implemented system ensures that all
basin-wide collected data are made available in a timely manner to the Regional Flood Management and
Mitigation Center (RFMMC) in Phnom Penh and other real-time users. Each Member Country is
responsible for the operation and maintenance of their system components, MRCS provides support on
any issues arrising thereby. The Member Countries are responsible for their own flood forecasting
services and for sharing relevant data and information in the context of the MRC hydro-meteorological
network. Fig. 2 depicts a pictorial documentation of activities during project implementation.
Data Management
The data are acquired by measuring stations every 15 minutes and directly sent via GSM/GPRS to the
MRCS FTP server. From there the data is made available to users. Fig. 3 illustrates the near real-time
data flow and management.
Partner Agency: World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
The role of WMO consisted in facilitating data and information exchange and providing technical support
and guidance so as to ensure that Mekong-HYCOS was consistent with other HYCOS projects and
meets the global objectives of WHYCOS (World Hydrological Cycle Observing System).

2. Hydro-met Network Ownership and Handover
The hydro-met network handover passed on the ownership of the system to the Member Countries which
are now fully responsible for operation and maintenance (O&M) of the system to ensure long-term
network sustainability. The handover activities were completed in 2012. The countries set up a budget to
ensure a long term sustainable management of the hydro-meteorological network in their countries.
Long Time Network Sustainability
The Mekong-HYCOS project did not only improve the hydro-meteorological network, but also helped to
raise awareness on the importance of compiling observation data in the whole Mekong region. For the
sustainability of the network, MRC has established a help desk for tracking network operation and
providing station status alerts to the Member Countries. It is anticipated that the Mekong-HYCOS system
will remain intact on the long run and will be integrated in a wider scope of water resources management.
Future Plan
For providing more data and information to flood forecasting and drought monitoring, it is needed to
consider expansion of the network. Expecting special supported fund from AFD will cover the related
area:
A. Expanding of the Mekong-HYCOS hydro-meteorological monitoring and network sustainability;
B. Improvement of Hydro-Meteorological Data usage bases on Statistical Analyses and other
analyses
Fig. 1 MRC Hydro-met Network (Mekong-HYCOS Stations)

3. M-HYCOS Committee Members Gauge Installation by Staffs Radar Sensor Installation
Station House Installation OTT Toolbox Installation Network Handover Ceremony
Fig. 2 Pictorial Documentation of Activities during the Mekong-HYCOS Project Implementation
Fig. 3 MRC Hydro-met Network Data Flow and Management