Water is essential to life. We drink water to survive, we use it to clean ourselves and to prepare food. We use water to irrigate fields and grow crops, and to harness its energy to produce electricity. We depend on water in many ways. Too much water can cause floods, resulting in damage and loss of life, while too little can lead to drought, food shortages and even famine.

How and when water moves, when we get it and how it is replenished depends on the water cycle – the natural flow of water in its different states – liquid, gas and solid – around the globe. Understanding the water cycle is essential to maintaining a better quality of life.

The water cycle is complex and scientists do not yet fully understand all its aspects. However, as the climate changes and extreme weather and water events such as floods and droughts become more frequent and unpredictable, we urgently need better scientific forecasting tools. Northern Europe and Scandinavia are expected to be particularly affected by climate change. That is why a group of weather and water scientists – hydrologists and meteorologists – from Norway, Sweden and Finland are working to improve water forecasting, which could lead to better preparation for extreme floods and droughts in Scandinavia. To do this, the scientists rely on real water samples from all over Scandinavia – from snow cover, weather stations, soil or groundwater, lakes and rivers.

In this citizen science project we invite citizens to play an important role in to gather in data and help scientists make better forecasts of extreme weather events, as we know that by this engagement we will get samples from are larger area than researcher can do on their own.

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