HydroServer: A software stack supporting collection, communication, storage, management, and sharing of data from in situ environmental sensors

Scientists and practitioners who collect data using in situ environmental sensors need effective software for managing and sharing the data they produce. The HydroServer software stack was designed as a standards-based system that enables collection, storage, management, and sharing of environmental sensor data. Originally part of the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) Hydrologic Information System (HIS), the HydroServer software has been modernized to use the Open Geospatial Consortium's (OGC) SensorThings application programming interface (API) and data model standard to better enable flexible and standardized ingestion of data from multiple sensors and sources, along with query and retrieval of hosted data for a variety of different users and use cases. The HydroServer software is open source with deployment instructions targeted for cloud deployments, which makes it accessible and useable by both researchers and practitioners. • The HydroServer software enables managing and sharing environmental sensor data. • HydroServer uses OGC's SensorThings API for standards-based data ingest and query. • A web app allows configuration of monitoring stations, datastreams, and metadata. • Role based access control enables management of both private and public data. • HydroServer is open source and can be deployed in the cloud or on local servers.