English: CSIRO researchers have taken part in an international demonstration of a key technology for monitoring Australia's scarce water resources. CSIRO's information interoperability technology was involved in the recent demonstration of how spatial information can address diverse community problems. In this case, the scenario was a mock terrorist incident in the United States, but the technology is equally applicable to monitoring water resources. Mr Gavin Walker, from the CSIRO ICT Centre, says the demonstration improved a set of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) specifications to provide access to multiple sources of geospatial information to assist decision making. "Spatial data and sensor technology have a wide range of applications, particularly in the environmental field," Mr Walker says. “This technology will improve our scientific understanding of Australia's scarce water resources and will revolutionise the way scientists gather data. “Wireless sensor networks act as 'macroscopes' allowing a study of environmental indicators, such as salinity, at a fine scale over a considerable area."