Research project

IMPETUS - improving predictions of drought for user decision making

Project overview

The Improving Predictions of Drought for User Decision-Making (IMPETUS) project aimed to develop an ambitious integrated water demand model as part of the UK droughts research programme. The model comprised:

- meteorological models – led by the University of Reading
- hydrological drought models – led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
- domestic demand models predicated on drought conditions – led by the University of Southampton

As part of this work, we developed two domestic water demand microsimulation models. The first used a synthetic sample of 1800 households with constructed water usage habits while the second used the Lancaster SPRG/ARCC water survey. The latter was the first domestic water demand microsimulation to be based on reported water-using practices rather than water appliance-based assumptions.

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs