From 22 to 26 July 2013, UN-SPIDER jointly with CSSTEAP (Centre for Space Science Technology Education for Asia and the Pacific), IWMI (International Water Management Institute) and UNESCAP organized an international training programme on flood risk mapping, modeling, and assessment using space technology. The training took place on the CSSTEAP premises in Dehradun, India.
Based on observations and recommendations of several technical advisory missions organised under the framework of UN-SPIDER in several countries, this international capacity building programme was conducted with a view of sharing latest developments in using space-based information for flood risk mapping and modelling. A total of 19 participants from 11 countries from Asia and the Pacific region attended the training programme.
The programme included theory lectures and experience sharing by the experts from IWMI, UN-SPIDER, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), Thailand and National Disaster Reduction Centre of China. The theory lectures covered climate change and disaster risk reduction, adaptation to enhanced floods, concepts of Flood Inundation mapping, operational flood alert system of ISRO, monitoring and Damage assessment using Space technology, global flood detection system and flood inundation modeling using HEC tools.
Hands-on sessions were offered by IWMI and IIRS on the flood inundation mapping using multi-resolution satellite data and flood inundation modeling using HEC tools.
The participants also visited the downstream area of the recent floods in Northern India (Kedarnath) that caused heavy losses of life and damage to the property a month ago. The Central Water Commission (Government of India) demonstrated the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) that collects flood level and discharge of the river and transmits the data trough telemetry system to the servers for flood analysis and decision making.
