Meeting between ICHARM and World Bank/GFDRR at Tokyo University

Today a meeting was held at the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), U-Tokyo, Komaba campus, between members of ICHARM and the World Bank/GFDRR to determine future project collaboration.

We first received a demonstration at the lab of Prof. Kitsuregawa, where the supercomputers of DIAS (Data Integration and Analysis System) are housed. During this visit, Prof. Koike (director of ICHARM), Prof. Kitsuregawa, and their team members at U-Tokyo briefly explained the background and current activities of DIAS, showing actual meteorological observations. Data uploading and quality checking by data providers was emphasized from the perspective of their ownership. The benefit of national ownership is that we countries will provide operational maintenance with appropriate update and logistics.

Following introductions from DIAS, GFDRR and ICHARM, the target of the collaboration between U-Tokyo/ICHARM and GFDRR was discussed. A World Bank member explained that as the rapid global assessment of hydrological services was completed by GFDRR, the in-depth analysis for development of national action plans with capacity building would be sought, while the projects by GFDRR were ongoing in Senegal, Cameroon, Zambia and Nigeria. Prof. Koike introduced the AWCI and AfWCII activities, such as risk monitoring under climate change, damage mitigation, and information use as natural science application in the field. 

A Tokyo University PhD student introduced drought forecasting models and their application especially in data-scarce regions such as in Tunisia and East Africa. As soil moisture is a key element, a land and vegetation data assimilation system coupled with global observation (satellite) data could work towards an early warning system for severe drought. A World Bank member recognized the innovative aspect of the model and the urgent requirements for reliable models, and also commented such cases could be upgraded through communicating with an operational society like the WMO program, of which the GFDRR had also become a member. 

Dr. Rasmy, senior researcher from ICHARM, introduced the JAXA-Precipitation Measuring Mission (PMM) project on developing an advanced early warning system to maximizing the availability of near real-time in-situ and satellite data, in which ICHARM’s models can be effective for basin monitoring and early waning of disasters, once they are combined effectively with high resolution weather models (e.g. WRF), satellite observations (AMSR-2 and Himawari-8), and hydrological models (e.g. WEB-DHM and RRI) in the DIAS. Prof. Koike emphasized the needs for having a simplified model (i.e. the hydrological model in IFAS) and a sophisticated model (Web-RRI) for practical and scientific applications respectively. A World Bank member discussed about other activities in poorly-gauged basins under the collaboration of the WMO and the World Bank, such as in Mozambique. Prof. Koike also introduced the DIAS contributions to climate change adaptation, including the DIAS Ensemble flood forecasting for optimized dam operations as an “End to End” approach. When the World Bank member noted the importance of the private sectors’ involvement, Prof. Koike described the ongoing communication with power companies in Japan as an important next step.

For future collaboration, the World Bank and U-Tokyo/ICHARM agreed that they would find and select a few countries where DIAS could be applied as a data archiving system for flood and drought early warnings and as an assessment tool for climate change impacts. AWCI and AfWCII counties would be the possible candidates for such pilot case studies. 

(Source: draft prepared by Mr. Murase)