Showcase Authors

Author(s): Ryosuke Shibasaki

E-mail: shiba@csis.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Affiliations: Center for Spatial Information Science, Univ. of Tokyo

Member Country/Participating Organization: Japan

Showcase Description

Showcase Title: Asia/Africa Water Cycle Initiative

Showcase Description: This showcase aims at better understanding the mechanism of variability in the Asian/African water cycle and improving its predictability, and furthermore interpreting the information applicable to various water environments in different countries in Asia and Africa, then finally helping mitigate water-related disasters and promoting the efficient use of water resources.

Team: Japan (JAXA, Univ. of Tokyo),UNESCO, MMA,NASA/GSFC,UMBC/GEST-IGWCO,Univ. MD,Univ. MD/ESSIC, and about 30 countries in Asia and Africa

URL:

Showcase Justification

Add value of GEO in general: It successfully demonstrates how GEO can trigger and promote bottom-up activities of developing countries for better water management under a cutting-edge technical framework based on satellite observation and data assimilation.

Add value of ADC: Data integration through improved data interoperability is a key to the implementation of the projects.

Summit Themes and Focus: Better water management based on better informed decision making can contribute to many SBA’s such as food, health and so forth.

Cape Town Declaration: Relevant to better water management, disaster, health and food.

Global goals and assessments: Better water management can contribute to the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals through safer life from disasters and better health.

Filling gaps, ...: This showcase fills the gaps of 1) water resource monitoring efforts by each country and organization and of 2) in-situ observation and satellite-based observation through data assimilation.

Strong future GEOSS: The showcase demonstrates how satellite observation complemented with field survey can provide a sound basis for better water management that will lead to safety from disaster and better food security and so forth.

Link to high-profile issues: Contributing to the mitigation of water-related issues such as disaster and food scarcity.

Cross-cutting nature: Through water-related information, human activities and ecosystem dynamic, landscape changes can be tightly coupled, for the better management of river basin.

Capacity building: In the process of integrating water-related data from space with surface-based observational data, experts in developing countries have experience of integrating satellite data and in-situ observation data, that will help them make better informed decision making in water and river-basin management.