Modernization of Hydrometeorological Services and Early Warning Systems

story from Tokyo Development Learning Center

Session 3: Disaster Risk Management in East Asia and the Pacific – 2011 Series

Thursday, July 28, 2011, Time: 10:00-13:00 (JST)

Major advances in observation, analysis and prediction of high-impact weather and climate events have been achieved by some countries and are available to all. Effective Early Warning Systems (EWS) building on such information have substantially reduced deaths and injuries from severe weather events. National Meteorological Systems in many developing countries lack the capacity to access recent scientific and technical advances. Such agencies have limited observation networks, little experience in using numerical weather prediction, few opportunities for training, and have recurrent difficulty retaining their best-qualified staff. These circumstances weaken service delivery. The poor weather information services provided in these countries often make early warnings impossible, and lack of warning in turn leads to economic damage and loss of life that could have been avoided. Often, remote communities, where weather, water and climate related vulnerabilities are largest, suffer from the absence of even a minimal level of meteorological or hydrometeorological service, with no access to competent warnings enabling informed decision-making.
The objective of this session is to share knowledge and experiences on hydromet modernization initiatives for developing countries.

This session will focus on:
• Target and goals of hydrometeorologic modernization. How to set them right?
• Modernization of hydrometeorological system. How to design and deliver it cost-effectively?
• How to sustain the modernized EWSs?
• Capacity building. How to design a meaningful capacity building program and where to learn from?
• How to disseminate good practices within the region?

Agenda and key issues

• Opening (Introduction of participants and objectives)
• Overview of Hydromet Services and Early Warning System
• Presentations on country case studies
• Q&A and open discussion
• Conclusions

Presenters

From Washington DC, USA
Mr. Curtis Barrett
Hydrologist
Hydrologic Forecasting Systems
End-to-End Multi Hazard Early Warning Systems

From Naga, Philippines
Elmer Claveria
Faculty Member, Electronics and Computer Engineering -Computer Engineering Department, Naga University,

From Tokyo, Japan
Hidetomi Oi
Technical Advisor for Disaster Risk Management,
JICA, Tokyo Japan

Main moderator

Mr. Cuong Hung Pham
Senior Operations Officer
The World Bank, Vietnam Country Office

Language

English

Target Audience

EAP professional staff working on DRM
• ASEAN and SOPAC member state counterparts
• Other partners and stakeholders such as academics, private sector practitioners, civil society groups that are active in the area of disaster risk management, environment, infrastructure, gender and finance
• National and sub national government officials
• World Bank staff in country offices

Registration

Please send us your name, organization, telephone number and e-mail address by this form or FAX (03-3597-9161).

There will be live-webcasting on the day of the session. A button allowing access to the live stream of the event will appear on the main program page shortly before the event begins.
To view webcasting, participants will need a PC with internet access, Windows media Player Version 10.0.

Partners

This session is part of a larger program. For more information see Disaster Risk Management in East Asia and the Pacific - 2011 Series