Introduction to the Use of Geospatial Information Technology for Drought Risk Management
Countries in Southeast Asia such as Cambodia continues to experience frequent drought events. These disasters have led to severe economic and livelihood loss, which in turn greatly influences food insecurity. It is of high importance to understand and continuously monitor these hazards to devise mitigation and adaptation plans. Geographic information systems (GIS) combined with the powers of Remote Sensing (RS) has proved to be a very useful tool for the
whole drought risk management workflow, starting from the monitoring to mitigation and response.
ESCAP is providing technical support to the Royal Cambodian Government as part of its capacity building initiative under the Regional Drought Mechanism to build the capacity of government stakeholders to understand the use of GIS technology and earth observation data for drought monitoring. A number of tools are being customized to support evidence-based decision making in Cambodia, including DroughtWatch, which is a drought monitoring system developed by the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The aim of the course is to provide participants with GIS and Remote Sensing (RS) methodologies (risk assessment and satellite based mapping) related to flood and drought
management in Cambodia.
• Define basic concepts and terminologies related to geospatial technology;
• Apply basic methods and functionalities for GIS and Remote Sensing analysis and mapping;
• Identify, access, search, collect, organize and analyse geospatial data from web and field relevant to drought risk monitoring/management;
• Apply relevant GIS methodologies and tools for drought risk monitoring/management
• Explain the advantages and limitations of using geospatial information technology for drought risk management.
The course is focused on providing insight into various geospatial tools techniques available for drought risk monitoring and management. On the first two days of the training, participants will get familiar with GIS, Remote Sensing with technocritical and practical in ESRI ArcGIS software. On the third day, the participants will apply remote sensing techniques evaluate vegetation conditions monitor change over different years and collect ground data using smart phone applications. Towards the end of the first week student will be made aware of the Drought Monitoring tool called DroughtWatch that is currently being customized for Cambodia by the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI), Chinese Academy of Sciences and its specifications and applications for improved decision making. Final day of the training participants are also made aware of the ongoing ASEAN Study and its benefits to the region. The training course will be closed with a short competency quiz to measure outcomes of the learning event.
Duration: 4 Days: 14th – 17th November 2017
This is a full-time, face-to-face course with lectures and GIS lab exercises using local datasets and real case scenarios (50% lab exercises, 50% lectures and discussions). This course is divided into 2.5 modules. Each module is structured into 4 sessions of 1.5 hour each. The average workload of the entire course is likely to be around 15 hours.
The whole course is designed in a way to have a balanced approach between theoretical and practical methodologies, which will enable the students to gain maximum knowledge on the subject. It will be taught in lecture/discussion formats illustrated with Power Point presentations, live demos, videos, maps, diagrams, field visits, interactive sessions and content on web sites.
The participating team from Cambodia will be comprised of selected members of key Government line ministries with the aim to improve the cross-sectoral exchange, learning and joint knowledge production. It is recommended that participants taking the course have a working knowledge of English including basic awareness about GIS and Remote Sensing applications.
Language:
English
Software:
GIS lab exercises will be based on ESRI ArcGIS editor 10.5 with extensions (spatial analyst), Google Earth and internet access. UNOSAT will provide 1-year ESRI license for ArcGIS 10.5 to all participants.
Class Size:
The number of participants is limited to 30 to ensure quality support is provided.
UN Certificate:
Participants will be given a UN certificate on successful completion of the course.
Training Venue
Tonle Bassac II Restaurant, Phnom Penh
Institution:
This course is offered jointly by resource persons from ESCAP, UNOSAT, GISTDA, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI) from China and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).