News & Events

Minutes of the SAFE 2nd Workshop (27-29 June 2010 at Mount Lavinia Hotel, Sri Lanka)

< Last Update: 26 Jul. 2010 >

Minutes of the SAFE 2nd Workshop
(27-29 June 2010 at Mount Lavinia Hotel, Sri Lanka)

Day-1
Day-2

Summary

1. Approval of SAFE TOR

The SAFE secretariat proposed the Terms of Reference (TOR) for SAFE, and the participants approved the TOR. The secretariat will report the approved TOR to APRSAF/EO Working Group in November.

2. Report of the Completed Prototypes

The reports of the following two completed prototypes were made by the executors/technical supporters in the workshop. It was reported both prototypes completed successfully with the paths for the operational use of the prototype outcomes by the end-users.

Forest Monitoring in Vietnam (Executor: MARD)
Water Resource Monitoring in Vietnam (Executor: MARD)

Participants confirmed that the outcomes (softwares or datasets etc. developed during the prototyping) of the prototypes will be made available on the SAFE portal. It was also confirmed that the experiences of completed prototypes could be shared within SAFE community, which could contribute to the execution of other ongoing prototypes.

3. Report of the Ongoing Prototypes

The progress reports of the following four ongoing prototypes were made by the executors/technical supporters in the workshop.

Water Cycle and Agricultural Monitoring in Cambodia (Executor: MOWRAM)
Forest Monitoring in Lao PDR (Executor: WERI)
Potential Drought Monitoring in Indonesia (Executor: LAPAN)
Sea Level Rise on Coastal Zone in Sri Lanka (Executor: CCD)

Upon each report by executors/technical supporters, it was agreed that they would have discussion with the secretariat for the successful completion of the prototypes: especially about the due implementation of the prototype within two-year pre-defined period (Cambodia, Lao PDR) and the involvement of end-users targeting the operational use (Cambodia, Indonesia). See the list of Action Items below for each action to be performed.

4. Review of New Prototypes

The SAFE review board (composed of 8 specialists from institutes in Asia) assessed four new prototypes proposed by each Asian institute, out of which two were approved in the workshop and other two were recommended to resubmit the proposals in the next opportunity.

4.1. Approved Prototypes

Following two proposals were recommended for approval by the review board concerning the suitability of the objectives, involvement of technical supporters and the suitability of the plan; and approved by the participants for commencing prototypes in the workshop.

Water Cycle Monitoring in Pakistan (Proposer: Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD))
Modeling Ocean Frontal Zones in Sri Lanka (Proposer: National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA))

Proposers were also advised to revise the proposal upon the suggestions/recommendation by the review board, and to ensure the technical supporters/data providers for commencing the prototypes.

4.2. Non-approved Prototypes

Following two proposals were recommended for resubmission by the review board concerning the suitability of the objectives, involvement of technical supporters and the suitability of the plan. Participants in the workshop approved the recommendation by the review board.

Fishery in Thailand (Proposer: Department of Fishery (DOF))
Glacial Shrinkage of the Nepal Himalayans (Proposer: Survey Department of Nepal)

Proposers were advised to revise and resubmit the prototype proposals in APRSAF-17 or later opportunities upon he suggestions/recommendation by the review board.

5. Presentations of Climate Change Initiateves in Asia

Presentations regarding the climate changes initiatives etc. using satellite data or GIS technologies by Asian institutes were made in the workshop (see the followings).

JAXA's earth observation programs (by JAXA)
Climate change initiatives in Sri Lanka (by Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources)
Climate change initiatives on coastal areas in Sri Lanka & South Asia regions (by CCD)
CRISP Terrestrial Ecosystem Group - Monitoring changes taking place in Insular Southeast Asian ecosystems (by National University of Singapore)
Remote sensing application in water resource management and planning (by IWMI)
Application of Geoinformatics in Natural disaster risk management in Vietnam (by WRU)

6. Next SAFE Workshop

Water Resources and Environment Research Institute (WERI) of Lao PDR accepted the proposal by the secretariat to consider the possibility for co-hosting next SAFE WS. WERI will discuss the possibility internally and report back their answer to the secretariat.

List of Action Items (as of 29 June 2010)

A/I Number	Action	Actionee	Due Date	Status
WS#2-01	The secretariat to report the approved TOR to the APRSAF secretariat/EO WG.	Secretariat	APRSAF-17	Ongoing
WS#2-02	MOWRAM (Cambodia) and the secretariat to discuss the path for the operational phase of the prototype, including the responses to the suggestions in the workshop (involvement of agriculture experts for crop model; tracking the use of provided data to end users etc.)	MOWRAM Secretariat	ASAP	Ongoing
WS#2-03	The executors of the Lao prototype (WERI) and the technical supporter (UT) to consider the extension the survey period.	WERI UT	ASAP	Ongoing
WS#2-04	LAPAN (Indonesia), secretariat and technical supporters to discuss the possibilities for collaboration with end users (Ministry of Agriculture etc.) in the prototype.	LAPAN Secretariat	ASAP	Ongoing
WS#2-05	The secretariat to submit the report of SAFE 2nd Workshop to EO WG at APRSAF-17.	Secretariat	APRSAF-17	Ongoing
WS#2-06	WERI (Lao PDR) to discuss the possibility to co-hosting next SAFE WS internally and report back their answer to the secretariat.	WERI	APRSAF-17	Ongoing

Concluding Session

Adoption of the conclusions and report to EO working group at APRSAF-17

Dr. Sobue presented the draft report of SAFE 2nd Workshop to EO WG at APRSAF-17. Participants confirmed the contents of the report.

[Opening Session]

Participants agreed with the contents. No comments/suggestions given on this item.

[TOR]

Participants agreed with the contents. No comments/suggestions given on this item.

[Special Session: Climate Change Initiatives]

Participants agreed with the contents. No comments/suggestions given on this item.

[SAFE Prototyping Status]

Participants agreed with the contents. No comments/suggestions given on this item.

[2 successful completing prototypes]

Participants agreed with the contents. No comments/suggestions given on this item.

[4 ongoing prototypes]

Participants agreed with the contents. No comments/suggestions given on this item.
Be noted individual suggestions to the proposals in this page will be deleted in the actual report to EO WG as they are dedicated for each executor to improve the prototype.

[4 new prototypes]

Participants agreed with the contents. No comments/suggestions given on this item.

[Report and Recommendation]

Participants agreed with the contents. No comments/suggestions given on this item.
The overall contents of the report were approved by the participants and the secretariat will submit the report of SAFE 2nd Workshop to EO WG at APRSAF-17. [A/I Secretariat / in APRSAF-17]

Next SAFE WS host

The secretariat requested Mr. Sangkhane (WERI, Lao PDR) to co-host the next SAFE Workshop. Mr. Sangkhane kindly replied that WERI will discuss the possibility to co-hosting next SAFE WS internally and report back their answer to the secretariat. [A/I WERI]

Wrap up

Mr. Fukuda delivered the closing comment and showed the appreciation to the participants in the workshop. He also noted that finalization of SAFE TOR equals to the real beginning of the SAFE community.
Eng. Perera (CCD) noted this WS was a good progress for Sri Lanka. He also showed his deepest appreciation for the CCD staffs who supported the conference.