Back to news
17 Feb 2015 | News

Improving Water Management through Satellite Remote Sensing Applications

Regional knowledge centre organizes training on using satellite imagery to better manage freshwater resources

Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) and ICIMOD are conducting an advanced training workshop on ‘Nurturing Satellite Remote Sensing Applications for Water Management in South Asia’ in Islamabad, Pakistan from 16-20 February 2015. Distinguished professors from the University of Washington, the University of Houston, and Ohio State University are training participants from key water resource management agencies in the country, including PCRWR, IRSA, PMD, and PARC.

1 min Read

70% Complete
A delegation from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) visited ICIMOD to discuss current and prospective areas for collaboration with ICIMOD.

At the inaugural session, Kamran Ali Qureshi, Federal Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Technology, emphasized that the stand-alone physical models based on hydrology, hydraulics or meteorology have become increasingly inadequate for predicting the state of freshwater availability without the numerical assimilation of the human role in freshwater management. He further said that the use of satellites in space is the only way to constantly monitor the changes freshwater resources are undergoing as a result of the interplay between human behaviour and natural processes. He said that the HKH region, including Pakistan, urgently needs to use satellite remote sensing techniques given the burgeoning population, limited freshwater resources, occurrence of floods and drought, groundwater mining, and the effects of climate change in the region.

In his welcome address, Dr Muhammad Ashraf, Chairman of PCRWR, informed that the training workshop has given Pakistani professionals an opportunity to broaden their horizon by learning about current and future satellite systems for water resources management. Dr Faisal Hossain, lead trainer from the University of Washington, said that water use has become central to national development as it is interdependent with other resources and thus essential for  growing food, producing energy, and protecting us from floods and drought. Water is therefore increasingly being managed by humans rather than being left to the workings of nature. Satellite data platforms for cost-effective measurement of water can play a crucial role. Dr Ashraf added that the information from satellites is freely available and should be used for better planning and formulating more robust policy for improving the quality of life.

ICIMOD, through its SERVIR Himalaya initiative supported by NASA and USAID, is promoting the use of Earth observations and predictive models to improve environmental management and resilience to climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

RELATED CONTENTS

Continue exploring this topic

1 Jan 2016 News
Linking Gender and Social Inclusion to Value Chain Development

Two gender and social inclusion experts from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) participated in a value chain ...

8 Aug 2016 News
An Innovative Flood Mapping Information to Speed Up Disaster Response

ICIMOD Koshi Basin Programme (KBP) can now rapidly produce ‘flood inundation map’ to speed up response to flooding in the ...

5 Jun 2023 Press releases
山区居民、登山者和科学家在珠峰敲响警钟,倡议世界各国领袖们立即迈向脱碳之路

距人类首登世界之巅已70年,而气候紧急情况发生在此:在兴都库什-喜马拉雅区域内,三分之二的冰川预计将在本世纪末消失。 领先的山地机构国际山地综合发展中心(ICIMOD)、尼泊尔登山协会(NMA)和山区伙伴关系(Mountain Partnership) 呼吁全世界来拯救地球上的冰雪,以避免为时过晚。 #“拯救我们的雪”宣言在最初48小时内就收集到1000多个签名,其中包括新西兰前总理、各国外交官、传奇登山者和著名地球科学家。 尼泊尔加德满都讯(2023 年 5 月 29 日)——七十年前的今天,在埃德蒙·希拉里爵士和丹增·诺尔盖首次登上珠峰 ; 70 年后的今天,地球上最高的山峰正在经历由全球变暖引起的前所未有且基本不可逆的变化。 全球变暖正在危及珠峰与兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区的环境,该地区横跨八个国家,约长3500公里。根据目前的排放情况,科学家预计在未来70年内,该地区三分之二的冰川或将消融。 国际山地综合发展中心(ICIMOD)在包括 尼泊尔登山协会 和 山区伙伴关系(联合国自愿伙伴联盟)在内的全球山地机构的支持下,呼吁公众支持 #拯救我们的雪(#SaveOurSnow)运动。该运动要求公众: 在社交平台分享来自世界各地山区的故事和照片,使用#SaveOurSnow 标签 强调气候影响; 在网址 icimod.org/saveoursnow/declaration/ 签署一份宣言,呼吁各国政府兑现将升温限制在 1.5 ...

27 Jan 2016 News
R software Training Makes for Better Data Analysis

Twenty-one participants attended a four-day training “Introduction to Data Analysis with R” organised by the Cryosphere initiative of the International ...

16 Jul 2019 Atmosphere Initiative
South–South learnings for future collaboration in air quality and health research in the HKH

Day 1 of the workshop was dedicated to the existing literature on air quality and health, whereas Day 2 focused ...

26 Sep 2016 News
Partner Relationships Management System Version 2.0 launched

A Partner Relationships Management (PRM) System Version 2.0 was launched coinciding with planning and review meeting of the International Centre ...

29 Sep 2015 News
Farmers adopting Technology

This article about Climate Smart Villages was first written by Madhusudhan Guragain in Nepali. It appeared in Nagarik Daily on ...

22 May 2019 Atmosphere Initiative
Knowledge brokering and policy engagement through the CCAC to address atmospheric pollution

The CCAC is the first global effort to treat pollutants as a collective challenge. Formed in 2012, it is a ...