WA0607 Task Report

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WA-06-07 Task Report
Prepared by Rick Lawford May 29, 2008
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WA-06-07 Task Report
Short Background and objective (Strategy
Actions/GEO CB Targets being addressed) This
task arose from a workshop on Capacity Building
organized by IGWCO and hosted by CONAE in
Argentina in October 2005. The workshop was one
of three planned and organized by Integrated
Global Water Cycle Observations (IGWCO) theme
and TIGER. Task WA-06-07 was initially included
in the 2006 Work Plan with a Latin America only
focus. The workshop recommended that a capacity
building program similar to TIGER should be
developed for Latin America. Subsequently the
objective was broadened to include the excellent
work being undertaken by ESA in Africa (through
the TIGER project) and by JAXA in Asia (through
the Asian Water Cycle Initiative).
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WA-06-07 Task Report

• Milestones achieved to date
• - A small workshop was hosted by CONAE in Buenos
  Aires in 2006 to develop the Latin America
  proposal. Work has continued on developing this
  draft plan, although not all inputs have been
  received.
• A number of briefings and discussions about the
  plan have taken place at IGWCO and GEWEX
  meetings. The proposal was last discussed at the
  IGWCO workshop held in Geneva in March 2008 and
  the UIC meeting in Toronto in May 2008.
• .- The Asian Pacific Network has announced that
  it will fund four of the five theme areas
  proposed to it by the Asian Water Cycle
  Initiative. This funding will support capacity
  building activities in floods, droughts and water
  cycle activities in basins in 17 countries of
  Asia.
• - ESA is completing the first phase of TIGER and
  has established a Secretariat in Africa.
  Together with UNESCO they are now completing an
  assessment and a report summarizing their
  findings from this activity.

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WA-06-07 Task Report

• NASA has developed a draft plan outlining the
  capacity building activities they plan to
  undertake in Latin America. This plan is now
  incorporated into the proposal being developed to
  address Task WA-06-07. NASA is also providing
  support for the Task Lead.
• A meeting was held in May 2008 with US and
  Canadian GEO representatives to discuss the
  relationship between the Latin America proposal
  and the GEOSS in the Americas initiative. The
  proposal is being modified to address several
  concerns that were raised in that meeting related
  to the goals of the program and the balance
  between training and research.

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WA-06-07 Task Report

• Expected milestones for 2008
• October 2008
• - Completion of a GEOSS in the Americas
  Capacity Building proposal for the water sector.
• November 2008
• - Visits to the offices of potential donors for
  Capacity Building in the water sector.
• Extent of Participation/Recommendations for
  additional participants
• - New partners, particularly in Central
  America and the Caribbean, will be sought as we
  move to the implementation phase of Water Cycle
  Capacity Building in GEOSS of the Americas.

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WA-06-07 Task Report

• Coordination points with other GEO work plan
  tasks
• This activity serves as the Capacity Building
  component of IGWCO and GEO Water Tasks,
  consequently it is strongly coordinated with
  these activities. A central coordination point
  with the GEOSS in the Americas programme has
  recently emerged.
• Potential risks that may impede completion of
  task
• The lack of resources and commitment for
  supporting a coordination service in Latin
  America has slowed the development of this
  project proposal. (Further discussions with INPE
  and CONAE and other interested parties will take
  place during the next few months).

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WA-06-07 Task Report

• Gaps that have been identified that need to be
  addressed independently
• The balance of training, education, development
  and research needs to be more clearly addressed
  in the proposal.
• Funding sources for the projects and the training
  need to be identified and developed.
• Potential Contributions to the CB portal /GEO
  Portal
• - To date the project has not contributed to the
  CB portal although we anticipate that this Task
  will make a contribution when it has been fully
  initiated.

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WA-06-07 Task Report

• Expected products
• - Tools and analysis techniques that users can
  apply to Earth Observation data sets to
  facilitate analyses needed to support water
  management decisions.
• - Training programs to show how to access and
  apply various satellite products,
• - Demonstration projects to show how remote
  sensing data can be applied to water resources in
  various parts of Central and South America.
• Expected date of completion of task
• - It is expected that most of these actions as
  described in the Work Plan will be complete with
  the implementation of the Water Cycle Capacity
  Building program in GEOSS in the Americas in late
  2009 or early 2010.
• Expectations of task lead from CBC
• - None identified to date.