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

16 Apr 2015 News
Studying rock and sediment samples of Koshi Basin

Samples of rock and sediment from the high and middle altitude mountains of the Koshi River Basin will ...

9 Sep 2016 HICAP
Outscaling community-based flood early warning systems in Assam

Every year, monsoon precipitation results in floods of various magnitudes inundating large areas of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus basins ...

14 Oct 2015 News
Expedition to Rikha Samba Glacier in Nepal

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and its partners for the ...

ICIMOD and Global Biodiversity Information Facility Asia Nodes

  The 7th GBIF Asia Nodes meeting was organised in Tagaytay, Philippines 28 – 30 June, 2016 to review progress, elect ...

11 Dec 2015 News
UAV Research in Khumbu Valley

Against the unparalleled backdrop of Everest and Nuptse, the late November sun warms the glaciologist slightly as he prepares for ...

6 Oct 2016 News
Pakistani Policy Makers Visit Upper Indus Basin Pilot Projects

A field visit to enhance understanding of ongoing International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) activities in Pakistan through exposure ...

8 Aug 2018 Cryosphere
Three students graduate from KU’s glaciology programme

In December 2018, three new students – Aman Thapa, Anushilan Acharya, and Reeju Shrestha – graduated from this MS programme ...

8 Apr 2016 News
38 Open Access Papers on Glaciology in High Mountain Asia

A special thematic issue of the Annals of Glaciology has recently been published by Cambridge University Press (link). The thirty-eight ...