DROUGHTWEBINAR SERIESLIVEWEBINARASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL
WEBINARSPACE TECHNOLOGYFOR DROUGHT RISKMANAGEMENT

Jointly organized by National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC),
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO),
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Sentinel Asia
19 – 20 July 2021

Drought is a serious hydro-meteorological disaster limiting agricultural production and impacting food security all over the world. Drought management isclosely linked to sustainable agriculture and food security. Challenges in drought management are ever increasing because drought is the manifestation ofcomplex interactions between weather, soil, crop and human actions. Data centric technologies like satellite remote sensing, GPS, field instrumentation andmobile coupled with new techniques of data analysis provide innovative knowledge products and information for achieving efficient and effective droughtmanagement.
Remote Sensing technology plays a vital role in drought detection, monitoring and impact assessments. With the availability of proven drought indices – NDVI,LSWI, SASI and RADAR backscatter derived information on soil moisture and rainfall available from multiple satellite systems in moderate spatial and temporal
resolutions for real-time drought monitoring and early warning for timely action. Satellite based resources maps and high resolution satellite images are usefulfor development, implementation and impact assessment of long term drought management measures. Abundantly available satellite data, increasing
network of weather observatories, mobile based fast and efficient field data collection systems, easily accessible advanced techniques of data analysis etc.
signify huge scope for establishing digital agricultural ecosystem for drought management. Such a system would further strengthen agro-advisories, crop riskmanagement, disaster relief, crop insurance and drought proofing strategies etc.
The 2-day training programme will focus on the overview of the role of Earth Observation technologies in Drought Risk Management. The objective of theprogramme is to appraise the participants from Sentinel Asia about the potential and current status of utilisation of EO technology for operational droughtmonitoring, in-season drought management, drought impacts assessments and long term drought management. Advances in drought assessment with newdatasets and emerging techniques will also be covered.
The programme consists of Expert presentations, interactive sessions and panel discussion to make it more impactful. Scope for enhancing technology
utilisation, need for customisation and tailor-made products and services, research gaps and data & information sharing opportunities will be identified anddocumented for future course of action towards establishing a regional cooperation mechanism for drought risk management.

Schedule
Day-1 (19 July, 2021; 10:00 HOURS TO 14:00 HOURS)
Inaugural Session
Welcome by Dr. V V Rao, Deputy Director RSA
Introduction by participants
Remarks by Shantanu Bhatawdekar, Director, EDPO
Remarks by Dr. Rachael Mcdonnell, DDG, IWMI
Remarks by Sentinel Asia Representative and about the course
Remarks by Dr. Raj Kumar, Director, NRSC
Vote of thanks by Dr. K H V Durga Rao
Tea BreakTechnical Session - 1
Understanding drought and its management by Dr. Abhishek Chakraborty
Drought monitoring indicators by Dr. C S Murthy
Drought monitoring practices in India – recent examples by Dr. C S Murthy
Drought monitoring system in South Asia by Sri. Giriraj Amarnath

NRSC
ISROIWMITBD
NRSC/ISRONRSC3 minutes
10 minutes
5 minutes
5 minutes
5 minutes
5 minutes
2 minutes
10 minutes

NRSC
NRSC
NRSC
IWMI

30 minutes
55 minutes
55 minutes
55 minutes

Recap of Day-1 by Dr. C S Murthy
Agro-advisories system in India supporting farmers by Dr. K K Singh
Tea BreakNRSC
IMD

5 minutes
55 minutes
10 minutes

Drought management platforms developed by Sri. Giriraj AmarnathSpace Technology support to long term drought management
Country Profile and Existing Drought Mechanism
Brief presentations by participants(3 presentations of 10 min. duration each)Open Discussion and way forward
Vote of Thanks by Dr. C S Murthy

IWMI
NRSC

55 minutes
55 minutes

Day-2 (20 July 2021; 10:00 HOURS TO 14:00 HOURS)Technical Session - 2

TBD
NRSC/IWMI

30 minutes
30 minutes