2007 Annual Regional Call for Proposals (ARCP)
ARCP Full Proposal Template(CBA2008-12NMY-Ishida)

1. UPDATED PROPOSAL
Cover Page

1. Project Leader: Dr. Chu Ishida (CEOS/JAXA, Japan)
Dr. Toshio Koike, Professor (University of Tokyo, Japan)

2. Project Reference: CBA2008-12NMY-Ishida

3. Project Title“The Global Earth Observation System of Systems Asian Water Cycle Initiative
Observation Convergence and Data Integration (GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI)” for water cycle
research and water resources management under climate change in Asia will run from 20082010 and will require USD 35,000 per year for years 2008 and 2009. These funds are required
to support travel and per diem expenses of research scientists, data engineering experts, andnational governmental agency representatives from developing Asian countries, within the APNframework, to attend a series of data integration and analysis workshops to be held in Tokyo,
Japan and possibly also in another of the APN member countries.

4. Project relevance to the APN Science & Policy Agendas
The intended workshops and meetings will establish data handling, and exchange policies andan overall climate (water and energy cycle) data management strategy that will meet the goalsof the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) within the context of GEOSSWork Plan for 2007 – 2009: (i) WA-06-07: Capacity Building Program for Water Resource
Management, (ii) WA-07-01: global Water Quality Monitoring, and (iii) WA-07-02: Satellite
Water Quantity Measurements and Integration with In-situ Data.

1

2007 Annual Regional Call for Proposals (ARCP)
ARCP Full Proposal Template(CBA2008-12NMY-Ishida)

The Main Body of the Full Proposal
1. Project Title

The Global Earth Observation System of Systems Asian Water Cycle Initiative Observation
Convergence and Data Integration (GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI)
2. Fully Detailed Proposal

Description of the proposed project- Background
Water comprises the most basic and critical component of all aspects of human life andis an indispensable component of the global life support system. On the whole, the water
environment is characterized by the hydrological cycle, including floods and droughts. The
widespread scarcity, gradual destruction and aggravated pollution of water resources in many
world regions have triggered a range of water crises. Nowadays, many water related problems,particularly drinking water pollution, are being reported in various Asian countries. Healthdamage due to arsenic polluted drinking water is one of such problems. There is an urgent
need for international cooperation to overcome the problems and secure the safe andsustainable groundwater utilization. Additionally, global climate change and atmosphericpollution could also have an impact on water resources and their availability.
About 60 % of the World population lives in Asia, and their various social activities
including agriculture depend on the bountiful Monsoon rain. At the same time, the vast water
cycle variation in Asia can be the cause of droughts and floods, and consequently, may be
responsible for an enormous amount of human and economic damage.
To establish a comprehensive, coordinated and sustained earth observation scheme, anagreement for a 10-Year Implementation Plan for a Global Earth Observation System ofSystems, known as GEOSS, was reached at the Third Earth Observation Summit held inBrussels, in February 2005; on that occasion the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) was also
formally established. “Improving water resource management through better understanding of
the water cycle” has been agreed to as one of the targeted societal benefit areas of GEOSS.

- Objectives
Our goal is to better understand the mechanism of variability in the Asian water cycle
and to improve its predictability, and furthermore to interpret the information applicable tovarious water environments in different countries in Asia, then to help to mitigate waterrelated disasters and promote the efficient use of water resources.
We develop an information system of systems for promoting the implementation of
integrated water resources management (IWRM) through data integration and sharing andimprovement of understanding and prediction of the water cycle variation as a basis for sounddecision making of national water policies and management strategies.
The objectives for AWCI are defined as follows:• to develop Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approaches;• to share timely, quality, long-term information on water quantity and quality, and theirvariation as a basis for sound national and regional decision making;• to construct a comprehensive, coordinated and sustained observational system ofsystems, such as prediction systems and decision support capabilities, under theGEOSS;• to develop capacity building for making maximum use of globally integrated data andinformation for local purposes as well as for observation and collecting data.
-Strategy
The GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI is a new type of an integrated scientific challenge incooperation with meteorological and hydrological bureaus and space agencies. Its uniquenessis described as follows:• Effective combination of the architecture and data and the capacity building;• Advanced data infrastructure availability including a river basin meta-data registration
system, a data quality control interface, and data-integration and downscaling
methods;• A clearly described data sharing policy agreed among the participating countries;2

2007 Annual Regional Call for Proposals (ARCP)
ARCP Full Proposal Template(CBA2008-12NMY-Ishida)•••

Strong linkage among science communities, space agencies, and decision makers;
Well coordination between the research communities and operational sectors with clear
strategy for shifting scientific achievements to operational use;
Effective cooperation with international projects and cooperative frameworks.

Detailed Work Plan
(1) Kick-off Plenary Meeting (November, 2008)• At a plenary session, the Project Leaders will introduce the background, objectives
and final goals as well as benefits for national research and water management
groups; a demonstration of existing systems such as those developed as part of
CEOP will be provided by the host country (Japan); tools from other ongoingprojects(observation,datamanagement,dataintegration,informationtransformation) will also be demonstrated. Each country and regional organization
will make a brief presentation focusing on survey of existing data sharing, exchange,and management, schemes.
• Establish the GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI Task Team (GAOTT) members - From theexperts/scientists of the AWCI member countries, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia,China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan,Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, one focal point of eachcountry will be nominated as a GAOTT member.
• Identification of the tasks – the GAOTT will have a breakout session and define a
detail work plan including:- Metadata collection and input- Collection of observed data and model outputs both in global and local scales- Data quality checks and format unification- Distributed river runoff model development- Rainfall prediction system development- River runoff prediction including floods, droughts and water quality- Early warning and operation optimization(2) The first GAOTT workshop (March, 2009)• The GAOTT will have the first workshop to ensure work which has progressed ondata collection and management.
(3) The 2nd Plenary Meeting (November 2009)• A GAOTT report on the outcomes of the demonstration projects will be provided atthe 2nd Plenary Meeting.
nd(4) The 2 GAOTT workshop (March, 2010)• The GAOTT will have the 2nd workshop to ensure work which has progressed onmodelling and decision-making support information.
(5) The Final Plenary Meeting (September 2010)• A final report on the outcomes of the demonstration projects will be provided at thefinal Plenary Meeting. All of the achievements of the demonstration projects will bereviewed, evaluated, and summarized.
(6) Follow-up telephone conference(December 2008 – September 2010)• The GAOTT will hold regular teleconferences, to discuss partial results of the runningsurvey of existing capabilities and to share progresses of GEOSS and relatedscientific and societal information for promoting the GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI
demonstration projects.
APN Funds will provide mainly the basis for organizing the working and plenary sessions andperiodical communication through the telephone conferences and for local data storage
facilities.
Relationship to the APN’s Second Strategic Plan
GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI will provide advanced technologies for data integration and data
access and transfer among research groups in Asia and other international science
communities including: data integration systems based on Internet technologies and capableof integrating data from various sources such as satellite, in-situ, and model output data;
metadata schemes following ISO standards; distributed and centralized data archives based on
accepted standard interfaces such as GrADS Data Server (GDS) and on separate super-3

2007 Annual Regional Call for Proposals (ARCP)
ARCP Full Proposal Template(CBA2008-12NMY-Ishida)computer capabilities, with standardized access schemes; algorithms and data visualizationand integration software for down-scaling data from global to regional and local scales; andoutput formats and products including model intercomparison results that can be easilyinterpreted and applied by all classes of users.
These specific deliverables will contribute directly to the mission, core strategies andvision identified in the APN’s Second Strategic Plan. This claim is reflected in the fact the tools
proposed by the GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI project are already being prototyped in broader
International projects such as GEWEX and CEOP and require only specific integration to meetthe special needs of water cycle research, applications and policy in Asia. The funding
requested from APN will be used by GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI to identify, explain and predictchanges in the Asian water cycle in the context of both natural and human components. Thework will include an initial assessment of existing capabilities and will examine, by applicationof down-scaling methods, where the potential vulnerabilities to human and natural systems
exist. Also, by entraining science, technical and governmental groups, GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI willreach out to policy makers to provide tools, which will enable policy options for appropriate
responses to climate change that will also contribute to sustainable development.
Contribution to APN’s Agenda’s
Science Agenda - GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI will focus on specific science issues related toclimate, atmosphere/land interactions, and impacts of water cycle variability on resources as away of addressing capabilities for sustainable development. By using APN funding to invest ina survey of existing methods and the development of new tools and methodologies related tothese scientific and societal issues, GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI will contribute to the improvement ofthe effectiveness of transfers of scientific knowledge to the decision-makers in the Asian region
as a contribution to the APN’s science agenda.
Policy Agenda – By cooperating with other institutions and bodies that address issues
relating to science policy interactions such as WMO, ICSU, IOC, UNESCO, and others,
GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI is embracing a specific APN strategy formulated under its Policy Agenda.
Institutional Agenda – By setting up a cooperative scheme of regular international
teleconferences and working throughout each year between major working sessions
GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI will be establishing a sustainable scheme for enhancing year-roundcommunications between member countries, liaison functions, Project Leaders, relevant
secretariats and the global change community at large, and thereby will be contributing
directly to a main element of the APN Institutional Agenda.
3. Regional Collaboration
The GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI will contribute to improved regional collaboration, by involving
many Asian countries including but not limited to: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India,Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka,Thailand, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam. Drs Bilqis Hoque, Samarendra Karmakar, Shameem Bhuiyanfrom Bangladesh, Drs Ailikun and Dawen Yang from China, Dr Surinder Kaur from India, DrJoesron Loebis from Indonesia, Drs Kazuhiko Fukami and Maiko Ikeda from Japan, Dr Deg-Hyo
Bae from Korea, Dr Chanthachith Amphaychith from Lao PDR, Dr Azzaya Dolgosuren fromMongolia, Dr Shiv Kumar Sharma from Nepal, Dr Bashir Ahmad from Pakistan, Dr Flaviana
Hilario from Philippines, Dr S.B. Weerakoon from Sri Lanka, Dr Thada Sukhapunaphan and Dr
Hansa Vathananukij from Thailand, Dr Duong Van Khanh from Vietnam, Dr Steve Williamsfrom USA, Dr Srikantha Herath from UNU whose CVs are listed below along with Drs Ishida
and Koike are GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI collaborators that will apply knowledge gained in current
international and regional efforts to assist GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI to specifically tailor someexisting tools and strategies to meet the special needs of water and energy cycle research,
applications and policy in Asia. These collaborators will be nominated as GAOTT members,
provide GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI with knowledge and experience, and lead GEOSS/AWCI/OCDI toits goal in the most efficient manner possible.
4. Capacity Building for Global Change Research
The goal of the capacity development program of the AWCI is to facilitate and develop
sustainable mechanisms for the countries in Asia Pacific to use advanced earth observations
systems, associated data and tools for water cycle research and water resources management
under GEOSS framework.

42007 Annual Regional Call for Proposals (ARCP)
ARCP Full Proposal Template(CBA2008-12NMY-Ishida)
The initial focus areas of the program have been selected as floods, water quality anddroughts. The program will be developed and be used concurrently in support of applications in19 Asian Basins proposed to be studied within the Asian Water Cycle Initiative for clarificationof basin water cycle and the development of appropriate water management practices. The
training and capacity development program consist of elements such as short term
training/long term training, online training materials, examples or modules, research
opportunities, technical advise on existing projects, access to data and access to software. It
will emphasize on sustainability and the need to customize technologies to suit local conditions
by carefully setting up teams in each country made up of leading educational and research
institutes and responsible government organizations that would function as core teams toensure the future development and enhancement of the methodologies and incorporation ofthem to national programs.
5. Scientific Contribution of each Participating Country

All participating countries will provide information about their water cycle observation
systems, data management strategies and data sharing policies as well as about relevant
research activities. Representatives will participate in negotiations about the data sharing
policy, and will concur on agreements for sustaining the system following the end of theproject. Experts from different countries as specified in the detailed work plan will work on
surveys of existing capabilities, write reports, and work on development of new tools including
rainfall and river run-off prediction models, data integration and analyses, and operation
optimization.
6. Policy-relevancy and Sustainable Development Issues
GEOSS/AWCI/OCD, which is directly relevant to one of the nine GEOSS Societal Benefit Area,"Improving water resource management through better understanding of the water cycle", can contributeto the water issue of the United Nation Millennium Development Gaols (MDGs) and the paragraph 25 and
27 of the World Summit of Sustainable Development (WSSD) Plan of Implementation.

The proposed scheme contains tools that will facilitate translation of observation
information and scientific knowledge for policy and decision makers in the arena of water
resources. These tools include functions such as data integration, information fusion, andvisualization tools based on Internet technologies and capable of integrating data from various
sources such as satellite, in-situ, and model output data; metadata schemes following ISO
standards. These tools will be able to provide output formats and products including modelintercomparison results that can be easily interpreted and applied by all classes of users
including but not limited to policy setting groups interested in sustainable development issues
and disaster provention.
7. Relationship between Global Change Research Programmes and Networks

An integrated water cycle observation system as envisioned in this proposal will bring
together the capabilities of as many Asian countries as possible and will align the work in thesecountries with efforts being undertaken by a number of international projects such as thosethat are part of WCRP, which is also supported by WMO, IOC and ICSU. IIDATA can, therefore,
be seen as a unique opportunity for the development of a unified Asian approach to theimprovement of the scientific foundation needed to achieve documentation of its water cycle
and to the meeting of goals for understanding and predicting variations in that cycle, as both acontribution to and coordination among International bodies who are activity in the Asianregion.
8.

Related Research WorkSpace agencies are making efforts to fulfil the requirements of science and applications
related to water cycle and water resource management by various satellite missions. Amongsatellite missions cited in the GEOSS 10 Year Implementation Plan, SMOS and GPM are making
steady progress toward their launches, ie 2008 for SMOS and 2013 for GPM. As for water
quality monitoring, a GEOSS workshop on inland and coastal water quality monitoring was heldin 2007. NASA’s GRACE mission demonstrated its potential for locating large-scale water
distribution in the air, on land and underground. Integrated precipitation products with multisatellite data have been realized by NASA’s TRMM 3B42 multi-satellite product. Space agencies
are supporting the CEOS Precipitation Constellation which could further expand the originalGPM concept, by incorporating new missions and instruments.

52007 Annual Regional Call for Proposals (ARCP)
ARCP Full Proposal Template(CBA2008-12NMY-Ishida)

2. UPDATED TIMELINE
Timeline for Year 1 (October2008-September2009)

9876543212009

1211MONTH

102008Kick-off
Plenary meetingin November 2008
Data Collection andcoordination
Conference calls forregional coordination
Follow up conferencecalls

The first GAOTTworkshop

Draft Year 1 report
Year 1 Report
APN Reporting

Date/Venue

3-6 November 2008,Beijing, China

12-15 March 2009
Vietnam

Event

Estimated No. of Participants

Kick-off Plenary
Meeting100

The 1st GAOTTworkshop

4562007 Annual Regional Call for Proposals (ARCP)
ARCP Full Proposal Template(CBA2008-12NMY-Ishida)
Timeline for Year 2 (October2009-September2010)

9876543212010

1211MONTH

102009The Second Plenary
Meeting
in November 2009
Data Collection andcoordination
Follow-up
Conference calls
The Second GAOTTWorkshop in March2010
The Final Plenary
Meeting
September 2010
Draft Final Report

Final Report
APN Reporting

Date/VenueEventEstimated No. of Participants

10-13 November 2009
University of Tokyo,
Japan

The Second Plenary
Meeting100

12-15 March 2010
Bangladesh

The Second GAOTTWorkshop45

September 2010
University of Tokyo,
Japan

The Final Plenary
Meeting

1007