Reporton the
2nd Asian Water Cycle Symposium
The University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, Tokyo, Japan, 9-10 January 2007(http://www.prime-intl.co.jp/awcs07/index.php)
1. Introduction
Large fluctuations of regional and local water cycles intensify water scarcity, threats tofreshwater ecosystems, and water-related diseases and associated impacts on society.
International recognition of water-related risks has been increasing since the beginning of thiscentury. There is a growing concern about global and regional water-related issues and theneed to address them in a more coordinated way.
In recognition of the need for accurate, timely, long-term, water cycle information as a basis
for sound and effective water resources and risk management in the Asian region, an Asian
Water Cycle Initiative (AWCI) was proposed at the 1st Asian Water Cycle Symposium (AWCS)
held in Tokyo, Japan, 2 – 4 November 2005. Through the reports and discussions at the first
AWCS, the guiding goal of AWCI was identified and formulated as:
Toward convergence of observation and capacity building for promoting the Integrated
Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach through application of integrated
earth observation data, model output, downscaling techniques, and other tools to
address local water resources management issues in a river basin.
To initiate the AWCI activities, an International Task Team (ITT) has been establishedconsisting of representatives of participating countries and scientific projects. Members of thistask team met at the AWCI ITT workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, 25 September and discussed
the strategy of implementation. The discussions resulted in proposing demonstration projects
in Asia that would demonstrate effectiveness of downscaling from global to local scale andshow the value of the global integrated data sets to decision makers through the actual use of
the data by the projects.
The AWCI ITT working session was held in conjunction with the Asian Water Resources
Management Capacity Building Workshop that took place in Bangkok from 26 – 28
September 2006 and that aimed at exchanging information on best practices in theapplication of earth observations for water resource management and capacity building
activities in the region. It was agreed that capacity building programmes in different modules
and at different stakeholder levels should be proposed and implemented in order to utilize theemerging earth observation data and associated techniques from different sources. As thefirst step, the workshop recommended initiation of demonstration projects for capacity buildingin the water resource management.
Reflecting on mutually related issues and common targets of AWCI and the Capacity Building
Workshop and considering the GEOSS Work Plan for 2007 – 2009 that includes the following
three tasks: (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, a baseline framework for an “Asian Water
Cycle Initiative contributing to GEOSS” (GEOSS/AWCI) has been proposed including bothaspects the “integration of earth observation data” and the “capacity building”. With thisframework, which is shown in Fig. 1, the GEOSS/AWCI activities will benefit from synergy
among individual components and participating subjects. Following this strategy, the 2nd Asian
Water Cycle Symposium was proposed to take place in conjunction with the GEOSS
Symposium on Integrated Observation for Sustainable Development in the Asia-PacificRegion (GEOSS AP Symposium) that was held in Tokyo, Japan, 11 – 12 January 2007.

Figure 1: Framework of GEOSS/AWCI
2. Objectives of the 2nd Asian Water Cycle Symposiumnd

The main aim of the 2 Asian Water Cycle Symposium was to review and discuss a baseline
implementation plan of the demonstration projects (DP) and respective proposals for the DP
on nominated river basins in individual countries including the main local water resources
issues, existing observation capability, and data availability.
3. Co-hosting, sponsoring and supporting organizations and subjects
The Symposium was co-hosted by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), Cabinet Office,
Government of Japan (CAO), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the University of Tokyo (UT), and Japan Agency for
Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). The sponsoring and supportingorganizations included the Asia-Pacific Network (APN), UT, JAXA, JAMSTEC, the Office for
Coordination of Climate Change Observation (OCCCO), MEXT, United Nations University(UNU), Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA),…
4. Opening and introduction of GEOSS and APN, and of the UT activities related to the
Asian Water Cycle
4.1 Opening
The Symposium was opened by Prof. K. Musiake, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Dr.
O. Ochiai, GEO Secretary, Dr. S. Sakamoto, MEXT, and Prof. T. Koike, the University of Tokyo.
The speakers emphasized the importance of multi-lateral international cooperation andinterdisciplinary approach towards addressing the Asian Water Cycle issues and underlined
the key role of water resources in other eight GEO socio-benefit areas. Also stressed was theneed for convergence of observation and new data integration approach that considers
combining and integrating data from diverse sources and different disciplines.
nd

The speakers highlighted a great opportunity offered by the 2 Asian Water Cycle
Symposium to discuss and outline an effective implementation of the AWCI objectives inhighly cooperative manner with existing projects, programs and systems and in line with the

GEO strategy of convergence of observation and data integration and information fusion forsupporting the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach.
4.2 GEO and GEOSS
Dr. Jose Achache, Director of the GEO Secretariat, introduced the background, structure andmain mission of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) and the objectives of the Global Earth
Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) targeted by GEO. He emphasized that main aim of
GEO was to serve public by providing support for informed decision making through GEOSS a global, coordinated, comprehensive and sustained system of observing systems for 9
recognized societal benefit areas. One of the key aspects of GEOSS is its architecture that isbased on interoperability among the system components that is assured by sets ofspecification for collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data and products and bydefining how the system components should interface to be contributed to GEOSS. The
emphasis is also put on data quality assurance, recalibration of observing systems andimprovement of algorithms for space observation. In addition, GEO will foster interdisciplinary
developments including, for example, IWRM strategies.
Specifically in the Water area, GEO mainly aims to:
1. establish an integrated global hydrological observing system, with distinct
components such as Runoff, Precipitation, Lakes/Reservoirs, Ground Water,
Cryosphere and Soil Moisture;
2. provide an integrated and interoperable global hydrological observing system
contributing in a cross-cutting fashion to all societal benefit areas of GEO; and3. fill gaps in measurement capability and ensure interoperability of observing systems
and standardization of data.
4.3 Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) (http://www.apngcr.org/en/indexe.html)
Dr. Andrew Matthews introduced the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)– an inter-governmental network for the promotion of global environmental change researchand links between science and policy making in the Asia-Pacific Region. Water cycle as oneof the fundamental components of environment and associated water resources issues arerecognized among the key topics on the APN agenda.
Dr. Matthews noted the issue of increasing fresh water deficit worldwide but emphasized thatthe fast growing deficit in some parts of Asia, e.g. China, would affect the world economy
through its impacts on agriculture and thus food prices. He pointed out that the withdrawals ofgroundwater in Asia had increased 20 times over the 40 years and stressed the importance ofmonitoring of the groundwater resources to support proper decisions on water management.
One of the key issues is increasing water consumption per capita with growing economy, andgrowing urbanization.
4.4 University of Tokyo activities
Prof. Toshio Koike introduced the Earth observation Data InTegration and fusiOn Research
InitiAtive (EDITORIA) that has been established jointly by the University of Tokyo (UT), theJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth
Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (MEXT) and that aims to develop a new data
integration and analysis system through cooperation among multiple disciplines including
computer sciences, information technology sciences, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography,
and others.
In addition, Prof. Koike presented a dynamical downscaling technique for downscaling theatmospheric global model output onto the basin scale. The system can be coupled with a
distributed hydrological model and applied at various basins in the world, however the local
data, validation and calibration is needed. This system as well as a distributed hydrologicalmodel developed at the University of Tokyo will be available for the AWCI activities.

Dr. Masaru Kitsuregawa introduced a Centralized data integration system developed by his
team at the University of Tokyo. The system has been originally designed for the CEOP data
but is currently being expanded to serve for a wider range of data from diverse sources. Thesystem enables to retrieve data, perform multiparameter analyses of various features, andvisualize single or multiple overlaid data in 2D or 3D mode. It was emphasized that fordevelopment and enhancement of such system, the synergy between IT specialist and earthscientists was indispensable.
Dr. Ryosuke Shibasaki presented their work on interoperability arrangements that are
essential for successful integrating data from diverse sources. Interoperability arrangements
include two types: (i) syntactic interoperability (data format, interface definition, etc.) and (ii)semantic interoperability (definition of data, data names, terminology). The semanticinteroperability requires ontology – specification of a conceptualization, i.e. description of theconcepts and relationships that can exist for an agent or a community of agents.
4.5 Application to Agriculture
Dr. Seishi Ninomiya, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO),
introduced examples of integrated data application to support decisions in the agriculture
arena, especially at the farmers’ level.

5. GEOSS/AWCI introduction, activity report
5.1 GEOSS/AWCI introduction and report
Prof T. Koike introduced the background of GEOSS/AWCI and its evolvement since the 1st
Asian Water Cycle Symposium in November 2005 (see Section 1). He reported that the AWCIInternational Task Team (ITT) had been formed consisting of representatives of participating
countries and scientific projects on a voluntary basis. The ITT members had been asked tonominate candidate basins in their countries suitable for demonstration projects (DP) of AWCI
and identify the main water-related issues in those basins. Based on the collected information,
the ITT members had discussed the DP objectives, possible strategies and cooperation withexisting programmes and projects, data policy and tentative schedule of implementation at the
AWCI ITT working session in Bangkok, 25 September 2006 and following Capacity Building
Workshop in Bangkok 26 – 28 September 2006.
The ITT Working session and associated action items had resulted in the proposal of thebaseline of the GEOSS/AWCI and its DPs. In total, 32 basins in 14 Asian countries had been
proposed for DP. The locations of the proposed basins are shown in Fig. 2.

Figure 2: Locations of proposed GEOSS/AWCI DP basins.

The baseline was reviewed at the discussion session and the outcomes of the participants’deliberations on this point are summarized in Section 8 below.
5.2 Asian Water Resources Management Capacity Building Workshop Outcomes
Mr. C. Ishida introduced water resources capacity building activities in Asia within the contextof IGOS and GEO and reported on the outcomes of the workshop held in Bangkok, 26 – 28
September 2006. The first day of the workshop was dedicated to the policy makers and it was
highlighted that:(i)Floods, droughts and water quality problems had been occurring with increasing
frequency and severity(ii)
Capacities for IWRM, modeling and satellite data use had been found rapidly
emerging in the region
The second and third day of the workshop were mainly intended for the water resourcesmanagers and included both plenary sessions and breakout sessions for three working
groups (WG): Flood, Drought, and Water Quality. The main outcomes of deliberations
included:(i)
Recommendation to initiate capacity building demonstration projects (DP) by all
three WGs based on regional needs. Subsequently, DPs were proposed by all
three WGs.
(ii)
Requirement for better access to satellite data by all three WGs.
(iii)
Recognition of needs for regular workshops to address WRM issues.
(iv)
Water quality WG reported arsenic contamination of drinking water in Bangladeshand serious needs for alternative water resources. It was proposed to submit anurgent proposal on this specific task to GEO.
At the final plenary session it was emphasized that:(i)Further development of the proposals, partnership and mobilization of funding
were necessary.
nd(ii)
It is anticipated that the 2 Asian Water Cycle Symposium and the GEOSS Asia
Pacific Symposium provide an opportunity to combine “convergence ofobservation” and “capacity building” for WRM and to develop demonstration
projects.
6. Country reports and proposals
Representatives of 18 countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam introduced the current status and future directions of water
resources management policies in their respective countries. Despite of the different waterrelated issues the countries are facing to and the level of development of the water resources
monitoring and management tools, there is a common focus on IWRM strategies andinternational cooperation within the region, in particular in case of transboundary river basins.
The policy of de-centralization of WRM decisions was also mentioned with emphasis on
involving the local authorities as well as local people in the decision process, which is closely
linked to the educational capacity building efforts and needs.
In addition, the country representatives introduced the river basins proposed for the
GEOSS/AWCI DPs and explained the main issues that need to be addressed. Most of thecountries reported problems associated with floods and sought for better flood warning
systems. Several countries highlighted droughts as the most pressing issue and the urgent
need to develop more sophisticated drought monitoring and predicting systems for scales
ranging from local to regional. Only few presentations mentioned water quality as the mostcritical problem but through the following discussion it was recognized that water quality
issues are also significant in the region and must not be neglected. Moreover, the relation
between water quality and quantity (flood/drought) was pointed out suggesting the need ofclose collaboration between water quality and water quantity specialists.
7. Cooperative Existing Projects, Programs, and Systems
Following the country reports, 12 international and national organizations and existing
projects and programs introduced their on-going and planned activities focused on waterrelated issues in Asia. The organizations and project included:

1. International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM,
http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/)
2. United Nations University (UNU, http://www.unu.edu/)
3. Mekong River Commission (MRC, http://www.mrcmekong.org/)
4. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html)
5. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC,
http://www.jamstec.go.jp/jamstec-e/index-e.html)
6. Office for Coordination of Climate Change Observation (OCCCO,
http://occco.nies.go.jp/e_index.html)
7. Global Water System Project (GWSP, www.gwsp.org)
8. Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period (CEOP, http://www.ceop.net/)
9. Monsoon Asian Hydro-Atmosphere Scientific Research and Prediction Initiative(MAHASRI, http://mahasri.cr.chiba-u.ac.jp/)
10. Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS, http://www.mairs-essp.org/)
11. Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB, http://www.pub.iwmi.org), and12. Japanese EOS Promotion Program (JEPP)The scope of presented activities was wide covering the enhancement of in-situ observation
systems including data transmission infrastructure, satellite data provision, research into the
Asian Water Cycle in relation to Monsoon, climate change, aerosols and human activities andtheir mutual interactions, development of water cycle simulation and prediction tools,
development of hydrometeorological warning systems mostly focused on flood forecasting,water-related hazards risk management strategies with emphasis on integrated risk
management, data archiving and integration systems focusing on interoperability, educationand training programs designed for researchers, technical support, water resourcesmanagers, policy makers as well as general public, and earth observation and IWRM
promoting programs.
The participants recognized multiple mutual benefits arising from the potential cooperation
between AWCI and introduced existing activities since these are offering various capacities
that had been reported lacking by certain participating countries. It was recommended thatfurther discussion follow-up to investigate more specifically how the introduced programs
could contribute to implementation of the AWCI goals starting with the demonstration projects.
8. “Toward Convergence: GEOSS/AWCI”
The discussion session resulted in the following version of the baseline of the GEOSS/AWCI
implementation plan that was endorsed by the participants.
8.1 Objectives
1. To develop an information system of systems for promoting the implementation of
integrated water resources management (IWRM).
2. To make a bridge between the data and information from the global scale to a river
basin scale for sound decision making.
3. To shift from research activities and achievements to operational use for contributing
to societal benefits.
8.2 Targeted River Basin Criteria for Demonstration Projects
1. Importance of the basin from the viewpoint of the socio-economic benefit area andhydrological sciences
2. Minimum requirement of data availability:a. Data type: rainfall, streamflow, weather station data (air temp., wind speed,pressure, humidity
b. Spatial density of observation stations: according to the WMO standard but
local specifics to be considered;c. Watershed characteristics information
3. Highly expected data:a. Upper air observation is highly recommended
b. Near-real time data availability is highly recommended;c. Ground water and water quality data availability for the river basins where
those problems should be addressed.
22
4. Size of the watershed: 100 km – 1,000,000 km）

8.3 Data Interoperability
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Metadata design
Metadata registration
Data quality check and archive
Data format unification
Data integration function
Distributed- and Centralized data distribution

8.4 User Interface
1. Data request: global/regional/local, observed/modeled, natural science/socioeconomic
2. Function request: data integration, information fusion, analysis, prediction,dissemination
8.5 Data Policy – compliant with CEOP in-situ data policy
1. Release of Data in Compliance with WMO Resolution 40 (CG-XII) and WMO
Resolution 25 (CG-XIII)
2. No Commercial Use or Exploitation
3. No Data Transfer to Third Parties (data should be disseminated through the data
centers which assure proper metadata is provided together with the data and whichmonitor who is using the data in case users should be informed about any update orchange to the data or metadata provided by PIs.)
4. Timing for Release of AWCI River Basin Data from the CDA Archivea. category 1 - standard data - data release after 6 months
b. category 2 - special data - data release after 15 months- Streamflow data - (i) operational - category 1 data; (ii) research site maintainedby university, through a project - category 2 data; also remote sites need to be
included in category 2 data
- A suggestion was made to also consider exchange of real-time or near-real-timedata (category 0) that are crucial for improving weather forecasts and hence flood
forecasting. This will be considered for later phase AWCI dedicated to transition
to operational issues. For the demonstration projects, the categories 1 and 2
should be sufficient.
5. Acknowledgement and Citation
6. Co-operation between AWCI Data Users and AWCI River Basin Principal
Investigators (PIs)
7. Co-Authorship for AWCI River Basin Principal Investigators (PIs)
8. AWCI Publication Library
8.6 Timeline
2007: Pre-phase: survey of capabilities; Completion of implementation plan; Input to the task
sheets; Test archive: metadata, observed data during CEOP Phase 1 (EOP3, EOP4), a basinin each country in the archive2008 – 2011: Data archive for data collection 2007-2010; Demonstration project
implementation2009 – 2010: Preparation for shifting from more-research to more-operational phase
8.7 Demonstration projects – next step
As the first step, only one river basin in a country will be considered for DP and country
representatives have an action to select the most adequate one according the criteria above.
The country representatives will also identify the most pressing issue in the basin, review thedata availability table according the data requirements above, and will specify the capacity
building needs. For that purpose the AWCI secretariat (see Section 9) will prepare templatequestionnaires.
Consequently, specific proposals for DPs will be drafted by the country representatives incooperation with the AWCI secretariat
9. Closing

Prof. Koike summarized the outcomes of the symposium and acknowledged the presenters
for their excellent contributions and thanked all of the participants for their fruitful discussions
and important suggestions. He pointed out the need of active following-up on the discussed
GEOSS/AWCI baseline implementation plan and emphasized the importance of collaboration
with existing activities, especially in the capacity building aspect.
To move forward and implement the plan a series of smaller focused workshops is needed
throughout the whole period. The activities will be coordinated by the AWCI secretariat at the
University of Tokyo and an International Coordination Group (ICG) – a successor of theInternational Task Team (ITT) – that will consist of a one representative from eachparticipating country and from cooperative programs/organizations.