ICHARM Activity Report[from October 2010 to March 2014]

1

ICHARM Activity Report[from October 2010 to March 2014]
ContentsPage
1. Outline

1

1.1 History

1

1.2 ICHARM Three-pillar Activities

1

1.3 Organization

2

1.4 Resources

3

1.5 ICHARM Advisory Board and Achievement of ICHARM Action Plan

4

2. Research –Advanced Technology-

6

2.1 Overview

6

2.2 Development and dissemination of Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS)
2.3 Development of RRI model7

2.4 Contribution to MEXT research program (KAKUSHIN, SOSEI)

8

2.5 River discharge measurement10

2.6 Development of Water and Energy Transfer Processes (WEP) model10

2.7 Flood Risk Assessment10

2.8 ICHARM Research & Development (R&D) Seminars

10

3. Training –Capacity Development-

12

3.1 Overview

12

3.2 Ph.D. Program

13

3.3 M.Sc. Program

13

3.4 Short-term training/workshop program

14

3.5 Follow-up activity

16

3.6 Internship

16

2

6

4. Information networking

17

4.1 Outline

17

4.2 International Flood Initiative (IFI)

17

4.3 5th International Conference on Flood Management (ICFM5)17

4.4 Asia-Pacific Knowledge hub

17

4.5 Typhoon committee

18

4.6 Contribution of UNSGAB

18

4.7 Agreement with organizations

18

4.8 Overseas business trip

19

5. Local Practices -Localism-21

5.1 Outline

21

5.2 ADB Project: Technical Assistance No. 7276, Supporting Investments for Water-Related
Disaster Management21

5.3 UNESCO-Pakistan project22

5.4 Thai Flood simulation

23

6. Public Relationship24

6.1 WEB site24

6.2 ICHARM Newsletter

24

6.3 Publication

26

6.4 Paper list

26

7. Award

28

8. Evaluation

29

Annex 1

List of number of alumni

Annex 2

List of papers

31. Outline
1.1

History
In September 2004, the IHP Intergovernmental

Council adopted the resolution to support the proposalof the Japanese government to establish ICHARM as
a part of the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI).
In October 2005, at the 33rd UNESCO General
Conference in Paris, the resolution to approve theproposal was adopted by 191 member countries,
which was followed by the agreements between theJapanesegovernment

UNESCO,

andthe

Signing ceremony on 3rd March, 2006

andPublicWorks Research Institute and
UNESCO on 3 March 2006.
Three days later, ICHARM
was officially established on 6
March 2006.
After

its

establishment,

Establishment of ICHARM on 6th March, 2006

ICHARM has implemented various activities actively. In January 2011, ICHARM received ahigh evaluation from UNESCO. Accordingly, in July 2013, the agreement on theestablishment of ICHARM was renewed between the Japanese government and UNESCO.
Under this agreement, ICHARM continues its activities as a category II center under the
auspices of UNESCO. The new agreement requires setting up the Governing Board, insteadof the Advisory Board in the previous agreement, which reviews and adopts mid- andlong-term plans for ICHARM.
1.2 ICHARM Three-pillar Activities
Since its official launch, ICHARM has been committed to the implementation of the Action
Plan advised by the Advisory Board, which was devised with the following three pillar
activities: research using advanced technology, training for local administrative officers indeveloping countries, and information networking for worldwide publicity to promote thepresence of ICHARM.

1

Figure 1-1 Three-pillar of ICHARM activities
1.3 Organization
Although ICHARM is under the auspices of UNESCO as a category II center, it has beenpart of the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) as an independent institute from
UNESCO. Today, it is recognized as one of the four main institutes of PWRI.

ICHARM has tripled the number of research and office staff as it has expanded its activity,
becoming larger than any other research group of PWRI.

2

Figure 1-2 Trend of Number of ICHARM staff
1.4 Resources
The annual budget of ICHARM is funded by PWRI and other external sources. Figures
1-3 and 1-4 show changes in the ratio of the founding sources between 2006 and 2013.
Although the total budget of PWRI is on a decreasing trend due to the current administrativeand fiscal reform, the budget of ICHARM provided by PWRI has been on an increasing trend
since its establishment in March 2006 (Fig. 1-3). Accordingly, the share of ICHARM in PWRI’sbudget has been on an upward trend (Fig. 1-4).

FigureFigure 1-3 Trend of ICHARM Budget

1-4

Trend

(ICHARM/PWRI)

3

ofBudget

Ratio

1.5

ICHARM Advisory Board and Achievement of ICHARM Action Plan

The 3rd ICHARM Advisory Board on 29th September 2010
The ICHARM Advisory Board was established based on theagreement in 2006, and 13 board members were elected. They
provided advice on the ICHARM Action Plan submitted by the
ICHARM Director, and reviewed the reports on the activities of
the centre.
The current Action Plan 2010-2012, which was discussed inthe 3rd Advisory Board, proposed its strategy to increase its
capacity by quality improvement, namely, “consolidation”. This
consolidation sought to consolidate its activities by enrichingcontents in order to shift its work plan from example
demonstration to substantive application.
The following concrete goals set this consolidation in detail:Figure 1-5
ICHARM Action Plan

Five goals presented in the last ICHARM Action Plan (2010-2012)
1. Improvement of education programs on water-related disaster management.
2. System development to deliver flood forecasts based on globally available data for any
basin, at any time, and anywhere in the world.
3. Local customization of advanced technology in partnership with local practitioners.
Especially, establishment of partnership for local use of IFAS with local engineers by
integrating satellite information with ground observations.
4. Support of local disaster risk assessment and preparedness. Especially for functioning
as the Asia Pacific Knowledge Hub on Water and Disaster in collaboration with ADB,JICA and other funding agencies.
5. Othercollaborative

engagementon

UNSGAB-HLEP, IRDR etc.
4

theactivities

of

IFI,

WWF,

APWF,

Goal 1: Educational and training programs have been improved annually to put moreemphasis on local needs and localism by linking those programs more closely to issues thattraining participants face as an administrative officer in a developing country. In addition, in
response to a higher level of research needs that cannot be met by a master’s-level program, adoctoral program was launched in 2010 and graduated the first student in 2013.
Goal 2: ICHARM has been working on upgrading of IFAS and the RRI model. To increase
their applicability to all types of river basins worldwide, further research and development of
the systems are necessary.
Goal 3: In Indonesia, ICHARM applied an upgraded IFAS to improve flood forecasting in
the Solo River basin. In Pakistan, it assisted local engineers in flood control by implementing
Indus-IFAS in collaboration with the Meteorological Agency of Pakistan and other local
agencies with support from UNESCO. In Thailand, in response to a request from JICA, it
provided technical assistance in development of a master disaster management plan after the2011 Chao Phraya flood, and reproduced the actual flood by means of the RRI model. In
Bangladesh, with the support of the Asian Development Bank, ICHARM participated in the
joint effort with the government of Bangladesh in development of a basic policy for a flood
forecasting and warning system.
Goal 4: ICHARM assisted Cambodia in disaster risk assessment with the support of the
Asian Development Bank. Particularly, as a member of the Asia Pacific Knowledge Hub, it
provided the government of Cambodia with technological assistance for community-based
flood control by developing a flood vulnerability assessment method applicable to the MekongRiver flood plain. It also developed the Flood Disaster Preparedness Indices to assess disaster
preparedness at the community level and applied them to local communities in cooperation
with the Typhoon Committee.
Goal 5: ICHARM has been making efforts in enhancing worldwide collaboration with moreorganizations. It hosted ICFM5 in 2011 and has been active in addressing the mainstreamingof disaster risk reduction in the international community. It has also concluded an agreementwith institutes in Iran and Russia to cover a wider range of water issues such as those in cold
regions and droughts.
In recognition of these achievements, the MLIT Evaluation Committee for Incorporated
Administrative Agencies graded ICHARM as an S on a five-grade evaluation from SS to C for
its excellent international contribution. ICHARM researchers have been awarded for theiroutstanding accomplishments as well.
The following sections outline the projects of ICHARM between October 2010 and March2014 in each of the three pillar activity areas, i.e., research, training and information
networking. It is noted that this report includes the projects scheduled as and when it has
been published in February 2014.
5

2. Research –Advanced Technology2.1 Overview
The basic policy for ICHARM’s research activities is to reduce damage induced bywater-related disasters around the world. More specifically, it has prioritized research needed
to implement water-related risk management in developing countries. When the center was
first established, the focus was more on research to understand rainfall and runoff
characteristics, which is essential to assess flood risk. In recent years, however, it has been
expanding the research scope covering assessment of flood damage risk and risk management
including development and implementation of effective countermeasures.
The following describes main research achievements of ICHARM.
2.2 Development and dissemination of Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS)

Figure 2-1 Calculation flow of IFAS
The Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS) is designed to help create a runoff analysis
model easily by using topographic and land-use data which cover almost the entire globe andare available free of charge via the Internet.
With IFAS alone, users can conduct a series of tasks necessary for runoff analysis
including data acquisition, model creation, rainfall-runoff analysis and result display. Withan additional module named Auto-IFAS, the system is capable of executing automaticfunctions such as downloading satellite rainfall information, loading ground rainfall
information, performing runoff calculation, issuing a warning, etc. With these automaticfunctions, users can built a real-time flood forecasting and warning system though thefunctions are minimal as a device for such a purpose.
IFAS with this additional module is very useful even in areas with limited Internet access.
It can perform calculation while collecting data regularly according to a predetermined timeschedule. In this way, the network and the computer can avoid being overloaded withinformation processing, which thus enables fast runoff calculation and quick flood forecasting
and warning.
The IFAS execute file is downloadable free of charge on the ICHARM website at6http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/research/ifas/
Since the official launch in December 2008, the traffic to this download site has been
increasing every year as IFAS has gone through several upgrades.

Figure 2-2 Changes in the number of access to the IFAS website
ICHARM has been conducted not only its development, but also its desemmination
throughout the world on several occasions. In the duration of this report (October 2010March 2014) ICHARM trained IFAS to about 560 participant out of total number of about
800.

IFAS trainng class in M.Sc. program

IFAS trainng class in Philippines

2.3 Development of RRI model
Conventional flood prediction models, which mainly focus on rainfall-runoff processes inmountainous areas, have difficulties in simulating floods on low-lying areas with large-scale
7

inundations, such as the 2010 Pakistan and 2011 Thailand floods. In addition, although it isimportant to quickly simulate a large-scale behavior of floodwaters in global-scale flood risk
assessment and large-scale flood prediction, conventional models are not capable of quickly
estimating river discharge and flooding from rainfall information. They can only predict riverdischarge.
To overcome this disadvantage, ICHARM has been developing a new numerical model
called the Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation (RRI) model. The model simulates various hydrologic
processes including rainfall-runoff, stream-flow propagation, and inundation over floodplainsin an integrated manner.
By using the RRI model, we can assess future flood risks for different regions under
different climate conditions including climate change. The model may also be applied tolarge-scale flood prediction on a near real-time basis by using satellite-based topography,
land-use and rainfall information in a similar manner to the IFAS procedure.

1D Diffusion
in RiverSubsurface + Surface
Vertical Infiltration

2D Diffusion
on LandFigure 2-3

Schematic diagram of RRI Model

2.4 Contribution to MEXT research program (KAKUSHIN, SOSEI)
2.4.1 KAKUSHIN Program (FY2007 - 2011)
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) launched afive-year (FY2007 - 2011) initiative called the Innovative Program of Climate Change
8Projection for the 21st Century (KAKUSHIN Program) in 2007. The program used the Earth
Simulator (ES) to address emerging research challenges and was expected to contribute to theFifth Assessment Report (AR5) to be published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC).
ICHARM was a member institute of one of the three major projects, entitled the Extreme
Event Projection, led by the Meteorological Research Institute (MRI). ICHARM’s subject was
the “assessment of the impact of climate change on flood disaster risk and its reduction
measures over the globe and specific vulnerable areas.”
ICAHRM developed the following products in the program.
1. Statistical bias correction method of daily precipitation simulated in climate models, suchas MRI-AGCM (atmospheric GCM developed by MRI of JMA).
2. Scale-free hydrographical river basin dataset for hydrological simulation over small tolarge scale basins, which will be eventually made applicable over the entire globe with little
scale effect regardless of grid-size selection.
3. Block-wise TOPMODEL (BTOP) as a hydrological model applicable to small to largebasins on the globe using the scale-free hydrographical river basin dataset.
4. New flood risk evaluation method using geological and socio-economic datasets andknowledge in combination with extreme river discharge from BTOP simulation conductedbased on present, near-future, and future climate simulation using MRI-AGCM.
5. The assessment of flood-induced agricultural and property damage under the present
conditions and also under the future conditions based on climate change scenarios
2.4.2 SOUSEI program (FY2012 – 2016)
MEXT has launched the Program for Risk Information on Climate Change (SOUSEI
program), which carries on the work of KAKUSHIN program. This project began in FY2012
and will continue for five years. The aim of this program is to generate information toevaluate the probability of the occurrence of the extreme climate changes and the risk ofvarious scenarios, disasters, damage, etc., and to play a role in risk management.
The project’s specific research is divided into five themes. ICHARM is a member instituteof Theme D: Precise impact assessments on climate change. ICHARM’s subject is the“Development of risk assessment and adaptation strategies for water-related disaster in
Asia.”ICHARM is working on the quantitative projection of how flood and drought risks maychange around the world, mainly in Asia, as global warming progresses in consideration withprojection uncertainties. This will eventually lead to the development of a methodology forsocio-economic impact assessment, which will include methods for the global- and basin-scaleassessment of flood and drought hazards as well as for the assessment of social vulnerability
to those hazards. Coupled with multiple scenarios of the fifth-generation CMIP and
9GCM-based climate projections, the methods will make such assessments viable by improving
previously-developed technologies for bias correction, global flood runoff analysis andinundation hazard analysis.
2.5 River discharge measurement
ICHARM is developing and disseminating a next-generation
discharge measurement system that ensures highly reliablemeasurements while requiring less labor and cost. The system
under development is unique in that automated measurement
using fixed current meters such as non-contact current meters(radio current meters) is combined with an acoustic Doppler
current

profiler(ADCP)

foraccuracy

control.

Throughobservational experiments, the system has been proven applicableeven to severe flow regimes, typically seen in Japanese steep rivers.
We are further exploring methods to observe river bed
fluctuations by use of this advanced automated system.

ADCP experience

2.6 Development of Water and Energy Transfer Processes (WEP) model
The Water and Energy Transfer Processes (WEP) model was originally developed as abasin-scale water cycle model. Responding to the recent need for the management of nutrient
load and runoff in closed water bodies, ICHARM has been further improving the WEP model
into a basin-scale water/material cycle model by adding the function of simulating the
behavior of nitrogen and phosphorus in both dissolved and particulate forms.
2.7 Flood Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is generally conducted through a series of analyses on possible hazards,
vulnerability to and countermeasures for the hazards. ICHARM carries out risk assessment,
based on one of the most important institute principles: localism. We started the process withthorough local investigation in each target basin to understand its physical, social andeconomic conditions, while also using advanced hydrological and hydraulic modelingtechnology. We then assess the impact of socioeconomic risk on a basin and propose effective
countermeasures to cope with such risk.
2.8 ICHARM Research & Development (R&D) Seminars

The ICHARM R&D Seminar is a series of seminars irregularly held to improve
ICHARM’s activities and update the expertise of its research staff. As many as 18 R&D
seminars were organized from October 2010 to March 2014 as tabulated in the Table 2-1.

10

Table 2-1 List of ICHARM R&D Seminar
No.

Date

Position

Lecturer

Lecture Title

30 12-Nov-10

Prof. Shoji Fukuoka

Professor,
Chuo University

31 25-Nov-10

Asso. Prof. Hiroshi
Takebayashi

Associate Professor,
Disaster Prevention Research Application of bed deformation analysis on natural rivers
Institute, Kyoto University

32 7-Feb-11

Asso. Prof. Frankvan der Meulen

Associate Professor,
UNESCO-IHE

Climate change and adaptation in Europe

33 13-Apr-11

Prof. Toshio Koike

Professor,
University of Tokyo

Integrated Earth Observations and Predictions toward Flood andWater Use under the Climate Change

34 21-Jun-11

Dr. Rabindra Osti

Senior Researcher,
ICHARM

Special lecture for ICHARM BEST PAPER AWARD

35 21-Sep-11

Prof. Djoko Legono

Gajah Mada University ,Yogyakarta, Indonesia

THE TRUE COLLABORATIVE-BASED LAHAR FLOWMONITORING SYSTEM IN A CHAOTIC CONDITION

36 17-Oct-11

Special-appointed Associate,
Estimation of Evaporation and Terrestrial Water Storage Change
Asso. Prof. Pat Yeh Institute of Insustrial Science,over Global Large River Basins
The University of Tokyo

37 13-Dec-11

Prof. Toshio Koike

Professor,
University of Tokyo

38 13-Dec-11

Prof. Takashi
AsaedaProfessor,
Department of Environmental Ecological knowledge for natural disasters
Science, Saitama University

39 28-May-12 Mr.Kenzo Hiroki

40 11-Jun-12

41 11-Sep-12

Adaptation of River technology for climate change

GEOSS Water Cycle Integrator
An Innovative Tool Contributing to Integrated Human Security andGreen Growth

Principal,
ICHARM

Water, Disasters, and Green Economy

1. Deputy of technical and
1. Mr. Eisa
research affairs,
Bozorgzadeh
2. Sr. Technical Expert,
2. Dr. Saied Yousefi
IWPCO
Executive,
Association for Rainwater
Mr. Imbe Masahiro
Storage and Infiltration
Technology

Implementation of Well-balanced Hydrological System for theDevelopment along the Tsukuba Express Line

Rector,
UNESCO-IHE

How should a (flood) early warning system be developed in data
poor nations?

43 27-May-13 Dr.Takahiro Sayama

Researcher,
ICHARM

Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation of Large Scale Flooding： From
Prediction to Process Understanding

44 12-Jun-13

Mr. Takezumi Ban

President,
Earthquake Disaster and Poverty Prevention
Association for World Peace– Work of Toyohiko Kagawa
Japan

45 18-Oct-13

Mr. Wouter T.
Lincklaen Arriens

Leadership Coach andAdvisor,
UNESCO-IHE

46 13-Dec-13

Mr. Hayato
Nakamura

Project Formulation Advisor Typhoon Yolanda:(DRM), JICA Philippine Office Gap between Philippine DRRM and Mega Disaster

Dr. Anthony Kiem

Hydroclimatologist/SeniorLecturer,
Faculty of Science and IT,
University of Newcastle

42 26-Feb-13

47 16-Jan-14

Prof.Andras
Szollosi-Nagy

1.Analytical Study of Drought Management: Remarks and Points
2. Forensic Management of Water Resources for Generating
Hydropower in IWPCO

Expectation for Japan for improvement in the water security in
Asia

11

Understanding and Adapting to Hydroclimatic Variability andChange in the Asia-Pacific Region

3. Training -Capacity Development3.1 Overview
To cope with major water-related disasters like floods, it is important to empower not only
individuals but also organizations involved in disaster management because there is a limit towhat each individual can do.
Well aware of this, ICHARM provided many kinds of training programs that help
improve both individual problem-solving capacity and organizational coping capacity indisaster management. After the courses, ICHARM has held follow-up activities such as
seminars for ex-trainees, grasped their facing issues, and established new training courses.
Most of these programs were intended for practitioners (i.e. for those with a certain level offield experience after college education) involved in river management and water resource
development in developing countries. They are expected to disseminate the results of the
training in their home countries.
In the duration from October 2010 to March 2014, ICHARM offered the following training
program as shown in the table 3-1. The detailed number of the alumni is shown in the

ANNEX 1.
Table 3-1 List of conducted training programs
Category
Ph.D. Program(3 years)

Course title
Disaster Management

M.Sc. Program(1 year)

Water-related
Management
ProgramDisaster
PolicyShort
Training
Course/Workshop(several weeks)

Capacity Development for
Integrated Flood Risk
Management in Pakistan
Capacity Development for
Flood Risk Managementwith IFAS
Local
Emergency
Operation
Plan
withFlood Hazard Map
Capacity development for
Adaptation to Climate
Change in Asia

Duration
2010.10-2013.9

Num. of
Participant
1

Collaboration
GRIPS

2011.10-2014.9

3
(2
were
dropped out)

2012.10-2015.9
2013.10-2016.9
2010.10-2011.9
2011.10-2012.9
2012.10-2013.9
2013.10-2014.9
2012.5

2
3
12
19
12
12
6

2013.55

2012.7-8,
2012.122013.7-8

13
7
16

JICA

2011,1-2
2011.7-8

12
11

JICA,
ADB

2011.2-3

7

JICA

12

JICA,
GRIPS

UNESCO

3.2 Ph.D. Program
In October 2010, ICHARM and GRIPS jointly launched the Ph.D. program. This was thefirst and challenging attempt since PWRI establishment. The broad aim of the program is tonurture professionals who can train researchers and take leadership in planning andimplementation of national and international strategies and policies in the field ofwater-related risk management.
This program is planning to accept one to three students per year. The program examinesand selects candidates who have motivation and capabilities for doctoral level work, and arewilling to take the lead for implementing water-related risk management learned at ICHARM
after completion of this program. Until now, one Japanese student has graduated, and six
students are in the program.
ICHARM/PWRI employed some Ph.D. students for ICHARM Research Assistant positions.
This provides an excellent opportunity for them to learn and experience the practical work of
ICHARM while they carry out their own research.
3.3 M.Sc. Program
In 2007, ICHARM launched a one-year master’s course “Water-related Disaster
Management

CourseofDisasterManagement

PolicyProgram”

incollaboration with GRIPS and JICA.
This program was designed to provide
trainees from developing countries
with the mastery of knowledge andtechnology on flood-related disasters.
A

Master's

degreeindisaster

Graduation ceremony at GRIPS (Sep. 2013)

management is granted after theoftheprogram.

Oct.

The

program consists of

Dec.
Lectures

Orientation

Exercises

lectures and practicalassignments in thefirstsemester,

and

the

completionof

Master's

thesisFeb.

Individual Study
Individual Study(Master Thesis)

Inception
Report

1st
PresenQualification Screening

completion

2nd
Presen

Apr.

Jun.

Aug.

Individual Study(Master Thesis)

DegreeProgra m
Non-degree
tra i ning
progra m(Non-degree exercise)

3rd
PresenOct.
ActionPlan
Action
Plan

Final
4th
5th
Presen Presen Presen

Submission to supervisor
Submission to examiner
Submission to GRIPS

Field Trip

concerning their flood
disaster mitigation projects in the

Figure 3-1 Outline of the annual schedule

second. Field surveys are included in each semester.

From October 2010 to March 2014, ICHARM implemented four batches of the13

program and 43 students in total have conferred a Master’s degree. Training programshas been improved annually. Based on the results of the post-training evaluation by
students, the 2012-2013 course was the most satisfying of all conducted in the past five
years.

3.4 Short-term training/workshop program
Short-term training programs were mainly conductedjointly with JICA. Participants learnt knowledge andtechnologies

relevant

towater-related

disasterriskmanagement for a period of several weeks. ICHARM has
made efforts to recognize the latest water-related problems
in developing countries and improve course contents andteaching staff to meet the needs of trainees.

Site visit at a local city office

3.4.1 JICA training program "Local Emergency Operation
Plan with Flood Hazard Map" (JFY2009- JFY 2011)
The ultimate goal of the program was to increase local
flood resilience through the development of local emergency
operation plans combined with flood hazard maps and flood
forecasting and warning systems and thereby reduce flood
damage in the project-target countries. To achieve the goal,

Town watching exercise

the contents were arranged to give the trainees many opportunities to think about what waslacking in their countries to provide emergency information that promotes timely evacuation
and also about what they could do to fill such gaps in local emergency operation plans.
3.4.2

JICA

training

program"Capacity

Development for Adaptation to Climate Change"(JFY2010)
The

purposeoftheprogramwastostrengthen the abilities of government officials
in developing countries to evaluate the impactsof climate change on rivers and to design
adaptation strategies to them.
Seven trainees participated in the training;

Closing ceremony

one each from Bangladesh, Thailand, thePhilippines, Viet Nam and three from Indonesia.
In the post-training evaluation, five out of the seven trainees listed training on IFAS, PCM
14and Trend Analysis as the most useful of all subjects. Evaluation results like this have beenreflected in other short-term training opportunities conducted after this.
3.4.3 JICA training program "Capacity Development for Flood Risk Management with IFAS"(JFY2012- JFY 2014)
The program was designed to enhance individual
flood-coping capacities and eventually to contribute to flood
damage mitigation in their countries. To create as greatsynergy as possible with JICA’s current and future local
flood projects, the following two conditions were considered:

The target basins were those also selected for
JICA local projects.

Project Cycle Management (PCM)

The target participants were selected from three
categories

of(meteorologists,

responsible

exercisepersonnelriver administrators, disastermanagement officials for public evacuation) who
are currently working at organizations involved in
the JICA local projects.
Questionnaire by the participants found the following
activities particularly useful:

IFAS training

Lecture on a river information system in Japan,Application practices of PCM,

Application practices of IFAS,



Application practices of Town Watching ,and

Study trip to the Shinanogawa River basin

They are expected to share knowledge and experience they acquired in this training withothers at their respective organizations through lectures and workshops.
3.4.4 Short-term workshop “Capacity Development for
Integrated Flood Risk Management in Pakistan” (JFY 2012
and 2013)

The workshop was originally organized as part of a
project, “Strategic Strengthening of Flood Warning andManagement Capacity of Pakistan,” which was launched in
response to the 2010 severe flood event in Pakistan. The
project was funded by the Japanese government throughWatarase retarding basin

UNESCO. In 2012 and 2013, ICHARM welcomed totally 11 participants of middle- tohigh-ranking officials of the Pakistani government.
15

The participants praised the workshop for its excellent contents and organization. They
were particularly impressed with river management in Japan, including how steadily plans
are put into action. They also commented that retarding basins like the one they saw at
Watarase retarding basin should be effective for flood control in the Indus River basin.
3.5 Follow-up activity
Follow-up activities of ICHARM are intended toencourage ex-trainees to promote their water-related risk
management projects. Especially, follow-up seminars
allow ex-trainees to update their knowledge about
advanced technologies in the field, to visualize issues
they may face in their daily work、and discuss them

Short course “Early warning system
for flood disaster mitigation”

among the participants.
For these reasons, ICHARM has conducted threefollow-up seminars as shown in the Table 3-2.
3.6 Internship
ICHARM has been actively accepting college students
for short-term internship and researchers from overseas
institutes, providing opportunities for them to deepen
their research interests intensively. A total of 14 students
and researchers used these opportunities between

Seminar on Sediment Hydraulics
and River Management

October 2010 and March 2014.

Table 3-2 List of conducted follow-up activities
Date
Nov. 6-7, 2010

Follow-up activity

Venue

Short course “Early warning system for

Hanoi, Viet Nam

flood disaster mitigation”
Feb. 20-23, 2012

Follow-up discussion (on the occasion of The
Southeast

Asia

Flood

Risk

Bangkok, Thailand

Reduction

Forum)
Feb.13-14, 2013

Seminar on Sediment Hydraulics and RiverManagement

16

Dhaka, Bangladesh

4. Information networking
4.1 Outline
ICHARM promotes many types of information networks to disseminate research results
and strengthen partnership with relevant organizations. The following introduces main
networking activities.
4.2 International Flood Initiative (IFI)IFI is a framework to promote collaboration in flood management amonginternational organizations such as UNESCO, WMO, UNU and UNISDR.
IFI focuses on research, information networking, education and training,community empowerment, and technical assistance in various areas including integrated
flood management. ICHARM has been serving as its secretariat.
4.3 5th International Conference on Flood Management (ICFM5)ICHARM organized ICFM5 in Tokyo on 27-29
September 2011. More than 450 people from 41
countries participated. Under its main theme, “Floods:
From Risk To Opportunity,” the participants had
productive discussions on five topic areas including
flood risk management. The conference finally adopted
the ICFM5 declaration crafted based on the discussion
resultsofeach

topic-area(http://www.ifi-home.info/icfm-icharm/icfm5.html).

Plenary Session

Selected papers presented at the conference have been
published in the Red Book No.357, Journal of Disaster
Research 7 (5), and a special issue of the Journal of
Flood Risk Management (December 2012) .
4.4 Asia-Pacific Knowledge hub
In June 2008, the Asia-Pacific Water Forum

Special Session(APWF) officially acknowledged ICHARM as a
Knowledge Hub with particular focus on disaster risk
reduction and flood management. As a Knowledge Hub,
ICHARM is expected to promote local application ofhigh value-added know-how and research results inorder to realize water security in the Asia-Pacific region under the framework of the APWF.

17

4.5 Typhoon committee
The Typhoon Committee is an inter-governmental bodyorganized under the joint auspices of the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the World
Meteorological Organization in 1968 in order to promote andcoordinate the planning and implementation of measuresrequired for minimizing the loss of life and material damage
caused by typhoons in Asia and the Pacific. Mr. Minoru Kamoto,chief researcher of ICHARM, took a role of the chairperson of
the hydrology working group.
ICHARM implemented a project of the Flood Disaster
Preparedness Indices (FDPI), which can measure the capacityof disaster preparedness by communities, and reported in 2012.
Figure 4-1 Report of the Project on
Establishment of FDPI (December 2012)

4.6 Contribution to UNSGABThe United Nations Secretary
General's

Advisory

Board

on

Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB) is an independent body established in March 2004 by
United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, to give him advice as well as to galvanize
action on water and sanitation issues.
Mr. Kenzo Hiroki, ICHARM principal and a member of the UNSGAB, has contributed tothe activities jointly with MLIT. As a part of the activities, on March 6, 2013, ICHARM
supported a special high-level session on water and disasters, convened by the UN
Secretary-General H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon. This event marked the first high-level UN thematic
event discussing issues at the nexus of water and disasters.

“Special high-level session on water and disasters” (March, 2013)
4.7 Agreement with organizations
Since its establishment, ICHARM has signed a research partnership agreement with 13
overseas institutes (Table 4-1) to make collaborative efforts to address water issues around18

the world.
In 2013, to include droughts and other water issues in cold regions, it concluded such an
agreement with research institutes in Iran and Russia.

Table 4-1 List of ICHARM partners
1

Korea

2

U.S.A.

3

Netherlands

UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education(UNESCO-IHE)

4

Iran

Regional Centre on Urban Water Management(RCUWM-TEHRAN)

5

Philippines

Flood Control and Sabo Engineering Center (FCSEC)

6

Japan

Yamanashi University

7

CHINA

8

BrazilHydroEx

9

Indonesia

Tsunami & Disaster Mitigation Research Center (TDMRC)

10

Japan

Kyoto University

11

Lao PDR

Mekong River Commission (MRC)

12Indonesia

Faculty of Engineering, Universitas GADJAH MADA (UGM)

13

Iran

14

RussiaKorea Disaster Prevention Association(KDPA)
Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of the Interior of the UnitedStates of America

International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation(IRTCES)The Iran water and power resources development company(IWPC),
Ministry of Energy, Tehran, I.R.IRAN
State Hydrological Institute (SHI)

4.8 Overseas business trip
To promote international activities described above and local practices explained below,
19

ICHARM has sent roughly 440 staff members in total to overseas countries since October2010 (Fig. 4-2). Particularly, overseas business trips dramatically increased due to the launchof the UNESCO Pakistan Project in 2011 (see 5-3 for more information). Participation in fieldstudies, conferences and committees held abroad has been also on the rise as local projects
progress further and ICHARM increases its presence worldwide.

Figure 4-2 Trend of Overseas business trip20

5. Local Practices-Localism-

5.1 Outline
ICHARM has participated in local projects organized by ADB and UNESCO andimplemented activities in cooperation with local administrative and research organizations inorder to test applicability of several models developed by ICHARM to local basins. Those
projects have been successfully implemented despite difficulties in arrangement with local
offices and problems in the actual implementation process. The following describes the outlineof each project.
5.2

ADB

Project: Technical

Assistance No. 7276, Supporting Investments for

Water-Related Disaster Management
Signing a collaborative agreement with ADB
in November 2009, ICHARM conducted a
project, “Regional Technical Assistance (RETA)
7276: Supporting Investment in Water-Related
Disaster Management (TA7276),” which ended
in March 2013. This project was planned tobuild an environment to encourage investment
in disaster management in developing countries.
In the 1st Asia-Pacific Water Forum in 2007,
ICHARM was the lead organization of the water

Figure 5-1 Target Project

disaster session and assigned as a Knowledge
Hubondisasterrisk

reduction

and

flood

management. ICHARM’s involvement in this project
was part of the responsibilities as a Knowledge Hub.
This was the first international project that the
Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) had everconducted under a collaborative agreement, and it
was a major challenge for ICHARM to broaden its
scope of activity as an international organization.
In this project, ICHARM first conducted field

Final Report to ADB
On 12th March, 2013

investigations to collect a wide variety of local data on past inundations, observation systems,
livelihood on hinterland, urbanization in basins before flood prediction and flood risk
assessment. Complying with our principal policy of localism, we proposed solutions that wereconsidered best suited to target localities based on the needs and conditions confirmed fromthe field investigations.
ICHARM was involved in the following five projects:
1. Bangladesh: Development of a basic plan for a new flood forecasting and warning
21

system
2. Indonesia: Implementation of a satellite-based flood forecasting system in the SoloRiver
3. Cambodia: Development of a flood vulnerability assessment method for the Mekong
flood plain
4. Philippines: Implementation of flood management training using a satellite-based
runoff model in the Pampanga and Cagayan rivers.
5. Development of the prototype of flood risk assessment indices for the Asian region
Projects 1 to 4 are efforts to contribute to national flood risk reduction while Project 5
contributes to regional flood risk reduction. The results of TA7276 are very promising, for thetechnologies and concepts produced for the projects can be applied to other river basins withsome technological customization based on local basin characteristics.
In March 2013, Taketo Uomoto, the chief executive of PWRI, and Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, thedirector of ICHARM, visited Seethapathy Chander, the director general of the ADB Regionaland Sustainable Development Department to report the results of the TA7276 project. Mr.
Chander expressed deep gratitude and highly praised ICHARM for its achievements andhoped for its involvement in future projects as well. Convinced that the strong trust built
between ICHARM and the counterpart countries through this technical assistance is
indispensible, we will continue our commitment to water-related disaster risk reduction in
the Asia-Pacific region, maximizing our strong technological advantage and adequate
experience in disaster risk reduction and flood management as a Knowledge Hub.
5.3 UNESCO-Pakistan project
In late July 2010, the monsoon brought a record
rainfall over northern Pakistan and caused the worst
flood in the past 80 years. The flood had serious
damage on the area, affecting 20.3 million people intotal, killing 1,985 and damaging or destroying 19
millionhouses(Pakistan

2010

Annualreport,National Disaster Management Authority).
As a part of the restoration effort from this flood
disaster, UNESCO started a project called “Strategic
Strengthening of Flood Warning and Management

Training in August 2013 with three
ICHARM M.Sc. Alumni

Capacity of Pakistan” in July 2011. This comprehensive project consisted of three components,
and ICHARM has been assigned to two of these components: technical assistance andcapacity development. In the first component, ICHARM assists Pakistani government in thedevelopment and implementation of “Indus-IFAS” and the production of flood hazard maps.
Indus-IFAS is specifically designed to fit the conditions and needs of the Indus River basin by22

combining IFAS and the RRI model. In the other component, ICHARM has provided theopportunity to participate in its M.Sc. program and short-term training programs forgovernment administrators such as the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the Pakistan
Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission and other agencies.
5.4 Thai Flood simulation
From July to November in 2011,a large-scale flood occurred in the
Chao Phraya River basin of Thailand,causingtremendous

damagetolivelihood, businesses, and farmingof local people. In mid-October,
ICHARM started flood simulation
with the Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation(RRI) model as part of emergency
response in order to understand theprospective development of the floodin the basin. With the RRI model, it
is possible to predict the progress of
a flood, holistically considering theeffects of discharge and inundation.
In the case of simulation during
emergency response, topographicalinformation and estimated rainfall
supplied by satellites are often

Figure 5-2

Inundation extent in the Chao Phraya River basin

estimated (a) by the emergency response-type simulation and (b)by satellite remote sensing (provided by UNOSAT) for 2011
Thailand Flooding as of October 13, 2011used for simulation, because real-time local information is hardly available during a disaster.
The Thai flood was simulated for the extent and duration of inundation by using estimatedrainfall as input data. Part of the results were released to the public in a press conference
held jointly with MLIT, and also provided to governmental agencies and media organizations,which drew a lot of media and public attention to ICHARM and the new technology.
In response to this huge flood, JICA decided to provide assistance for the Thai government
through the “Project on a Comprehensive Flood Management Plan for the Chao Phraya River
Basin.” ICHARM supported this effort by offering technical advice as a member of theadvisory committee formed within Japan for this project.

23

6. Public Relationship
6.1 Website
As a means of public relations, ICHARM disseminates up-to-date information through its
website at http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/index.html. In recent years, our website has beenaccessed 5,000 to 6,000 times monthly.

Figure 6-1 Trend of Access number of ICHARM web site
6.2 ICHARM Newsletter
ICHARM regularly publishes ICHARM newsletters on quarterly basis, to registeredsubscribers, and through other channels. ICHARM newsletters contain a variety of news andother articles such as message from Director, special topics, report of international meetingsand seminars, visitors to ICHARM, ongoing research, training activities, and projects, etc.
Since the ICHARM establishment a total of 31 volumes of newsletters have been issued andof which 14 newsletters were published during the reporting period.
ICHARM Newsletter is available at http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/publication/index.html.

24

25

6.3 Publication
ICHARM has published the following books and leaflets related to water disasters.
Table 6-1 List of Publication
IAHS

Red

Book

HANDBOOK“Floods: From Risk

Local Disasteron

Report of the Project

Large-scaleon Establishment ofReportFlood

to Opportunity”

FloodsDisasterPreparedness
Indices (FDPI)

IAHS Publication No.

Leaflet,Typhoon Committee,Book,

357 (2013),

2013,

Leaflet,

2011,

ISBN

38 Pages2012

232 Pages

978-1-907161-35-3,

26 Pages

480 pages
Dr. Ali Chavoshian,Dr. Megumi Sugimoto

Mr. Tadashi Nakasu,

Dr. Ali Chavoshian,Dr. Kuniyoshi Takeuchi,

Mr. Toshio Okadumi,

Dr. Kuniyoshi Takeuchi

Mr. Minoru Kamoto

Mr. Yoshikazu Shimizu

6.4 Paper list

ICHARM members have been active in trying to disseminate research results or new
findings through various channels, such as submission of papers to internationallyrecognized journals, contribution to book chapters, and publication of various reports asshown in the table 6-2. The list of these activities are shown in the Annex 2.

26

Table 6-2 List of Papers
2013

2012

2011

2010

Book

1

1

1

1

Journal

12

4

8

4

Paper

12

8

6

10

Abstract or Conference

10

18

45

27

Articles or Others

4

7

14

9

PWRI Technical Note/PWRI research report

2

4

2

3

Total

41

42

76

54

27

7. Award
ICHARM researchers have been awarded several times since 2010 in recognition of their
excellent work.
AwardeeAward(reason)Dr.

Award from the Ministry of Natural

Contribution to the development of

Kamimera

Resourceshydrometeorology in Viet Nam

andEnvironment(MONRE) of Vietnam,
2013
Dr. Sayama

15th

Infrastructure

Technology

Development

of

the

Development Award,

Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation

July 5, 2013

model

Mr. Tatebe,

Best Research Exchange Award in

Flood

Dr. Sayama,

2013 SAT,

response in the case study of the 2011

Dr. Tanaka

Jan, 22, 2013

Thai flood

Dr. Sayama

Young

Scientists’Minister

of

Prize

Education,

by

the

Culture,Sports, Science and Technology ,simulation

Development

for

of

Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation(RRI)
emergency

the
(RRI)

model

Apr, 2013
Dr.

International Hydrology Prize,

Outstanding contribution to hydrology

TakeuchiOct. 23, 2012

internationally28

8. External Evaluation
ICHARM has been evaluated for its achievements by external organizations such as the
PWRI External Committee and the MLIT Evaluation Committee for independentadministrative agencies. ICHARM has also evaluated recently by UNESCO for the renewal of
the agreement between the Japanese government and UNESCO. Table 8-1 lists theevaluations and their results.
The MLIT Evaluation Committee awarded PWRI with three or five S’s for its activities in
the past three years, and one of the S’s was always given to ICHARM in the three consecutive
years, showing that the committee recognizes its high-quality international contributions.
Table 8-1 List of external evaluation
Month

Evaluator

Evaluation Result

Aug.

MLIT 2012

PWRI received the highest rating “S” for 3 out of 15

2013

Performance

evaluationofevaluation items. ICHARM contributed to one of theincorporated

administrative

three. (i.e., training and educational programs, theYearagencies under MLIT

International

Hydrology

Awardreceivedby

ICHARM director, etc.)

Sep.

MLIT 20112012

Performance

evaluationofevaluation items. ICHARM contributed to one of theincorporated

administrative

three. (i.e., training and educational programs,

PWRI received the highest rating “S” for 3 out of 15

agencies under MLIT

contribution to flood control measures in the Chao
Phraya River of Thailand, etc.)

Sep.

MLIT 20102011

Performance

evaluationofevaluation items. ICHARM contributed to one of theincorporated

administrative

five. (i.e., training and educational programs, launch

PWRI received the highest rating “S” for 5 out of 23

agencies under MLITof the doctoral program, implementation of ADB
projects, etc.)

Jan.

UNESCO Evaluation Team

2011

ICHARM was evaluated as the most active among
the UNESCO water centers around the world.

Aug.

Audit Report on the Division of“…One characteristic of the field of water sciences is

2010

Water Sciences of the UNESCO

that there are 13 category 2 institutes or centres.

Natural Science Sector

One of the most active is ICHARM, which serves as(UNESCO external auditors)

the secretariat for the International Flood Initiative[185 EX/32 Part II – page 14](IFI).”…
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001888/188888e.pdf

29