NEWSLETTER
Volume 4 No.3 ISSUE No. 14
October 2009

CONTENTS►

2

Master’s Course Update►

4

Information Network►

7

Research►

8

Coming EventsFocus
New Version of IFAS (Integrated Flood Analysis
System, Version1.2) is now available.
More details Page 6, ７
http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/
research/ifas/index.html

Message from Director

In these few months, a number of devastating disasters have been occurring
once again in Asia and the Pacific region. Typhoon 0908 Morakot hit Taiwan
on 8 August, which brought more than a 2800 mm rainfall in some placescausing serious debris flows killing more than 600 people. A month later,
Typhoon 0916 Ketsana (called Ondoy in the Philippines) brought heavy
torrential rain in Luzon, including 410.6 mm in 9 hours in Manila, on 26
September killing more than 300 people. It was followed by Typhoon 0917
Parma (Pepeng), which stayed on 3-9 October near northern Luzon andcaused serious landslides in the area killing also more than 300 people. Samoa
Tsunami on 29 September killed about 200 people, and a day later on 30
September, an earthquake hit Padang, Sumatra, and killed more than 1100
people. ICHARM expresses the deepest sorrow to the people who lost theirlives or deeply affected and sends a sincere condolence. ICHARM once again
confirms our vital role in reducing such disasters in the world.
On 23-24 August, together with colleagues of ICHARM and the Nepal
Development Research Institute (NDRI), I visited the Koshi River Basin, Nepal, tosee a dike site which breached a year ago on 18 August 2008. We found thepeople affected by the flood and sediment still suffering from damages andstruggling for recovery. The breached site was closed and new spurs werebuilt, but the sand deposit is left unremoved and no farming has been resumed.
Most of the local people are still dependent on various help programs of thegovernment, which have been rather generous but now about to be terminated.
They have to look for new life, but have not yet been able to find it so far. We
met a group of more than a dozen local women and children who passed by
the debris site. They had on their shoulders a bundle of bushes collected nearby
to burn for their domestic use. They expressed their anxiety to the future. We
could only encourage them stressing that the sure way to lead sustainable wellbeing is human empowerment by capacity development. We encouraged theirchildren to continue schooling. They replied that, in spite of their hardship indaily life, they are making as much effort as possible in doing so.
In this context, ICHARM is pleased to have seven new masters successfully
graduated from ICHARM master’s course on water-related disastermanagement on 16 September. They all went back home and resumed theirduties with a higher level of knowledge and experience in disastermanagement. In addition, they now have a good network of fellow experts
with whom to exchange and discuss professional experiences. Two weeks laterfrom their graduation, we welcomed thirteen new students at ICHARM for the
2009-2010 class and the master’s program has started its third year.

Kuniyoshi Takeuchi
Director of ICHARM

ICHARM Newsletter Volume 4 No.3 y October 2009

Master’s Course Update
Master's Program "Water-related Risk Management Course of Disaster Management
Policy Program" completes its successful second year and starts its third year
ICHARM has been conducting a one-year Master’s program entitledthe “Water-related Risk Management Course of Disaster
Management Policy Program” since September 2008 in collaboration
with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS).
This training course is characterized by the following three points:“Problem Solving-oriented”, “Practical Rather Than Theoretical” and“One-year Master’s Course”.
In the second year, out of nine who initially started this program,seven students (two each from Bangladesh and China, one each fromThe second class of graduates from the Master’s program
Ethiopia, Nepal and Indonesia) finally fulfilled the graduating
gathers for photos at the front gate of the GRIPS (16 Sep.)
requirements and were granted a Master’s degree in disastermanagement. Mr. Biswas Robin Kumar was awarded the “Outstanding Award” by Director Takeuchi for his distinguishedachievement.
The program provided a great opportunity for the students to increase their professional
knowledge by working on their theses. Additionally, it greatly helped ICHARM itself tocreate and strengthen a global network through them. The network of this kind will surely
contribute to future ICHARM activities to a great extent.
This year, the program added another unique feature to itself to motivate students to work
even harder on graduation theses. They were strongly encouraged to submit theses to
Mr. Biswas is awarded the Outstanding Award byprofessional societies in Japan. As a result, two students were given an opportunity to
Director Takeuchi.
present their papers at the Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources in August
and at the 11th International Summer Symposium in September hosted by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers. The training
program will continue to provide prospective students with presentation opportunities such as these and further motivate them towork towards better Master’s theses.
Shortly after the second graduation, the program started its third year on 6 October. The opening
ceremony was held at ICHARM on 8 October. Thirteen students participate in the program from
Bangladesh (2), China (1), Ethiopia (1), Indonesia (3), Japan (1), Myanmar (1), Philippines (1), Sri Lanka(2) and Thailand (1). On behalf of the students, Mr. Fano Jerry Austria from the Philippines spoke in frontof the ceremony participants and expressed his strong determination to complete the one-year program
successfully.
This program is also a contribution to the United Nations (UN) Decade for Education and Sustainable
Development (DESD) 2005-2014.
For more details, please visit: http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/html/training/index.html

Group photo at the opening ceremony of master’s program (8 Oct.)

2

Mr. Fano makes a greeting
address.

ICHARM Newsletter Volume 4 No.3 y October 2009

Information Network
Em. Prof Roland K. Price of UNESCO-IHE visits ICHARM for Training Review(21-27 July 2009)
Em. Prof Roland K. Price of UNESCO-IHE visited ICHARM from 21 to 28
September, to review the Master’s course and research activities currently
conducted by ICHARM. He was invited for this review in response to therequest from Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, director of ICHARM.
In the review, he gave us various kinds of advice about the Master’s course
and research activities. ICHARM will continue to brush them up based on his
advice to make global contribution in water-related disasters and risk
management.
Training review (the second person from the left is Prof. Price.)

The Letter of Agreement “Partnership among ADB, PWRI and ICIMOD for the Preparation of Asian
Water Development Outlook 2010 (AWDO2010) - Key Dimension 5: Building Resilient
Communities” signed (30 September 2009)
As also reported in the July 2009 edition of ICHARM NewsletterNo.13, ICHARM participated in drafting the second Asian Water
Development Outlook (AWDO2010) to write Key Dimension 5 (KD 5):
Building resilient communities that can adapt to changes, focusing on
disaster risk management and preparedness, among other four key
dimensions outlined in the table below.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has commissioned the second editionof AWDO, which will be published in 2010. A team of experts from theregional water knowledge hubs and lead organizations of the AsiaPacific Water Forum (APWF) have been designated to prepare AWDO
2010. Yoganath Adikari, research specialist, and Yoshiyuki Imamura,chief researcher, are in the expert list of the AWDO team from ICHARM.
AWDO team meeting at PUB, Singapore
Adikari attended the 4th AWDO team meeting from 17 to 18
September, at the Public Utility Board (PUB) in Singapore to discuss the production and progress of the publication.
A tripartite letter of agreement on partnership for the preparation of Asian Water Development Outlook 2010 – Key
Dimension 5: Building Resilient Communities was signed on 30 September by Dr. Tadahiko Sakamoto, chief executive of PWRI(ICHARM), Dr. Andreas Schild, director general of ICIMOD and Mr. Xianbin Yao, director general of the ADB Regional
Sustainable Development to formalize the commencement of the tripartite partnership.
The following table shows the key dimensions of water security, those will be included in AWDO 2010
and respective lead organizations responsible for the production tasks.

Key Dimention of Water Security
1. Satisfying household needs
2. Supporting productive economies

Lead Organizations in the AWDO 2010 Team
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)+ partners
International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations (FAO) + partners

3. Managing vibrant and livable cities
4. Restoring healthy rivers
5. Building resilient communities

Public Utilities Board (PUB) in Singapore + partners
International Water Center (IWC) + partners
ICHARM, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) + partners

Cross-cutting Priority for Water Security

Lead Organizations in the AWDO 2010 Team

Improving governance

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (LKYSPP) + partners

3

ICHARM Newsletter Volume 4 No.3 y October 2009

Information Network

Second Meeting Regarding Quadrilateral Exploration of Risk-Based Approaches/Standards, Tsukuba, Japan (30 September-1 October 2009)
Flood management officials from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA and Japanattended this meeting. From ICHARM, Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, director, Shigenobu Tanaka,
deputy director, and four senior members joined this meeting as specialists on floodrisk assessment and management.
On the first day, the participants took a field trip to see typical flood control projects inJapan. Principal issues were discussed on the second day at the National Institute forLand and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) in Tsukuba. The participants intensively
Participants of the quadrilateral meeting.
exchange and share information on 1) methodology to qualitatively evaluate
comprehensive flood risk and 2) best practices to manage flood risk based on a variety of risks and river basin characteristics.
Two presentations were made by Japanese representatives. Kazuhiko Fukami, leader of the Hydrologic Engineering Research
Team of ICHARM, introduced current practices of flood risk assessment. Mr. Koji Ikeuchi, director of the River Planning Division of
the River Bureau, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), presented typical practices of flood risk
management in both highly urbanized and rural areas. The meeting agreed that further discussion should be promoted and thefinal outputs of the joint research on best practices of risk-based approaches were to be presented at the 5th International
Conference on Flood Management (ICFM5), which will be held in Tsukuba, Japan, in autumn of 2011.

ICHARM Signs the MOU with IRTCES (17 September)
ICHARM signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International
Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES.) The signingceremony was held at ICHARM on 17 September. Six people participated including
Prof. Hu Chunhong, secretary-general of IRTCES, and Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, director of
ICHARM, Shigenobu Tanaka, deputy director of ICHARM, and three other people fromICHARM. Prof. Hu and Director Takeuchi signed the agreement.
MOU is expected to enhance cooperation between the institutes in the field of water
disaster risk management.
Prof. Takeuchi (left) and Prof. Hu (right)＜ICHARM’s research partners＞
Organization

Country

Date

International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES)

China

17 September 2009

University of Yamanashi

Japan

27 March 2009

Flood Control and Sabo Engineering Center (FCSEC)

Philippines

21 July 2008

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

Netherlands

9 June 2008

Regional Centre on Urban Water Management (RCUWM-TEHRAN)

Iran

9 June 2008

Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of the Interior of the United States of America

USA

20 June 2007

Special Corporation Korea Disaster Prevention Association (KDPA)

Korea

25 December 2006

International Organization

22 August 2006

USA

3 July 2006

Thailand16 December 2005

Regents of the University of California, on behalf of the Davis Campus

USA

23 August 2005

Korea Institute of Water and Environment (KWATER)

Korea

10 November 2003

Cambodia

21 March 2003

China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research

China

17 February 2003

Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT)

Korea

12 November 2002

United Nations University
Institute for Water Resources (IWR)
Royal Irrigation Department of Thailand

Mekong River Commission, National Institute for Rural Engineering

4ICHARM Newsletter Volume 4 No.3 y October 2009

Information Network

Sentinel-Asia Flood WG, Bali, Indonesia (15-17 July 2009)
Kazuhiko Fukami, team leader of the Hydrologic Engineering Research Team of ICHARM, attended the Joint Project Team
Meeting (JPTM2009) of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) held in Bali, Indonesia, during 15-17 July
2009. He is the chair of the Flood Monitoring Working Group of the Sentinel Asia Project, which aims to share disaster
information in the Asia-Pacific region on the Digital Asia (Web-GIS) platform and to make the best use of earth observation
satellites data for disaster management in the Asia-Pacific region. The Flood Monitoring WG discussed its Phase-2 activities, inparticular, enhancement of sharing and utilizing flood alert information even in poorly-gauged rivers in developing countries
through the promotion of the implementation of the Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS), jointly developed by ICHARM andprivate companies. IFAS can directly use quasi-real-time satellite-based rainfall products such as IFNet-GFAS and JAXAGSMaP. The WG agreed to conduct training seminars for IFAS applications and start the selection of their venues.

IFAS Training Workshop in Nepal (26-27 August 2009)
An IFAS training workshop was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 26 to 27 August. This
workshop was coorganized by ICHARM and the Nepal Research Development Institute(NDRI). Eight people gathered from universities, research institutes, river and disastermanagement agencies to learn how to operate the system. The participants voiced highexpectations and a number of requests and comments related to IFAS.

ICHARM Researcher Kawakami (center) shows how to operate IFAS to Nepalese participants.

Orientation Visit for Coastal Vegetation Survey in Yogyakarta and UNISDR-ESCAP Meetingin Bangkok (Yogyakarta: 10-14 September 2009/ Bangkok: 15-18 September 2009)
Under the frame of research on sustainable tsunami countermeasures for developing countries, ICHARM
dispatched Research Specialist Dinar Istiyanto to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from 11 to 14 September
2009, and to Thailand, Bangkok, from 15 to 18 September, 2009.
In line with the development of the Guideline for Planning and Design of Tsunami Mitigative Coastal
Forests, ICHARM is collecting additional data on the characteristics of coastal vegetation in the southerncoast of Java Island. The data collection will be conducted in cooperation with local partners. The mission to
Yogyakarta was planned to discuss with potential local partners and visit potential locations for fieldsurvey. Istiyanto visited the Research Center for Disaster (PSBA) of Gadjah Mada University at Yogyakarta
to discuss cooperation in the coastal vegetation data collection and analysis. He also visited the Regional
Planning Board of Yogyakarta Province and collected information about the Proposal of Coastal Forest
Creation Sites and Basic Policy. After that, he also visited three potential locations for field survey, i.e.
Bugel and Ketawang Coasts at Central Java and Pacitan Coast at East Java. Further potential locations
will be pre-surveyed by PSBA before survey locations will be finally determined.

Interviewing a local resident
during the pre-survey at Pacitan,southern coast of Java.

Istiyanto also visited Bangkok, Thailand, to participate in the End-of-Project and Impact Review Meeting of the “Building
Resilience to Tsunami in Indian Ocean Region” project, coordinated by UNISDR and funded by the EC and then the UNISDRESCAP Joint Regional Consultation Meeting focusing on “Coastal andClimate Hazard: Priorities for the Indian Ocean and South East Asia”. In
the first meeting, he presented the positive impacts of theComprehensive Tsunami Disaster Prevention Training Course, which was
conducted by ICHARM about a year ago, based on the questionnaireanswered by the former training participants in India, Indonesia, theMaldives and Sri Lanka. In the second meeting, the participants agreed
on the priority areas for prospective joint work related to coastal andclimate hazards. They were classified into preparedness of coastal
communities for disaster and climate change, education and awarenesson disaster and climate change, communication of disaster and climate
All participants after the UNISDRUNISDR-ESCAP Meeting in Bangkok.
information, and disaster and climate risk knowledge.
5

ICHARM Newsletter Volume 4 No.3 y October 2009

International Workshop on Application and Validation of GFAS/IFAS
The Hydrologic Engineering Research Team of ICHARM has developed a concise
flood-runoff analysis system called “Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS)” as atoolkit for more effective and efficient flood forecasting in developing countries.
IFAS is equipped with interfaces to input both ground-based and satellite-based
rainfall data, GIS functions to construct flood-runoff models, a default runoff
analysis model, as well as interfaces to display output results. All these contribute toefficient installation of flood forecasting systems in poorly gauged basins. Moreover,to assist engineers in developing countries in independently forecasting floods, weare not only developing an analysis system but also distributing IFAS free of charge
and holding trainings and workshops. Meanwhile, the 15th World MeteorologicalOrganization (WMO) Commission for Hydrology (CHy) last November adopted theresolution that includes WMO’s support for the dissemination of this system.

Discussion with workshop participants

As a part of ICHARM activities to reduce flood hazards, we held the International Workshop on Application and Validation of GFAS/IFAS jointly with the International Flood Network (IF-Net, founded to promote international cooperation in flood countermeasures) on 3
to 7 August, funded by the Asia-Pacific Network (APN) for Global Change Research. We invited six participants currently involved inflood prediction or disaster management from six nations such as India, Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Laos.
The workshop provided the participants with a variety of learning opportunities to contribute to their efforts in flood damage reduction
at home. They reported current situations related to flood management in their countries. They visited the Edogawa River Office tolearn flood prediction presently in practice in Japan. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) gave them a presentation on asatellite-based rainfall observation project. ICHARM Hydrologic Engineering Research Team also gave a presentation on IFAS,
including the development background, main functions and the operation method. The participants installed a new version of IFAS,
released in this opportunity, in their computers, learned to operate run-off analysis using satellite-based rainfall, and produced run-off
models of target basins in their own country.

New Version of IFAS (Version 1.2)
The latest version of Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS) is now available at the ICHARM website (http://
www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/research/ifas/index.html) for free download. In addition to an installer, users candownload the IFAS manual and sample data. The following are some of the main improvements added to theprevious version:
mm/h

mm/h

30

R2＝0.55
20

Correct

10

Underestimate

GSMaP_data

GSMaP_data300

Two more satellite-based rainfall products,
GSMaP_NRT*1 and 3B42RT_V6*2 were added as
input rainfall data.

10

0

0

1. More satellite-based rainfall products

R2＝0.851201020Gauged_data

30

0

mm/h

10

20
Gauged_data

30

mm/h

2. Correction function for satellitebased rainfall

3. Additional GIS data

5. Improved model resolution

6. Improved output function

The correction function for GSMaP was added.

*1: Available at http://sharaku.eorc.jaxa.jp/GSMaP/index_j.htm*2: Available at ftp://trmmopen.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/merged/
mergeIRMicro

4. Improved function for target-area
selection
This improved function enables users to selecttarget areas easily on a map.

With the new IFAS, users can set the model
resolution for runoff analysis in 0.1 km.

6

GIS data for the global map (http://
www1.gsi.go.jp/geowww/globalmap-gsi/
globalmap-gsi.html) was added as additional
data for model creation.

The new IFAS can display calculation results
on Google Earth in KML and KMZ in addition
to previous file formats.

ICHARM Newsletter Volume 4 No.3 y October 2009

Research
Introduction of "IFAS " (No.2)

PWRI-Distributed Hydrological Model (Version 2.0)
The Hydrologic Engineering Research Team of ICHARM is currently working on development of the Integrated Flood Analysis
System (IFAS), a flood forecasting system capable of using satellite-based rainfall information. ICHARM Newsletter has been
covering the main functions of IFAS as a series. Satellite-based rainfall and its correction method were introduced in the previous
issue. In this brief report, we will explain further
progress in the IFAS project with specific focus on
降雨
Precipitation
the PWRI Distributed Hydrological Model, one of
the IFAS main engines.
Flow of surface

表面の流れ

Flow
of river channel
河道の流れ
Flow地中の流れofunderground
Modeling
モデル化
降雨
Precipitation

Surface
表層モデル
Model

River channel model
河道モデル

河道モデル
River
channnel model

Underground
water
地下水
モデル
Model

Figure-1 an outline of PWRI Distributed Model

IFAS uses two runoff analysis models. One is the
PWRI Distributed Hydrological Model, developedby the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI), andthe other is the BTOP model, mainly developed by
University of Yamanashi. IFAS is designed to deal
with different types of flood events such as
typhoons and seasonal floods by means ofdifferent models for different purposes.
The features of the PWRI Distributed Model is asfollows:1)(1)A basin is divided into fine meshes. Discharge iscalculated for each mesh (Figure-1).
(2)Each mesh has two tanks in the vertical direction,
surface and aquifer tanks (Figure-2). Water
gathered in a surface tank flow out in thevertical and horizontal directions (to adjacentcells in both directions). For tracking river
channels, IFAS uses the Kinematic Wave Modelto calculate the time delay.

(3)The PWRI model simply estimate parameters by using mesh information such as landform, soil, geology, and land use as
constants. (IFAS has the function of loading elevation, land use and other data and can automatically make drainage courses
and set parameters.)
The PWRI Distributed Model is a constant distributed runoff model which estimate discharge for each mesh. This feature enables
IFAS to display calculation results at any given point. We can make easy use of this model because of the installed tools of GIS,
user-friendly interfaces, and a correction method for satellite-based rainfall data (For details, see ICHARM Newsletter No.13).
Our next step is to disseminate and apply IFAS worldwide based on local situations and users’ needs. We simultaneously aim at
further improvement of its functions such as calibration of parameters and validation of simulation results.

Figure-2 sketch of water flow1)Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS Version 1.2) User’s manual: Kazuhiko Fukami, Tomonobu Sugiura, Jun Magome, Takahiro
Kawakami, Technical Note of PWRI No.4148, 2009
7

ICHARM Newsletter Volume 4 No.3 y October 2009

Coming Events◆ ICHARM Quick Report on Floods 10 December 2009, ICHARM, Japan

ICHARM organizes a collection of quick reports on the most serious floods occurring 2008-2009, inviting top local experts
responsible for national flood research and management. Experts from Taiwan, the Philippines, Myanmar and Bangladesh arealso scheduled to attend the meeting.
Date: Thu. 10 December 2009
Venue: ICHARM Auditorium (Tsukuba-city, Japan)
More details will be uploaded on ICHARM website (http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/index.html.)◆ 5th meeting of International Coordination Group (ICG), GEOSS Asia Water Cycle Initiative (AWCI)

15-17 December 2009, the University of Tokyo, Japan
In order to promote the Asian Water Cycle Initiative (AWCI) contributing to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems(GEOSS), current status and future directions of its demonstration projects in Asia such as researches and capacity buildings for
integrated water resources management (IWRM) will be discussed.

New Members Joined ICHARM
Yoshiyuki Imamura (Chief Researcher for Special Assignment)
Dr. Yoshiyuki Imamura joined ICHARM on 1 August as a chief researcher for special assignment. He is
engaged in drafting the Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO2010): KD5 and a wide array ofassignments for the International Flood Initiative (IFI).
He studied at the University of Cambridge from 1995 to 1997 and received the Student Prize in acompetition held by the East Anglian Branch of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental
Management (CIWEM). He worked at the Secretariat of the World Water Assessment Programme(WWAP) housed in UNESCO headquarters from its establishment in 2000. He was engaged in the
production of the World Water Development Report (WWDR) and the launch of IFI. He was also responsible forestablishing ICHARM at the Water Science Division of UNESCO until he returned to Japan in 2005. His recent research field
is water policies in coping with the global water crisis.

Takahiro Sayama (Researcher)Dr. Takahiro Sayama joined ICHARM as a researcher of the Hydrologic Engineering Research Team
from 1 October. He will be working on the development of flood prediction systems based on
distributed rainfall-runoff modeling. Before coming to ICHARM, he was an assistant professor at theDisaster Prevention Research Institute of Kyoto University and responsible for research and education
related to rainfall-runoff and rainfall-sediment-runoff predictions. He was also a visiting scholar from
August 2007 to August 2009 at Oregon State University, where he concentrated on research in foresthydrology particularly to answer a basic hydrologic question: "How does rain water move frommountains to streams?" Knowledge and field experience obtained from hydrologic process studies will
be beneficial for his big challenge at ICHARM to develop a flood prediction system based on understanding local
hydrologic processes.
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1-6 Minamihara, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8516, Japan
Tel: +81 29 879 6809 Fax: +81 29 879 6709 Email: icharm@pwri.go.jp

Copyright (c) 2009 Public Works Research Institute8