The University of Maryland Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), will serve as the host institute for the Third International Workshop of the Global Flood Working Group.
The three-day event organized jointly by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the Dartmouth Flood Observatory, and the University of Maryland will be held at the University of Maryland Research Park from 4-6 March, 2013.
The workshop itself is as an effort to bridge the gap between science and operational emergency management, by bringing flood scientists together with the user community. New results and case studies will be presented and reviewed, both from a scientific and applications perspective, in order to concentrate research attention on potential operational gaps.
The theme of this year’s event will focus on the establishment of a historical flood record, as well as global flood risk and impact assessment. Representatives from some of the following organizations are scheduled to attended: NASA/GSFC, NASA/JPL, NOAA, USAID/OFDA, World Bank, World Food Program, Google, Deltares, FM Global.
Workshop co-convener and local host Dr. Robert Adler, Senior Research Scientist at the University of Maryland Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, stated the third event in the annual series will be the first held in the United States. Adler anticipates more U.S. participation as a result, but noted that attendees from China, Japan, Brazil, and Europe will also ensure the event is “internationally complete.”
When asked about potential meeting highlights, Adler mentioned that the workshop’s afternoon “exercise” sessions could be of particular interest. During the first afternoon session (Monday), attempts will be made by the participants to access real-time data. (Adler’s research group will demonstrate their recently deployed Global Flood Monitoring System (GFMS), which is experimental web-based system using real-time TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) precipitation information.) Adler also expressed interest in comparing notes on the recent (January) floods in Mozambique.
