A workshop on modeling and assessment of the outburst hazard of high-mountain lakes was organized and conducted by the Center
For strengthening the capacity for monitoring and forecasting natural disasters associated with outburst-prone lakes and mudflows, on June 21, 2023 a Letter of Agreement was signed between the United Nations Development Program and the Center for Emergency Situations and Disaster Risk Reduction to implement of the UNDP project funded by the Government of Japan.
As part of the agreement and to build capacity for national authorities to model, process and analyze satellite data for monitoring GLOF, on February 15-16, 2024 a workshop on the topic: “Modeling and assessment of the outburst hazard of high-mountain lakes” was arranged and held.
This workshop was attended by representatives of regional branches of the Department of Monitoring and Forecasting Emergency Situations, the Crisis Management Center under the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Agency for Hydrometeorology under the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic.
In his welcoming speech, the attaché of the Japanese Embassy in the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Hiroki Saito, noted the commitment of the Japanese government to projects in disaster risk reduction. He noted that with the support of the Government of Japan, projects aimed at developing the potential of the Unified System for Integrated Monitoring of Emergency Forecasting in the Kyrgyz Republic have been implemented in the Republic.
In turn, the Director of the Emergency Monitoring and Forecasting Department under the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Sakyev Daur presented to the workshop participants the main results of the UNDP project “Reducing risks and vulnerability from glacial lake outburst (GLOF) and mudflows in Kyrgyzstan through strengthening the national disaster monitoring system and adaptation community potential."
On February 15, 2024 Center experts made the following presentations for the workshop participants:
- History of the glacier lakes in the Kyrgyz Republic.
- Methods for modeling mudflows of breakthrough genesis (RAMMS, national methodology). Theory.
- Methods for modeling mudflows of breakthrough genesis in RAMMS software.
February 16, 2024 was dedicated to practical exercises which were conducted in the Department of Emergency Monitoring and Forecasting under the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic.
During the practical sessions, the workshop participants dealt with practical issues:
- using Google Earth engine to monitor outburst-prone lakes;
- indices for determining the water surface;
- analytical comparison of different NDWI and MNDWI indices;
- practical exercises on writing and running various scripts.
Overall, participants noted the importance of capacity building activities for national authorities to model, process and analyze satellite data for GLOF monitoring.
