Ongoing development and adoption of a regional near real time flood monitoring service by SERVIR-Mekong: challenges, innovations and upcoming deliveries

Floods in the Lower Mekong region lead to heavy human and infrastructure losses. With climate change, the increased impacts of these events has lead to various interventions including development of better flood monitoring and forecasting services. To address this need, the development of a Near-Real-Time (NRT) monitoring tool is critical for guiding flood response efforts and conducting damage assessments. In addition to addressing these real-time post-event needs, archived flood extents provide crucial information for improving pre-event flood preparedness and mitigation. They are required for informing contingency plans, conducting risk assessments, and improving flood forecasting systems. In 2018, specific needs and regional country stakeholder mapping for NRT flood monitoring was conducted by SERVIR-Mekong hosted at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) whereby a multi-sensor data based product, namely HYDrologic Remote sensing Analysis for Floods (HYDRAFloods) was selected as a preferred solution to floods. This presentation is based on a study drawing on Science and Technology Studies (STS) paradigm to depict the historical evolution of this technological innovation with respect to various actors over time. It details how the SERVIR-Mekong team initially conducted a series of detailed needs consultations to assess regional flood management capacity within Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar. From these regional scale consultations, Myanmar was identified as the initial focus country for implementing the HYDRAFloods system. Subsequently, country level consultations and workshops were conducted in 2018 and 2019 to further understand local flood management practices by Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DHM) and Department of Disaster Management (DDM). A beta version was developed to develop use cases for Myanmar and presently flood maps are being delivered to the World Food Programme (WFP) This development required overcoming various challenges including those arising from logistical, technical and human resources sectors. A main finding from this study is how dovetailing scientific research with product development has overcome these challenges, while facilitating uptake and meeting needs for present and upcoming flood mapping services in the region.