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MAWRED - Modeling and Monitoring Agriculture and Water Resources Development
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www.mawredh2o.org
SOUND WATER MANAGEMENT STARTS WITH GOOD DATA PROVISION
Groundwater resources are under increasing presssure in the MENA region and
declining levels in many aquifers highlight the need for careful future
management. Given the growing need for water in many economic sectors,
decision-makers need to understand current resource limits and the impacts of
future conditions, as they develop policies balancing demands. The provision of
timely data is an important input into this process and yet in many MENA
countries such information is limited.
HARNESSING LEADING EDGE MODELING AND SPACE SCIENCE
DEVELOPMENTS
Regional- and country-scale modeling of groundwater and surface resources is
being developed under a partnership between ICBA and NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center. This program harnesses cutting edge space-based earth observations and
modeling and represents a new era in hydrological modeling and water resources
assessment in the region. The model, named MENA-LDAS (Middle East North Africa -
Land Data Assimilation System) and running at the International Center for
Biosaline Agriculture in Dubai, is producing not only current observations of
water amounts, but is also generating future values under the latest climate
change projections.
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With agriculture continuing to use the major share of water in most countries,
an important component of this program is the linked development of
land-use/crop maps that are coupled with water in an irrigation model. This
supports an assessment of the impact of existing and future water use in
irrigation so facilitating collaborative initiatives in both water and
agriculture policy.
Land Data Assimilation Systems -LDAS
LDAs are computer models that use various mathematical equations to represent
natural processes. They differ from traditional models in that sophisticated
methods are applied to constrain predictions using observed data - from field
measurements or satellite sensors - so increasing their accuracy.
Outputs from the modeling will include regional water balances, groundwater and
surface water levels, climate change predictions of water availability, and
drought monitoring. While at the national scale, data outputs will include
ground- and surface-water resources levels, land-use and crop-type information
as well as values for irrigation use.
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DEVELOPING A REGIONAL HUB WATER, AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE CHANGE MODELING |
As well as developing new knowledge, the MENA-LDAS program also focuses on
developing communities of practice in this area. The team is working closely
with ministries responsible for water and for agriculture as well as with remote
sensing centers to bring both new data and modeling knowledge to the specific
problems of individual countries. Researchers and policy developers are able to
spend time at the ICBA modeling center to develop their capacity and to focus on
modeling particular areas of relevance.
Inputs of MENA-LDAS |
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