TEHRAN – The International Workshop on the Space Technology Applications for Drought, Flood, and Water Resource Management will be held in Tehran from August 9 to 11.

The event is organized by the Iranian Space Agency and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs through the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER).

The workshop will discuss the latest scientific and practical advances in the applications of space technologies to solve problems related to water scarcity and natural hazards.

It will explore how current space technologies help to identify and monitor the effects of a changing climate – including the onset of drought, flash floods, and generally water resources conditions as a result of global climate change in particular on an international and regional scale.

The discussions at the Workshop will also be linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main objectives of the Workshop are, therefore, to promote collaborative research, identification of challenges, and provide recommendations to enhance regional efforts towards disaster management and emergency response.

The workshop is being planned for disaster management professionals, technical experts, researchers, and educators from international, regional, national, and local institutions, academic institutions, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as from private industry.

The expected outcomes of the workshop include recommendations and findings on the use of space technology, facilitate the partnerships between countries in the region and international networks, define a road map to address issues and concerns identified during the workshop, and nurture the ideas of pilot projects and research to strengthen collaboration at a regional scale.

More drought predicted over next 5 years

According to the World Meteorological Organization's multiannual forecast, in the next five years, Iran’s average rainfall will decline by 75 percent, and the temperature rises by 50-75 percent compared to the long-term average.

Accordingly, the adoption of national policies to adapt to low rainfall and reduce the consequences of drought is inevitable, and the Seventh Development Plan should be prepared on the basis of drought and climate change, Vazifeh said in May.

A large part of the country has been hit by severe drought during the past 12 months. Forecasts indicate that we will not have significant rainfall in the remaining months of the current water year, so that, we face severe to very severe drought in most parts of the country, he stated.

FB/MG