Workshop Recommendation

(Final 2003-03-11)

Recognizing water as one of the keys to develop sustainability in societies both in developed and developing countries, its monitoring, modeling, and predicting the variation of its quantity and quality are critical and should be promoted for better implementation of integrated water resource management With regard to that point of view, the activities and research achievements of GAME-T (GEWEX Asian Monsoon Experiment in Tropics) were reviewed and discussed during the 2002 workshop on GAME-T and Hydrometeorological Studies in Thailand and Southeast Asia, 29-31 October 2002, ChiangRai, Thailand, and all the participants recognized its direct and indirect contributions for solving the current and future water related problems. In order to promote such critical research activities, all the participants would like to recommend that relevant agencies to hydrometeorology and universities in participating countries should report to the head of their respective agencies the implementation of the GAME-T Phase II during the period of 2002-2005 along the lines described as follows:

1. The formulation of a new research group, consisting of young scholars in each country, is required with strong leadership under the supervision of the GAME-T advisory board in each country. Both the new group and the advisory board should hold the perspective of international collaboration among Thailand, Japan, and other participating countries in South East Asia.
    
2. Further exchange and the sharing of data and information should be promoted. One of these activities would be a publication of a textbook on hydro-climatology in South East Asia based on the fruits from GAME-T Phase I. Strengthening the utilization of the existing mailing list over the Internet is also encouraged. The GAME-T Data base servers both in NRCT and IIS/UT should be used actively with continuous input from field observation, data collection, etc. The data should also include human dimension related information. The GAME-T workshop in Thailand, which is held once a year, is giving opportunities for the exchange and sharing of data and experiences in hydrometeorology. Therefore the continuation of the workshop is recommended.
    
3. Capacity building in scientific research is crucial. Researchers and young scientists in Thailand, Japan, and participating countries should have opportunities, such as being an exchange scholar or a visiting scientist, participating in the conferences, making presentations in workshops, and joining technical visits, etc.
    
4. A series of appropriate research topics should be formulated for narrowing down the scope of research works. One possible target could be the investigation of the "Scientific Basis for a Hydro-meteorological Warning System" in short, medium, and long ranges for flood and drought management with the basic understanding of the Asian Monsoon System and the latest technology of monitoring and modeling. Research focusing on human dimension aspects should also be well regarded when implementing the project.