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The Third International MAHASRI/HyARC Workshop on Asian Monsoon and Water Cycle

Report on the 3rd MAHASRI/HyARC Workshop

1. Background and Objective

Predictions of the changes in the Asian monsoon and accompanying changes in the hydrological cycle are keenly being sought by international research communities and societies in Asian countries.

Monsoon research occupies an important niche in the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and the Monsoon Asian Hydro-Atmosphere Scientific Research and Prediction Initiative (MAHASRI) is currently being conducted in the Asian monsoon region as an international research project under the umbrella of Global Energy and Water Exchanges Project (GEWEX), WCRP.

The objectives of the workshop are to share the results of the most recent MAHASRI-related research studies conducted in Vietnam and in the neighboring regions, and to discuss current research issues and recent findings regarding the relationship between the torrential rains and the Asian monsoon activity, large-scale land-atmosphere interactions, and climate change, and the adaptation and risk management thereto.

The workshop is also aimed at identifying the research needs related to the hydrological cycle in Asian monsoon region and discussing how collaborative research could be advanced in Asian countries.

2. Workshop Overview

Dates:

August 28-30, 2013

Location:

Oriental Hotel in Da Nang City, Vietnam

Number of participants:

90 (9 countries and regions; 17 participants from Japan, including three Vietnamese students, one Filipino student, and one Thai student)

Number of presentations:

48 (including 15 invited oral presentations and 18 poster presentations)

As shown in the appended workshop agenda, presentations that were followed by lively discussions were given during six sessions:

• (1) Results of the MAHASRI, EAMEX, AMY, and other Related National and International Projects;
• (2) Water Problems in Cities in Vietnam and Southeast Asia;
• (3) Heavy rainfall and the prediction of such rainfall in Vietnam and Southeast Asia;
• (4) Flood prediction and disaster mitigation in Vietnam and Southeast Asia;
• (5) Asian monsoon water and material cycle, and land-ocean-atmosphere interaction; and
• (6) Climate changes, adaptation, and mitigation for sustainable development in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

3. Results and Accomplishments

This meeting was jointly sponsored by

• the Vietnamese National Hydro-Meteorological Service (VNHMS),
• the MAHASRI Subcommittee of the Science Council of Japan, and
• the Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center (HyARC) at Nagoya University,

• the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC),
• Tokyo Metropolitan University,
• the University of Tokyo,
• Kyoto University,
• the Tokyo Institute of Technology,
• Chiba University,
• the Vietnamese Institute of Meteorology Hydrology and Environment (IMHEN), and
• the Hanoi University of Science.

The number of presentations, foreign participants, and total participants was approximately the same as that in the previous MAHASRI/HyARC workshop. Although there were fewer Japanese participants, the number of participants and presentations by young Vietnamese researchers increased, reflecting an increase in monsoon research in Vietnam.

Research accomplishments included numerous presentations on a variety of topics, such as advances in our understanding of the winter Asian monsoon and accompanying extreme rainfall events, and investigations on rainfall events related to tropical disturbances and intra-seasonal variability during the summer monsoon.

Future research needs identified at the workshop included further investigations on torrential rainfall events, increasing our understanding of meso-scale processes, examining current climatological conditions and the causes associated with long-term changes in these conditions, and improving the reproduction of extreme events by using climate models.

Regarding the the challenges facing future research, in order to achieve an integrated understanding of South Asian and Western Pacific/East Asian monsoons, which have been so far studied independently, it is necessary to organize a wide range of collaborative research that covers the two geographic regions more effectively.

Research studies of the Indochina regions that will be promoted by MAHASRI will play a role in cross linking these regions.

Recently, efforts have been made to strengthen the international cooperation in climatological research among ASEAN countries, and the Maritime Continent Center of Excellence (MCCOE), which was established in November 2013 in Indonesia, will serve as one of the core institutions in this regard.

In conjunction with these developments in East and South Asia, it is necessary to expand linkages over a wider geographical area and to design a project based on this network that will succeed the MAHASRI, which is scheduled to end in 2015.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam, and this year this year’s workshop was recognized as a commemorative event by the Vietnamese organizers. At the opening ceremony, eight Japanese researchers were awarded certificates and medals by the Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for their contributions to the research on the natural and water resources of Vietnam.