Center Collaboration Symposium "Catchment based Flood Management x Regional Weather Data" Held

On June 23, 2023, a collaborative symposium entitled "Green Watershed Flood Control x Regional Meteorological Data - Thinking about the increasingly severe disasters in Japan" was held at the Komaba II Campus of the University of Tokyo by the Regional Co-Creation Center for "A Sustainable Society Originating from Reconstruction Centered on Watershed Flood Control" and the Center for Co-Creation of a Sustainable Society Using Regional Meteorological Data and Cutting-Edge Academic Studies (Clim CORE).

The event was also held online, with 282 people attending online and 48 people attending in person. Thank you very much.

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Opening remarks

To open the event, Project Officer Zaiman from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), which adopted the projects of both centers, gave a speech.

Lecture by the Regional Co-Creation Center: "A sustainable society based on reconstruction centered on river basin flood control"

At the symposium, Project Leader Shimatani (Prefectural University of Kumamoto) of the Regional Co-Creation Center gave a lecture on the overall picture and current progress of the Green Watershed Flood Control Project, and introduced the function of rain gardens as runoff control and the hosting of Green Watershed Flood Control Tours.

Professor Kayaba (Nagoya Institute of Technology) gave a detailed explanation of the infiltration capacity of rain gardens as a runoff control technology and their function of delaying peak waves. He also mentioned that research will be conducted to flatten flood waveforms at steep slopes using a newly installed 50m waterway at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

Professor Kuraji (University of Tokyo) spoke from the perspective of forest management about what kind of forests had experienced landslides, based on photographs of the Kuma River during the heavy rains of July 2020. He also introduced research on tree trunk rainfall measurements and the evapotranspiration function of rainwater in the forests of Nanryo High School in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Professor Furuta (Taisho University) introduced the installation of river cameras mainly in the Kannose area of Kumamura, Kumamoto Prefecture, and his research activities to realize regional DX through surface data collection using a simple water level system. He also talked about future prospects, such as a communication network using Starlink satellite communication.

Lecture on the Center for Co-Creation of a War-Road Society Using Regional Weather Data and Cutting-Edge Academics

　Project leader Nakamura (University of Tokyo) of the Center for Regional Weather Data and Advanced Academic Research (Clim CORE) gave a lecture on the overall picture of the project. He introduced how they collaborated with the Japan Meteorological Agency to reanalyze meteorological data using a new algorithm, which has made it possible to display meteorological data in a 5km mesh.

Deputy PL Iida (University of Tokyo) introduced the collaborative project with Kumamoto Prefecture, explaining that a comprehensive collaboration agreement was concluded with Kumamoto Prefecture and Kumamoto University in the wake of the Kumamoto earthquake, and that Kumamoto Prefecture is promoting disaster prevention and mitigation urban development using meteorological data.

panel discussion

　After each presentation, a panel discussion was held.

In addition to the speakers, Mr. Tsukahara, Representative Director of the Riverfront Institute, also joined the discussion, and various topics were discussed, including collaboration between the centers and the worsening situation in Japan. While the discussion was candid, the importance of collaboration was confirmed.

Closing Remarks

　Finally, Mr. Sugiyama, Director of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, gave closing remarks, bringing the symposium to a successful close.

The next meeting is scheduled to be held at Prefectural University of Kumamoto. We will continue to exchange information and deepen our collaboration.