At the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), which faced its greatest
crisis ever when it was inundated with 2 meters of water on 21 October
2011, work on flood and disaster management is still on. The Disaster
Charter on the floods in Thailand was activated on 17 October 2011
following a request by the Asia Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)
through the Sentinel Asia, and AIT was appointed as incharge of project
management. Dr. Masahiko Nagai, Associate Director, AIT’s Geo
Informatics Center, was appointed project manager of the Disaster
Charter.
Since then, scores of satellite maps and value-added products have
been prepared on the Thailand floods. These satellite maps are being
used by organizations like Geo-Informatics and Space Technology
Development (GISTDA), Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation
(DDPM), and UNESCAP.
“A significant fact is that these products have been produced by
student volunteers who are pursuing studies in Remote Sensing and
Geographical Information Systems at AIT,” Dr. Nagai says. These
students have been able to use the knowledge they acquired during their
studies, and have been able to apply them to real life situations,
while benefitting a whole range of people across the country, he
says.
With AIT faced floods, Dr.Nagai’s team involved in the Disaster
Charter temporarily relocated to Nakhon Nayok so that they can continue
producing maps of the disaster hit areas. Apart from Dr. Nagai, the
team has four other members. The task is not easy since there are both
hardware and software constraints as the mother campus has been under
flood water since 21 October 2011.
Floods in Thailand have affected nearly two-thirds of the country and
have killed over 500 people so far. Two million people are affected,
with provinces north of Bangkok being most affected.
So far the maps produced include flood affected areas in Central,
North and North-East Thailand, Bangkadi Industrial Park, Chiang Rak
Noi, Nava Nakhon Industrial Estate, Bang Pa-In Industrial Estate, Don
Mueng Airport, provinces of Ayutthaya, Nakhon Sawan, Chainat, and
Uttaradit.
Interesting maps produced by AIT include a visualisation of Thailand
before and after floods, and a dry season map of Thailand. Another map
is one of the Asian Institute of Technology, Thammasat University and
Wat Phra Dhammakaya temple.
Satellite images have been sourced from various satellites including
Terra – ASTER, TerraSAR-x, LANDSAT 5, Worldview, IKONOS, SPOT, and IRS.
The entire set of Thailand flood maps can be downloaded from this link
http://www.disasterscharter.org/web/charter/activation_details?p_r_p_1415474252_assetId=ACT-376
Flood
map of Thammasat Universit, AIT, and Wat Phra Dhammakaya prepared by
AIT’s Geo Informatics Center.
