User:Drenmark/WISDOM

WISDOM Project
Water-related Information System for the sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam

Background
The Mekong Delta in the south of Vietnam is on of the largest river deltas in the world. It spreads over approximately 55’000 km2 and is subject to tidal movements. During the rain season (May – October) great areas are flooded, while salty sea water intrudes into the freshwater areas Saltwater intrusion during the dry season from November until April. Furthermore, millions of people depend on the delta’s fertility to produce rice, fruits and vegetables, fish and shrimp. The interactions between nature and human beings make the Mekong Delta a complex system, requiring a more and more adapted regulation, based on accurate information concerning the different factors entering the equation. In an attempt to make more information on the situation accessible, the WISDOM Project has been initiated.

The WISDOM Project
The WISDOM Project was initiated in August 2005 by the German Ministry of Education and Research BMBF and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). It is a German and Vietnamese cooperation, coordinated by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and the Vietnamese Southern Institute of Water Resources Research (SIWRR). It brings together Vietnamese and German partners from different fields, be they scientific, governmental or from the private sector.

Partners of the Consortium

German Partners:

DLR (German Aerospace Centre); Uni Würzburg; UNU-EHS (United Nations University); Institute for Environment and Human Security); ZEF (Center for Development Research); INRES (Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation); GFZ (German Research Center for Geoscience); IWK (Institute for Water and River Basin Management); Eomap; DHI; 2WCom

Vietnamese partners:

SIWRR (Southern Institute of Water Resources Research); VAST GIRS (Vietnamese Academy of Science & Technology - Division of Remote Sensing and GIS); Sub-Niapp (Sub-National Institute for agricultural planning & Projection); SISS (Southern Institute of Social Sciences); SRHMC (Southern Region Hydro-Meteorological Centre); Can Tho University; Vietnam University, HCMC; IDR (Institute of Development Economics Research)

Aims and Means
 Aims 

The main objective of the project is to collect information on the Mekong Delta from various fields, such as Hydrology, Geography and Earth Observation, Sociology, and to then integrate this information into a single Information System. This allows answers which combine the different factors relevant to the question, for example in case of a flood: How much agricultural land has been affected? The aim of this Information System is to provide a Decision Support System (DSS) to the local, regional and national decision makers.

 Means 

The WISDOM project gathers and generates data and feeds it into the specifically designed Information System. This information covers the basin of the River, the Delta and three localities, namely Can Tho, Dong Thap and Tra Cu – the last ones are the focal points for the social research. The techniques used include remote sensing, water sampling, household surveys and interviews. The project also records the different laws and regulations set up on the different regulatory levels. 60 Scientists and 14 PhD candidates are involved in the gathering and analysis of data, some based in Germany and some based in Vietnam. This Information System contains thus all the collected geo-data, their derivates and the socio-economical data, which should facilitate and possibly guide policy making. Thus, the WISDOM Project collaborates closely with local, regional and national authorities, in order to try to offer the information they require for their decisions.

Themes of research
-	Quantification of water (Water level, Floods, Minimum Flow, Availability of Water, Water use)

-	Quality of water (Pesticides, Salinity, Sediments, Nutrients)

-	Land-use (Agriculture, Aquaculture, Settlements, Sealing of the riverbanks) and its change (moving from agriculture to aquaculture due to policies)

-	Climate Change and Mitigation (Vulnerability, Migration, Shifts of the coastline)

-	Socio-economics (Educational standards, Knowledge management, Institutional Mapping, Legal Mapping)

Organisation of the Project
WP1000 Project Management

WP2000 Knowledge Management

WP3000 System Design

WP4000 Water Ressources, River System and Water Related Hazards

WP5000 Water Knowledge and Livelihoods

WP6000 Data Integration and Remotely Sensed Products

WP7000 Capacity Building

Results
Until now, much effort has gone into the gathering and generating of data. Some of it can be seen on the website of the Project.