The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) teamed up with the University of the Philippines-Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetery (UP-TCAGP) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) to provide an immersive training-workshop for the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) officers in the MIMAROPA region on newly-developed flood-hazard maps.
The three-day activity was conducted at the Sikatuna Beach Hotel, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro as part of the “Changing Lives Through Science,” an ecletic celebration of science and technology.
“This training is designed to capacitate our DRRM officers in using Light detection and ranging or LiDar-generated flood-hazard maps as a tool for their disaster risk reduction and management related activities,” DOST-MIMAROPA regional director Dr. Ma. Josefina Abilay said in her opening speech during the S&T celebration. In 2011, the agency funded the Disaster Risk and Exposure Assessment for Mitigation (DREAM) Program that was later implemented by the UP-TCAGP to generate precise, three-dimensional flood maps and models using LiDar technology.
LiDar technology is an airborne technology that has the capability to scan and map the Earth’s surface characteristics, including river basins, using pulsed laser.
Since the DRRM officers serve at the front line from disaster preparedness to response and rehabilitation, the DOST recognizes the need to equip them with necessary and relevant knowledge and skills in utilizing such cutting-edge technology.
Dr. Enrico Paringit, the UP-DREAM program leader, personally lent his technical expertise to elaborate on the flood-hazard maps and its raw data sets.
At the end of the learning sessions, the participants were able to produce their own flood hazard maps of their respective municipalities consisting of map elements, barangay boundaries, road network, flood hazard levels and suggested evacuation center sites.
Dr. Paringit urged the participants to utilize and further develop their outputs to formulate an effective disaster preparedness plan, thereby, reducing disaster fatalities down the line.
A total of 150 local DRRM officers from all five island provinces participated in the training-workshop. (Ma. Lilibeth P. Padilla, Public Affairs Unit, Communication Resources and Production Division, Science and Technology Information Institute, Department of Science and Technology (DOST-STII)
