Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) Program: Building Capacity for Water Resources and Flood Monitoring using NASA Earth Science

Since 2008, the NASA Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) program has built capacity for decision-makers to integrate NASA Earth Science into environmental management activities. In addition to Air Pollution monitoring, ARSET has developed several training programs specific to water resources and disaster management for national and international stakeholders. The training program includes introductory and advanced webinars and hands-on workshops. All activities are tailored to end-user needs by working directly with agencies to identify environmental management activities that could benefit from NASA remote sensing and earth system modeling data products. ARSET recently conducted several trainings on monitoring extreme precipitation, floods, and utilization of NASA data for hydrologic modeling: A hands-on training on flooding for the Group of Earth Observations (GEO) - Latin American and Caribbean Water Cycle Capacity Building Workshop in November 2011, and for the World Bank in March 2013. The presentation will include a description of popular NASA data and web-tools frequently featured during ARSET courses, such as stream flow modeling and inundation mapping, and a discussion of future ARSET activities planned for 2013 and 2014.