SERVIR Southeast Asia, MRC deepen collaboration on regional climate challenges

The three days between August 19 and 21, 2016, were devastating for Vietnam. Typhoon Dianmu had poured unseen amounts of rainwater across the country, killing at least seven people, forcing 2000 families to evacuate, and damaging at least 600 houses, according to the local media.
Vietnam was not the only country being hit. Thailand, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and Myanmar were also affected.

And, Typhoon Dianmu was not the only problem.
The heatwaves attributed to El Niño, which had started in 2015 and lasted until 2017, caused water shortages in most of Cambodia’s 25 provinces and was blamed for the worst drought in the country in 50 years. Vietnam, the region’s top rice exporter, was hit by the worst drought in a century.
Event such as those were fresh in the minds of technical experts from the SERVIR Mekong program and officials from countries represented in the Mekong River Commission (MRC), when they met in early 2017, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
MRC is an intergovernmental organization that deals with floods and drought issues along the Mekong River Basin countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam.
SERVIR Mekong was a predecessor to the current SERVIR Southeast Asia (SERVIR SEA), which is a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC). The program uses publicly available geospatial data and satellite imagery to co-develop climate change solutions in Southeast Asia.
“The (2017) contacts were driven by our technical needs. We had in place a system or model for river forecasting based on ground data and some satellite data. But we realized that we needed more data for which we needed to expanded monitoring on the ground but also satellite information,” said MRC Chief Executive Officer Anoulak Kittikhoun.
For its part, SERVIR Mekong –like SERVIR SEA -- was mandated to work through regional organizations such as the MRC. It, too, was looking into ways to expand inroads and introduce its technical prowess in the region.
“ADPC and SERVIR SEA always use a co-development approach that brought satellite-based information to enhance MRC’s existing forecasting tools and capability. This approach not only ensured capacity development, but also MRC’s long-term sustainability of the improved tools and mechanisms,” said Peeranan Towashiraporn, ADPC Director for Risk Analytics and Climate Services and SERVIR SEA Chief of Party.

The initial contacts were between the SERVIR Mekong technical officers and their counterparts from the MRC’s Regional Flood and Drought Management Center.
Over time, however, the more centralized relation between MRC and SERVIR SEA – which started in January 2023 -- has come to symbolize a relationship that has not only benefitted a countless number of people in Southeast Asia but also has taught all parties involved how to better coordinate and collaborate in the use of geospatial and satellite technologies to reduce climate risk in the region.
To make the relationship more beneficial for both sides, however, it required putting in place a few initial steps.
“We understood from our early visits that their forecasting system and the data they were using was going to be outdated,” says Miguel Laverde, SERVIR SEA’s Weather and Climate Resilience Theme Lead. “We introduced a new data system and tested the data to make sure the rainfall forecast data would be acceptable and work for the system,” he added.
The technical cooperation has already borne fruit in more than one way.
On one hand, cooperations with SERVIR SEA has helped improve MRC’s own flood forecasting systems and helped MRC analysts and technical staff with needed technical and capacity enhancements.
“The cooperation has not changed our systems but enhanced them in terms of using satellite data to complement our ground monitors and added data bias correction that has increased the quality of flood forecasts,” said MRC’s Kittikhoun.
Through the co-development effort with SERVIR SEA, MRC increased its flood forecasting’s lead time from 6 to 15 days, a factor that came in handy when Typhoon Yagi hit several countries in September.
In 2024, MRC has included SERVIR SEA Rainstorm Tracker’s data into the flood forecasts it shares with more than 200 partners.
“We know anecdotally from the September flooding that everyone used the MRC forecasts along the main (river) stream because they were worried about houses being flooded. We put out forecasts twice a day that were very accurate,” said Kittikhoun.
A token of the maturing relations manifested itself last month when leaders of ADPC, MRC, USAID, and NASA attended the event Celebrating USAID-NASA-ADPC-MRC Collaboration and Achievements on Satellite Applications for Flood and Drought Management.
In his remarks, Kittikhoun highlighted the importance of “building relationship” and “trusting data” and also highlighted the MRC and ADPC’s approach of working collectively with other partners in the region.
Linda McElroy, Deputy Mission Director for USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia, also highlighted the importance of partnering with MRC and others. “USAID is proud of playing an important role in supporting the MRC’s efforts. The U.S. Government’s long-standing commitment to the Lower Mekong Region has enabled us to forge strong partnerships and work together to address some of the most pressing environmental challenges the region faces,” she said.

ADPC Executive Director Hans Guttman echoed the same by reiterating how the exacerbating nature of climate change and its transboundary nature in Southeast Asia calls for more regional cooperation based on accurate data that are shared in a timely manner.
Dan Irwin, founder and Global Program Manager for the SERVIR program, connected accuracy in data with regional decision making by highlighting the role of satellite technologies in complementing on-the-ground monitoring systems.
“With the Earth Science to Action Strategy, NASA is pushing itself to go above and beyond understanding our Earth and climate. The strategy prioritizes connecting science to community needs and climate resilience–putting applied science partnerships like ours at the forefront of NASA’s mission,” he said.
While both sides acknowledge that future cooperation targets will be determined by regional needs and organizational dynamics, two goalposts have already been marked.
Climate change has brought about not only more ferocious and rampant floods but also more deadly droughts. MRC says it feels confident with its flood forecasting systems but needs support from ADPC for accurate tools for drought forecasting.
MRC’s Kittikhoun also wants a shift from individual-country forecasting to regional forecasting. This was echoed by SERVIR SEA’s Chief of Party. “The success of the cooperation between ADPC and MRC is being scaled to the larger region, Southeast Asia, through the work of SERVIR SEA helping the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance forecast flash floods region-wide,” said Towashiraporn.