Researchers Unveil New Monitoring Platform to Mitigate Dam and Climate Impacts on Mekong River

• 22 March 2021
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Researchers have recently developed a new platform that uses data from satellite, remote sensing, and geographic information system (GIS) to monitor Mekong River water levels, with the hope to mitigate droughts and other related issues caused by excessive dam constructions and climate change.

According to The Third Pole’s report last week, the new online system was developed by the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Program and Eyes on Earth.

With the combined data from satellites, remote sensing and GIS, the new platform will provide near-real-time reporting and data downloads across numerous previously unreported indicators in the Mekong Basin.

The platform is also freely available for public use on the Mekong Water Data Initiative website and all research inputs are public-access resources.

Besides tracking reservoir levels, the ‘Mekong Dam Monitor’ can also reveal the surface wetness of different parts of the basin, which will be used as concrete evidence to prove how the dams affect river flow.

Director of the Stimson Center Southeast Asia Program Brian Eyler said that the disruption to water and sediment flows along the river are mainly caused by the proliferation of dams. To date, there are hundreds of upstream dams along the Mekong River in different countries such as Laos (100+), China (100+), Vietnam (16+), Thailand (9+) and, Cambodia (2). (Read more)

However, the Mekong River Commission has denied the allegations, claiming dams are not the main cause for lowering the water level of the Mekong River, but rather drought, climate change, and El Niño are the principal causes. (Read more)

 

• Technology and Engineering
• Policy and Strategy
• Energy and Environment