Within the frame of developing a drought monitoring tool for the Aral Sea Basin, on 14th November, partners from Turkmenistan and the Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg met to discuss main aspects of cooperation.
Turkmenistan’s experts, Mr. Nazar Bayramov, Deputy Head of Department on Environmental Protection and Hydrometeorology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkemenistan, and Mrs. Gulkamar Jepbarova, Head of Agro-Meteorological Department of the State and Hydrometeorological Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, discussed together with Prof. Dr. Christopher Conrad from Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, the main aspects of the tool. The project partners were strongly interested, especially how data will be provided and processed. Based on remote sensing data and calculated vegetation indices as well as soil moisture data from the ground, the drought monitor will be implemented to monitor the drought situation in the irrigated agricultural areas of the Aral Sea basin.
Facing climatic changes and lacks in precipitation, the region faces increasingly agricultural droughts. The tool offers possibilities for decision-making by governmental agencies and sustainable water management. For optimal use, regularly meetings are needed to generate the tool as sustainable as possible for the regional partners.
