Within the framework of “Green Central Asia,” the second Droughtmap ASB workshop took place in Tashkent from 3 to 5 May 2023. The seminar was organized by the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), Germany and the German Geoscience Research Center (GFZ).
The aim of the workshop was to further develop the online information system and bulletin services that were specified during the last workshop in 2022, and to initiate cooperation on the usage and validation of the new online tool, which should be operational in summer 2023. ( https://droughtmap.geo.uni-halle.de/droughtmap ). Representatives from all five Central Asian Hydrometeorological Services (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) participated in the workshop.
The workshop consisted of presentations and discussions, and two technical trainings covering the analysis of the partners` feedback from the 2022 workshop. This first technical training included the registration of all partners in the Droughtmap-ASB tool, which would ensure the provision of bi-weekly, monthly, and seasonal bulletins for selected Rayons and Oblasts’ from all five countries. The second part of the training was on the use of the Droughtmap data for validation based on soil moisture and other data from agrometeorological stations in the region.
In addition, the participants discussed the issues of validation results, field visits and drought forecasting strategy.
