In April / May 2009 DHI-WASY realised the second field campaign in the survey area in Tam Nong. The objective of this trip was mainly to do terrestrial surveying of dams and dikes alongside surface channel systems. This was realised with a satellite supported survey system with a mobile GPS receiver and a base station. The result is high resolution data for ground level elevations, especially for geographical breaklines like dams & dikes and roads of different categories. The data will be used for DEM generation and validation of DEM´s generated from remote sensing data.

The here presented summary represents the first part of a study on the legal framework of the water sector in Vietnam. The study is part of ZEF´s research activities within the WISDOM project and aims at understanding the institutional framework of water management in Vietnam.

On the 19th of March the German WISDOM members presented the WISDOM Information System Prototype during a formal event in Cuu Long Hotel, Can Tho, to about 70 directors and representatives of the DOSTs, DONREs and DARDs of the 13 provinces of the Mekong delta. A representative of MOST joined from Hanoi. The introduction of the technical concept of the Information System and the online presentation of the current prototype was followed by an afternoon of intense and fruitful discussions. The WISDOM prototype presented in Can Tho, will be online via the WISDOM website from June on.

A Vietnamese delegation with participants from SIWRR, SRHMC, MOST and VAST-GIRS visited Germany for one week. Dr. Tri., Dr. Duc, Dr. Thanh and Mrs. Long and Mr. Binh joined the Data Integration workshop in Potsdam, as well as one day meetings at DLR, Eomap, UNU and ZEF. The visit was very fruitful with regard to exchange on project progress, planning of next steps the preparation of the upcoming lare WISDOM field campaign in March 2009.

In January 2009 DLR realized a field campaign for the collection of GPS data with the intention to validate land cover and water mask products, that were recently derived from satellite data with automatic processors. To improve the results of such products derived from remote sensing data and to know about their accuracy ground truth data are essential.

On January 9th 2009, Prof. Evers from the Center for Development Research (ZEF) gave a public lecture on “Knowledge Management for Development” at the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute in Can Tho City. Researchers from several departments of Can Tho University participated in the session, in which Prof. Evers introduced basic concepts of knowledge management and illustrated the importance of knowledge for development.

EOMAP introduces newly developed processes and monitoring instruments for the offshore industry. The new earth observation based techniques have been applied in several industrial contracts, including long-term monitoring applications. These developments are extended to a variety of different satellite sensors, as the new procedures are inter-operational and applicable for sensors with differing spectral and spatial resolutions.
The WISDOM project is therefore a technological leap forward and represents a significant improvement in the cost-effectiveness of operational mapping technologies.
Specific advancements added into the industrial monitoring algorithms can likewise be applied as technological improvements to the Mekong and other upcoming river monitoring contracts.