Following devastation caused by the December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean Tsunami, Thai officials created the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) to improve tsunami and earthquake monitoring and warning for Thailand. In 2005, with funding from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), PDC began working with NDWC to develop the first customized version of the DisasterAWARE early warning and decision support platform. That Thailand-specific DisasterAWARE system, focused on earthquake and tsunami monitoring, became functional in 2006 and has been expanded several times since.
Over the past few months, PDC’s DisasterAWARE platform has received a major upgrade to version 5. The upgrade is being extended across the various systems powered by DisasterAWARE, starting with the one housed at NDWC–Thailand.
As part of this transformation, PDC’s Geospatial Information Lead David Askov and Project Associate Robert “Kalei” Miller traveled to NDWC headquarters in Bangkok for a week-long DisasterAWARE System Administrators training session, July 28 through August 1. Training began with a focus on the information technology (IT) skills necessary to operationalize, configure, and maintain the Thai system. The class then continued with an emphasis on managing the system’s geospatial data, publishing of map services, system security, and configuring new data layers.
Following the upgrade and Systems Administrators training, PDC’s Southeast Asia Program Advisor Victoria Leat and Geospatial Information Specialist John Livengood delivered user training in Bangkok to seven NDWC staff members on August 9. The day-long class reviewed general use of the system, and provided training on the new features associated with the upgrade.
DisasterAWARE’s state-of-the-art capabilities and NDWC’s trained staff will continue to support critical activities from NDWC’s central operations center.
If you would like to learn more about a custom deployment of DisasterAWARE, please contact info@pdc.org.
Learn more about the NDWC with these resources:
• Learn more about Thailand’s NDWC,
• Find out more about the NDWC-PDC partnership,
• Read bout the development of the NDWC in 2005, and
• View how PDC provides technical assistance to the NDWC.
