Dushanbe, 21 August 2026. — A practical workshop on the Transient Hydrologic Anomalies Weekly (THAW) tool was held at the Agency for Hydrometeorology of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan. The workshop focused on strengthening capacities for the effective detection and monitoring of newly formed and anomalously changing mountain lakes.
The workshop brought together scientists and specialists from the Agency for Hydrometeorology, the State Institution “Institute for the Study of Glaciers and Cryosphere” of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, and the Institute of Water Problems, Hydropower and Ecology of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan.
THAW is an automated tool for monitoring surface water bodies using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite data and the Google Earth Engine platform. The tool can draw attention to a potential outburst-hazard and can support the timely identification of lakes requiring further monitoring.
During the workshop, participants worked in groups to explore the application of THAW for identifying potentially emerging lakes in selected glacier basins of Central Asia. The practical sessions also included discussions on how to validate the detected results and assess whether individual lakes require further monitoring.
Particular attention was given to sharing experiences and discussing the needs of specialists working on mountain lake monitoring and Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) early warning systems. The outcomes of the discussions will contribute to the further improvement of systems, protocols, and tools developed under the GLOFCA project.
The workshop was organized by the Agency for Hydrometeorology of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, in cooperation with the UNESCO Regional Office in Almaty and the University of Zurich, as part of the regional “Reducing vulnerabilities of populations in the Central Asia region from glacier lake outburst floods in a changing climate” GLOFCA project, implemented by UNESCO and funded by the Adaptation Fund.
21.08.2026