INTRODUCTION
In 2010, the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) launched the new program
“Social System Reformation Program for Adaption to Climate Change” under the
“Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology*” of
the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
(MEXT).
The program aims to develop elementary technologies which are required
for not only reduction of greenhouse gasbut also adaptation of new
societies to the future global warming impacts that cannot be avoided by
such reduc it ons,
This homepage describes the research project
“Social Experiments on Extreme Weather Resilient Cities” which is one of four research projects adopted by the JST.
SUMMARY
It is recognized that large cities with a population of several million
people are inherently vulnerable to severe weathers such as torrential
rainfall,
lightning, and tornados. Increase in the number of occurrences of
torrential rainfall and giant typhoon, which may be due to the global
warming, can bring extensive damages in large cities.
Thus, the developments of monitoring and prediction system of extreme weather are urgent.
The present research project aims to understand the process and
mechanism of extreme weather using dense meteorological observation
networks designed in the Tokyo metropolitan district, to develop the
monitoring and predicting system of extreme phenomena (MPSEP), and to
implement social experiments on extreme weather resilient cities in
collaboration with the related government institutions, local
governments, private companies, and residents.
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PARTICIPANTS
The project consists of three research subjects:
1) Studies on extreme weather with dense meteorological observations,
2) Developments of the early detection and prediction system of extreme weather, and
3) Social experiments on extreme weather resilient cities. A total of
24 organizations and a total of over 100 people participate in the
present research projects (Table1).
National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster
Prevention (NIED) is responsible for planning and accomplishment of the
whole project as the core research organization.
Meteorological Research Institute (MRI) is responsible for the first
research subject where a total of seven research institutes and
universities are involved.
NIED is responsible for the second research subject where a total of
eleven research institutes and universities are involved. Toyo
University is responsible for the third research subject where a total
of thirteen research institutes, universities, national and local
government organizations.
(Table List of participating organizations (Apr 2011))
STEERING COMMITTEE
The steering committee of the project is set up under the president of NIED.
The committee which consists of prominent figures in various field
related to the present project will advise participants on the planning
and accomplishment of observational and numerical studies of extreme
weather,development of the early detection and prediction system, and
execution of social experiments.
The committee will also discuss the results of social experiments and
summarize a proposalof establishments of extreme weather resilient
cities,which will be submitted to the Social Experiments Strategy
Committee of the Cabinet Office.
LIAISON COUNCIL and Working Group
Because the project includes many different fields such as remote
sensing, meteorology, hydrology, sociology, etc. and the number of
participants is large, the liaison council is setup under the principal
investigator of the project.
The council, which consists of delegates of each participating
organization, discusses research plan and research results of each
topic, and shares information to achieve the project purpose efficiently
and in a coordinated fashion.
Detailed research plans in each research topic are discussed and made
by corresponding working groups: the working group of dense
meteorological observations, the working group of the extreme weather
early detection and prediction, and the working group of social
experiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION of RESEARCH SUBJECTS
The steering committee of the project is set up under the president of NIED (Table 3).
The committee which consists of prominent figures in various field
related to the present project will advise participants on the planning
and accomplishment of observational and numerical studies of extreme
weather, development of the early detection and prediction system, and
execution of social experiments.
The committee will also discuss the results of social experiments and
summarize a proposal of establishments of extreme weather resilient
cities, which will be submitted to the Social Experiments Strategy
Committee of the Cabinet Office.
Research Subject 1:
Studies on Extreme Weather with Dense Meteorological Observations
To understand the initiation, development, and dissipation processes of
convective precipitation, and to clarify the mechanism of localized
heavy rainfall which potentially causes natural disasters such as
flooding and land slide, a variety of cumulus activities are studied by
dense research and operational meteorological observation networks in
the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, numerical experiments,and statistical
analysis of environmental conditions preferable for extreme weather.
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Research Subject 2:
Developments of the Early Detection and Prediction System of Extreme Weather
The aim of the second research subject is to establish the
“Monitoring and Prediction System of Extreme Phenomena (MPSEP)”which can
process real-time data of the dense meteorological observation networks
and predict localized heavy rainfalls and strong winds. Information
from the MPSEP is utilized in social experiments described in the third
research subject.
It is also aim of the research subject to establish database of the
extreme weather which is useful for planning disaster countermeasures.
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Research Subject 3:
Social experiments on extreme weather resilient cities
The aim of the third research project is to validate the effects of the
MPSEP on disaster prevention and the reduction of damage in these
situations trough field tests of the MPSEP in four different
disciplines:
Emergency deployments, river managements, infrastructures, and educations.
Before implementing social experiments, surveys on appropriate information and effective means of transmitting
information will be done in the each experimental field to make the MPSEP suitable for practical use.
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