UG unveils high-tech climate monitoring platform on coastline

…real-time flood & sea level data now just a click away

A web-based platform has been developed by the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences to allow persons to access real-time satellite data on the effects of climate change on Guyana’s coastline, such as floods and sea level rises; and has been launched at the University of Guyana on Wednesday.
During the launch, the developers of the platform, known as the Guyana Coastal Analysis System (G-CAS), also expressed their willingness to collaborate with the Government of Guyana.
This web-based platform G-CAS, which has been developed by the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, would allow persons to view real-time satellite data on climate change phenomena such as floods and sea level rises, as well as monitor the mangroves.
During the launch of the platform, Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Colonel (retired) Nazrul Hussain, in noting the potential of the project to boost disaster management, said, “With regards to the system at hand, I do applaud the effort, and we need these type of digital and AI tools. I just came back from a conference with CDEMA (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency), and the mantra is, ‘Go AI’. So, we are now going to depend on the type of digital platforms and information that we can get, and how we can put it together to assess whatever threat levels we have in dealing with disasters and how to manage it.”

Meanwhile, the University of Guyana Vice Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohammed, noting that the private sector is among the stakeholders who can benefit from this technology, also spoke of the University of Guyana’s own land use policies, which incorporate the use of climate friendly building codes.
“One of the things that are becoming apparent to me in interfacing with the private sector is that they are also very important, and (are) in fact probably some of the least considered users of this kind of information,” she declared.
“We note that persons are still building along the coast. On our own campus, we have our own building codes we’ve developed that are climate-friendly and have to share with colleagues across the country, especially those building along the coast, because there are a couple of things we’ve tried to apply our own science to,” the Professor added.
Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies, Esan Hamer, in expressing his willingness to work with the Government, noted that the faculty remains ready to participate, if invited to a seat at the table.
Principal Investigator Temitope Oyedotun, revealing that he would be meeting with regulators and Government agencies, has said, “We would expect that data and information that is generated from this system to be integrated into national planning. Now, of course we cannot force the hand of any decision-maker, and this is why we have this open-door policy at the faculty, where we would like to offer our expertise and services with respect to national climate change mitigation as well as adaptation efforts, advise as much as we can. The information can be validated, and is credible. So, we are hoping to play our role in the fight against climate change and climate change efforts. And we would welcome a seat at the table, if permitted by the decision makers.”
With funding from Canada, Guyana launched a climate, land-use, energy and water systems (CLEWs) model in March, which can be used by policymakers to make more climate-conscious decisions in developmental planning.
The CLEWs modelling initiative in Guyana is funded by Global Affairs Canada under the Canada-Caricom Expert Deployment Mechanism (CCEDM). Funds were also received from MITACS, Canada’s leading innovation organization.
CLEWs models are tools for simultaneous consideration of food, energy and water security. They are designed to assess how production and use of these resources may contribute to climate change, and how climate change may affect the resource systems.