South Korea, US unveil joint digital platform to track global farmland drought and flood risks

A digital platform that lets users assess water shortages and drought and flood risks across the world's agricultural regions at a glance has made its international debut. Jointly developed by South Korean and American researchers, the platform — called WISE — allows policymakers and researchers in any country to analyze water availability and disaster risks in farming areas as climate change intensifies.

The Rural Development Administration said Thursday it attended the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17), currently under way in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where it showcased South Korea's agricultural technologies for responding to drought and flooding.

At the center of the presentation was WISE, the flood and drought impact information platform co-developed by the RDA and Texas A&M University. Accessible to anyone worldwide through a web browser, WISE analyzes and displays water availability conditions and drought and flood risk levels in agricultural zones. Policymakers and researchers can use it to examine how climate change affects water use in farming areas and to inform policy decisions aimed at managing those risks.

The RDA held an official side event at the conference to introduce WISE to delegations from participating countries. Jeon Sang-min, a researcher at the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, presented the platform's development process and current service status, while Jeong Jae-hak, a professor at Texas A&M University, demonstrated its key functions and applications.

Experts from the University of Nebraska, the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and Hankyong National University also took part, discussing on-the-ground applications, policy uses and ways to expand international cooperation around WISE.

The RDA plans to register WISE with the UNCCD's online Drought Toolbox, a move intended to make South Korean agricultural data available for country-level drought management, climate change impact forecasting, vulnerability assessments and risk mitigation efforts worldwide.

The RDA also presented its climate change research achievements and international cooperation activities at the Changwon Initiative Pavilion set up at the conference venue. It also agreed with the Korea Forest Service to jointly pursue a combined agriculture-forestry climate change response project linking the two sectors.

"We will continue to strengthen cooperation with international organizations and overseas research institutions so that Korean agricultural technology can provide real, practical benefits to farming communities around the world," said Choi Gwang-ho, director general of the RDA's technology cooperation bureau.

UNCCD COP17 runs from Monday through Aug. 28, bringing together representatives of 197 parties along with international organizations, researchers and private-sector participants to discuss international cooperation on combating desertification, land degradation and drought.