The Climate Forecast Applications project in Bangladesh (CFAB-I) was managed by the Program on Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (PAOS) at the University of Colorado and the Earthwork and Atmospheric Sciences of the Georgia Institute of Technology (EAS/GATECH), USA, which engaged in research aimed at increasing the lead-time of flood forecasting in Bangladesh. As the primary implementing partner, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) identified broader forecast application opportunities and sought for the institutionalization of the project in Bangladesh. The US Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) supported the CFAB-I project.

Objectives

• Develop forecasting schemes for floods in Bangladesh that would add predictive skills to current efforts within Bangladesh

• Develop resilient schemes that will be able to take advantage of improvements in data availability, predictive modeling, data assimilation, etc. as they occur in the future

• Promote international cooperative efforts that will provide data and tools necessary for the prediction schemes, noting that flood forecasting techniques require substantial technological investment and infrastructure

• Develop an infrastructure within Bangladesh that will make use of the forecasts and will eventually own the prediction schemes

• Work actively with partners in Bangladesh to facilitate a rapid technological transfer

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