A training workshop began on Tuesday December 1st to increase the capacity of 22 technicians and engineers in the use of survey equipment and software.
That new information will help these experts to collect data in the natural environment.
Technical persons in the Ministry of Public Works, the Lands and Surveys and Physical Planning Departments and the Dominica Water and Sewerage Company (DOWASCO) were targeted.
The project is being funded by the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP) under Component 2: capacity-building.
The ultimate aim of the DVRP is to strengthen the island’s resilience and mitigate natural disasters in the face of global climate change.
Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at the DVRP, Nadette Langford explained the purpose of the training as “to teach participants to effectively perform high accuracy surveys using Trimble GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System, equipment and software.”
This system GNSS provides geospatial positioning with global coverage and allows receivers to determine their location accurately using signals transmitted from the satellites to terrestrial receivers. Receivers can also calculate the precise time as well as position.
Langford says more trainings will take place in the coming months up until the establishment of the National Hydromet System and National Soil Survey.
It is hoped that at the end of the training, participants would have acquired the skills to be able to generate accurate flood early warning systems, a predictive modeling of flooding and landslide, improved engineering design and an evidence-based planning policy.
Sardar Ali of GiscadLtd is the facilitator. Giscad is a geospatial and engineering firm based in Trinidad.
He said, “Dominica bought the highest quality of receivers so I came here to use them to use the equipment and effectively ollect and manage the data.”
He says the use of this equipment will help users quickly produce more accurate results.
“You actually get millimeter accuracy without even going back to the office to process the data,” he said of the equipment. “It is ten times faster than conventional methods.”
In the wake of Tropical Storm Erika, rebuilding the country’s infrastructure better and stronger is one of the main objectives of Government.
Training workshops like this and the acquisition of technical equipment will greatly assist in the rebuilding process.
The training will run until Friday, December 4th.