PREVENIR: An Argentina-Japan Collaboration on Early Warning for Urban Floods

Abstract

The risk of heavy rain and urban flood disasters is rapidly increasing, posing an urgent global challenge, particularly with the escalating vulnerabilities of underprivileged populations. PREVENIR is a five-year (2022-2027) international cooperation project between Argentina and Japan. Its objective is to create an operational impact-based early warning system for urban floods and heavy rains in Argentina’s two most populated and susceptible regions. Leveraging cutting-edge research on Big Data Assimilation (BDA) with Japan’s flagship supercomputer “Fugaku” and its predecessor “K”, PREVENIR addresses three critical gaps: the transfer of advanced scientific research to practical operations, the integration of meteorological forecasting with hydrological impact modeling, and the effective communication of actionable warnings to emergency managers and the public. PREVENIR aims to develop a comprehensive disaster prevention package, encompassing monitoring, quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE), nowcasting, BDA and numerical weather prediction (NWP), hydrological model prediction, warning communications, public education and outreach, and capacity building. This extensive objective is being pursued through a collaborative effort. The Argentine National Meteorological Service and RIKEN (Japan’s premier scientific research institute) are spearheading this initiative, which also involves other academic research institutions and various levels of government and communities, both national and local. This pioneering endeavor in Argentina is expected to provide valuable tools and recommendations for the implementation of similar systems worldwide.