Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Myanmar Field Trip Part 4: Pagoda


Good morning! This is Yi-Chia Chang in Bago, Myanmar.

Day 4 is equipment preparation day! We will have gauge maintenance and training session for gauge installation tomorrow. After the equipment preparation, I have a free half day to go on a tour around Bago. Therefore, I visit some great places, such as famous pagoda and reclining Buddha.

The following picture shows Ralph san prepared the equipment and software testing all day in his room. Please forgive his little messy room. 

The box containing electronic devices is the most complicated part of gauge station. We will install all components in Tarwa and Zaung Tu in Bago.

This is the weather sensor, which could detect temperature, humidity, wind speed, and other atmospheric parameter values.

Kyaikpun Buddha
Shwemawdaw Pagoda
Shwethalyaung Reclining BuddhaKyaikpun Buddha

Fun facts: The yellow decoration that Myanmar locals put on their face is called “Thanaka”. It is the element from trees and mostly looks yellow. It's said that it can protect skins from sunlight and be used as cosmetic.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

京大でのセミナーのお知らせ

2015年度より、京都大学 防災研究所 水資源環境研究センターの非常勤講師を務めさせていただいておりますが、これが最後の業務になります!ご関心お持ちの方は是非ともご参加下さい。
http://www.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/news/10161/

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
日時:2018年3月1日 13:30〜15:00
場所:京都大学防災研究所水資源環境研究センター演習室(S217D)

講演 13:30〜14:30
講師: 川崎昭如  東京大学大学院工学系研究科 特任教授
題目:「発展途上国政府の水害対応能力の向上を目指した国際科学技術協力 」

概要:多くの発展途上国では、気象・水文に関する観測網や解析スキル等を
持ち合わせておらず、水害に対して十分な対応を取ることが難しい。本発表
では、JST/JICA  SATREPSプログラムの一環として、ミャンマーを対象に進
めている研究開発や社会実装の取り組みを紹介させていただく。縦割り行政
が激しい同国政府での部局間連携に向けて、観測施設の共同設置やデータ統
合解析のプラットフォーム開発、能力開発、体制づくりなどの活動も併せて
紹介する。

総合討論 14:30〜15:00

http://www.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/news/10161/

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Myanmar Field Trip Part 3: Tidal Cycle

2018.02.17 Bago river mouth

မင်္ဂလာပါ Yi-Chiaです, Hello, this is Yi-Chia! (မင်္ဂလာပါ [maingalarpar])
Flying drone in the morning
At 5am, everybody gathered at the gate of Aroma hotel and got ready to head to Bago river mouth, the same place as yesterday. Today, we have the different goal: observe the whole cycle of a tide. Before traveling to Myanmar, Shimozono sensei and other coastal members already simulated the tide cycle on computers and have the advance information about the timing of tide. Therefore, we start early to observe the full cycle of a tide.
The 3-hour drive from Bago downtown to Bago river mouth
There were no well-maintained roads to river mouth; therefore, we literally drove on the river bed. Just to show a clip of how shaking was our drive to the river mouth.


Shimozono sensei explained the procedures of tide observation. First, we must measure the initial water level and velocity. To measure the water level, the equipment of pressure sensor is necessary. By knowing the water pressure, we could infer the water depth. In fact, the pressure sensor needs to be tided with something heavy to ensure that sensor sinks to the bottom of the water. Therefore, Tajima sensei tided the sensor with a brick. The video shows Tajima sensei throwing water pressure sensor into the water.

Fun

Shimozono sensei interacted with local children
Guess what’s in the dumpy level? This picture shows Shinozono sensei engaging with local residents and shared the experiment with them. Shimozono sensei used a dumpy level to point to the ship far away and invited kids to see the view.


Myanmar Field Trip Part 2: Tidal bore

2018.02.16  Bago river mouth

みなさん こんにちは M2イジャです。今日はミャンマー二日目の研究について話します。
Kawasaki group in front of Bago river mouth

Observation

Today is a sensational moment for our research team. This is the first time for all of us to witness tidal bore in person. The phenomenon of tidal bore itself is astonishing. Even more overwhelming is the high speed of erosion of coastal line. After the occurrence of tidal bore, within 1 hour, the first collapse of soil cluster happened. Then, the continuous collapse keeps happening during the next hour.
On average, each collapse of soil cluster is around 1-meter width, 3-meter long, and 6-meters tall.
Kawasaki sensei observing tidal bore

“こわ!“ Kawasaki sensei said with surprise. Indeed, when such big soil clusters collapsed into river mouth, the ground under our feet was shaking. The feeling is similar to an earthquake.

The occurrence of tidal bore:

The erosion effect of tidal bore:

Satellite Map

According to satellite images and field survey data, it is estimated that 5km erosion of coastal line happened last 1 year. It’s undoubtedly a tremendous loss for Myanmar. The most interesting part is the satellite image on map app. When we open the map to locate our position, we found out that the land around 5-10km in front of us was land and now the lands have been eroded and become part of the river. The following picture shows the location of observation.
Drop pin is observation point in Bago river mouth

Drone

The coastal lab member utilized DJI Phantom Pro 4 to record the tidal bore and compared the coastal line before and after tidal bore. The recorded videos are very interesting. The analysis results and further content will be published once it’s finished.
Mr. Matsuba set up drone with curious local residents

Fun

Playing soccer game with locals
Preparing for observation
First dinner with all survey members
Fun fact: Myanmar has around 135 languages in the country. The official language is Burmese.

Friday, February 16, 2018

Myanmar Field Trip Part 1: Arrival

2018.02.15  Yangon

Good evening everyone! I’m Yi-Chia Chang, the M2 exchange student in Civil Engineering Department, The University of Tokyo. I’m excited to share my experience during the future 8-day field trip in Yangon and Bago, Myanmar. The first-day experience in Myanmar could be divided into 3 parts: Surprise, People, and Life.
Took off from Tokyo!

Surprise

After arriving Yangon International Airport, the first surprise is that airport security division staff had a concern with the drone we carried to do the observation for tidal bore. Therefore, they detained our drone and asked us to bring permission to take the drone back. It is obvious that Myanmar government is paying much attention to the usage of drone and carrying drone into Myanmar requires necessary permission application.
Yangon international airport

People

The first stop is to visit Yangon Technological University because one of the coordinator’s office for JICA project is located in YTU. It is very interesting to meet Mr. Okasaki, Mr. Bobo, and Mr. San Win Mng. Mr. Okasaki is kind to help settle everything. Mr. Bobo is the second year master student in YTU and will graduate in few months. His research is about tidal bore effect, which is what we will observe with a drone in the next few days. Mr. San Win Mng is the second year Ph.D. student in YTU. With his help, Ralph san and I could safely check in the hotel for tonight. While we were in YTU, Kawasaki sensei was arranging the schedule of field survey and Ralph san was preparing equipment for gauge installation in Bago river basin. After finishing arrangement, everybody got into cars and head to Aroma Hotel, located in Bago city.
Yangon Technological University (YTU)

Ralph san prepared instruments in the office

Life

The Aroma Hotel is the one we will stay in the next few days in Bago. The room is, in fact, cozy and comfortable. The little tip might be aware is the voltage in Myanmar is 240V, different from Japan’s 100V. The converter may be required for some situation. The first meal I had in Myanmar, which was also the Chinese New Year Eve dinner, was Chicken Kung Bao rice. It is one kind of traditional Chinese food. The chicken Kung Pao is surprisingly delicious (I did not expect it to be good, or maybe I was just too hungry) and the price is reasonable. It only costs around 4,500 Kyat (around 360 Japanese Yen).
Aroma Hotel room view

Chicken Kung Pao
To sum up, the first day in Myanmar is exciting and also exhausting due to communication and traffic. I believe it will definitely be an amazing experience for observation in the next few days!

I wish everyone a happy and healthy Chinese New Year 2018!

Saturday, February 3, 2018

My stay in UTokyo (14th Dec~29th Jan)


Hello readers, it is Shelly.

I am Ph.D student (D3) from Yangon Technological University.
This article is about my stay in UTokyo during 14th December to 29th January and my research in REEL lab. My accommodation is at Komaba International Lodge near Komaba Campus of UTokyo. I was invited by the student exchange program of SATREPS project in Myanmar. This is my third time coming to Japan. And I got new friends and many new experiences this times.

In front of Yasuda Auditorium while snow showering

Research 


During this training in UTokyo, I had learned Rainfall Runoff Inundation (RRI) model and Python programming. In the very first weeks of my stay, I had prepared replies to reviewers of my submitted paper and finalized my revised paper for International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (IJDRR). And then, I was submitted my revised paper again and waited for acceptance. During my study of RRI model, we had found many problems of inputting actual cross sections and high-resolution DEM in RRI model, even though my friends, Sam and Yone Shin helped me a lot, I also tried myself many times for overcoming the errors which gave me disgust and the main issue of RRI is very long processing time. Now I am used to the errors and interested in solving the problems of RRI CUI application. I finally completed the model setting up and running RRI model to calibrate with observed discharge and I only need calibration with more events in other year as my ongoing research. Moreover, I had been learning python programming by the help of Moiz to develop the damage estimation model which needs to be coupled with RRI model. It also gave me new experience of how difficult of developing and programming. Besides, I visited to ICHARM and met with Dr. Badri Shrestha for discussion about my research. He gave me many suggestions and comments. I got some new ideas for continuing my research. In the final day of my stay, I got an awesome news from associate editor from IJDRR, and my scientific paper got acceptance for publishing in that journal. I was very happy because my cultivated plant is grown well up eventually. I had completed two-third of my Ph.D research and have to continue my ongoing research to write the next scientific paper which will be included the entire Ph.D research work.

Me and my desk in REEL lab

Activities


Throughout my research period in UTokyo, I had already made two presentations at Kawasaki’s Group meeting and one private meeting with Ikeuchi Sensei for my current research progress and future research. And I attended REEL lab hour meeting and Kawasaki Group meeting every week.
At my presentation in Kawasaki's group meeting
 I went to Tsukuba and visited to ICHARM alone to make discussion with Mr. Badri Shrestha for my research. I got a chance to meet with Koike Sensei and Dr. Sawano and could make a brief introduction to my research. I couldn’t take photo with them as they were very busy. But I made an intensive discussion with Mr. Shrestha and he gave me so many suggestions and comments. He is very kind and welling to help. This visit is very good and beneficial for me. I would like to thank Kawasaki Sensei for urging me to visit ICHARM and meet with him.

Intensive Discussion with Mr. Badri Shrestha

Me and Mr. Badri Shrestha at ICHARM 

Interactions


Through the research exchange program, I got not only many Japanese friends but also many international friends. I was also participated new year party of REEL lab’s members and I got more friendships between my colleagues and friends. Moreover, before I went back to Yangon, Kawasaki Sensei made a farewell party for me with our Kawasaki’s group members at the Indian Restaurant near Hongo Campus. I got a very good friendships with every group members. They helped us a lot for the daily life in Tokyo as well as our study in UTokyo. Chon San was helping me a lot not only before I stepped into Japan but also throughout my staying in Tokyo. She is very smart and I like the way she talks in English especially. My new friends are Liu, Yi-Chia and Nakamura San. Liu is very kind and he helped me doing with ATM for room payment of Komaba Lodge. Yi-Chia is a very friendly guy and Nakamura
Figure 5. My farewell party with Kawasaki’s group members

San is easy to be friend. Sam, Moiz and Yone Shin are very nice and helpful because they helped me in my study even in their busiest time. I am appreciated their help. Actually, my staying in UTokyo is so convenient that I can smoothly do my research work.
My farewell party with Kawasaki's group members

Me and Chon San

Me and some of my friends from REEL lab

New Knowledge and Experiences


I had found that everyone in Japan work hard like investing their mind and body in the job they do that I’ve been ever heard. Most of the students are working until late at night without any command and order. Among them, I also copied their habits. On the other hand, the good environment and facility in the university drives to spend the student’s times in the laboratory and supports them to do more things. I will contribute that kind of experiences to my friends at YTU and I hope from my university to get better environment and facility which is developing gradually.
In this exchange program, I experienced Japanese Christmas and new year celebration. In Christmas time, Christmas illumination is very famous in Roppongi, Omotal Santo, and firework explosion at Odaiba. I was visited Omotal Santo and Roppongi for its famous Christmas illumination.
Christmas Illumination at Omotal Santo

Christmas Illumination at Roppongi
I was lucky that new year time is within my stay periods. In new year holidays, most of the Japanese people used to go trips or back to their home town. I thought I also wanted to go a vacation trip. The place I want to visit the most for this time is Kyoto which is the well-known ancient capital of Japan. So, I planned to go Kyoto. Transportation cost to Kyoto is very expensive for using Shinkensen and by flight and by bus is reasonable but I could not afford. Fortunately, my (Myanmar) friend from Osaka invited me to visit her home and she advised me to use Seishun 18 ticket for transportation. Seishun 18 ticket can be used for riding every JR local train in the whole Japan for five days whoever use in each day. I was travelled to Osaka by riding seven trains from Tokyo and total time consumption is 9 hours. Even though it is not comfortable, I was interested in seeing the wonderful views of every town the train was passed. I saw beautiful sceneries of Mount Fuji as well as awesome coastal line passing by the train. At Osaka, I visited Osaka Castle, Dotonbori at Shindaibashi and Universal Studios which are the most famous attractions in Osaka. Moreover, I visited Kyoto and Nara from Osaka. In Kyoto, I visited Kinkaku-ji Temple, Ginkaku-ji Temple, Arashiyama bamboo forest, and Fushimi Inari-taisha. In Nara, I visited and worshiped the Great Buddha at Todaiji Temple, Kofuku-ji temple, Kasuga-taisha, and walked around the Nara park with deers. Sincerely, I liked Nara rather than Kyoto, and I don’t know why. Whatever, I got unforgettable memories in my life.
My new year vacation trip to Osaka, Kyoto and Nara
 Another new experience in Tokyo is heavy snow for the first time in four years and paralyzing public transportation due to heap of snow. The floods of people could not go home back and I was caught in the long queue of people at the Shibuya station for Keio Inokashira line. Luckily, my accommodation was not so far from Shibuya and I could get back home by walk under snow showering. Vividly, it was the day I visited to Tsukuba ICHARM alone. So, it is also an unforgettable experience for me. But I love the way of snow over Todai and taking photos with friends though.

Long queue of people waiting for train at Shibuya Station
Snowing day experience


Acknowledgement


I would like to convey my heart-felt thanks to Kawasaki Sensei and Sayarma Win. I am very grateful to everyone concerned with this awesome student exchange program.