Prasad S. Thenkabail, an American Citizen, has 23+ years experience working as an well recognized International expert in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (RS\GIS) and its applications to natural resources management, sustainable development, and environmental studies. Prasad has worked in over 25 Countries in Africa, Asia, Middle-East, and North America.

Over last 4+ years, Prasad is working as a principal researcher of the Global Research Division and Head of the Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (RS\GIS) at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Prior to joining IWMI, for 6 years, he was an Associate Research Scientist (a research faculty position) at Yale Center for Earth Observation (YCEO) at the Yale University, USA. Earlier to this, for nearly 5 years, he lead the Remote Sensing programs at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) mostly working in West and Central Africa based in Nigeria and the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) working in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas based in Katmandu, Nepal. Earlier to these positions, Prasad worked as a scientist with the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Department of Space, and Government of India. He started his career as a lecturer in hydrology, water resources, hydraulics, and open channel flow in the Bangalore and Mysore University affiliated colleges in India.

Currently at IWMI, Prasad provides leadership in spatial data applications in various IWMI projects and Thematic Research. The projects he has lead, scientifically, include global irrigated area mapping (GIAM), droughts (remote sensing component), wetland mapping, knowledge base systems for Sri Lanka (KBS-Lanka), and water productivity studies. All projects involve heavy use of spatial datasets, especially satellite sensor data. Prasad has lead developments and launch of following web portals: IWMI data storehouse pathway (http://www.iwmidsp.org), global irrigated area mapping (http://www.iwmigiam.org), and KBS-Lanka (http://www.iwmikbs.org). He has contributed significantly to droughts monitoring system (http://dms.iwmi.org), and tsunami satellite sensor data catalogue (http://tsdc.iwmi.org).

Prasad has 50 publications, mostly peer-reviewed Journals international remote sensing journals. His work on hyperspectral remote sensing of agriculture and vegetation is globally recognized as pioneering work and his publications are widely referenced. He won the 1994 Autometric Award of the American Society of Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) for superior publication in Remote Sensing for PhD research related publication on corn and soybean crop studies using Landsat TM data. In Africa, he lead the inland valley wetland characterization and mapping and alternative to slash and burn benchmark area characterization using Landsat and SPOT satellite sensor data. Prasad was on the scientific advisory board of Rapideye, a private German Earth Resources Satellite Company. He played a pivotal role in recommending the design of wavebands in the rapideye sensor onboard a constellation of satellites planned for launch during 2007-08 by Rapideye.

The USGS and NASA selected Prasad to be on the Landsat Science Team for a period of 5-years starting 2006 (http://ldcm.usgs.gov). Prasad is one of the editors of Remote Sensing of Environment and an associate editor-in-chief of the Journal of Spatial Hydrology (JoSH). In June 2007, Prasad's team was recognized by the Environmental System Research Institute (ESRI) for "special achievement in GIS" (SAG award) for their Tsunami related work and for their innovative spatial data portals (http://www.iwmidsp.org) and science applications (http://www.iwmigiam.org). Prasad has won the one of the 5 best papers consistently during 2004, 2005, and 2006 in the IWMI?s annual research meeting and his team was awarded the "best research team" for GIAM work. In June-July 2007, he gave talks on their innovative work on global irrigated area mapping (GIAM) at NASA Ames (http://center.arc.nasa.gov/index.php?tag=human-exploration), Landsat Science Team, University of New Hampshire (UNH), and Boston University (BU).

Thenkabail, P.S., GangadharaRao, P., Biggs, T., Krishna, M., and Turral, H., 2007. Spectral Matching Techniques to Determine Historical Land use/Land cover (LULC) and Irrigated Areas using Time-series AVHRR Pathfinder Datasets in the Krishna River Basin, India. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. 73(9): 1029-1040.

Thenkabail, P.S., Biradar C.M., Noojipady, P., Cai, X.L., Dheeravath, V., Li, Y.J., Velpuri, M., Gumma, M., Pandey., S. 2007. Sub-pixel irrigated area calculation methods. Sensors Journal (special issue: Remote Sensing of Natural Resources and the Environment (Remote Sensing Sensors Edited by Assefa M. Melesse). 7:2519-2538. http://www.mdpi.org/sensors/papers/s7112519.pdf

Thenkabail, P.S., Biradar, C.M., Turral, H., Noojipady, P., Li, Y.J., Vithanage, J., Dheeravath, V., Velpuri, M., Schull M., Cai, X. L., , Dutta, R. 2006. An Irrigated Area Map of the World (1999) derived from Remote Sensing. Research Report # 105. International Water Management Institute. Pp. 74. Also, see under documents in: http://www.iwmigiam.org.

Thenkabail, P.S., Schull, M., Turral, H. 2005. Ganges and Indus River Basin Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) and Irrigated Area Mapping using Continuous Streams of MODIS Data. Remote Sensing of Environment. Remote Sensing of Environment, 95(3): 317-341.

Thenkabail, P.S., Gamage, N., and Smakhin, V. 2004. The use of remote sensing data for drought assessment and monitoring in south west Asia. IWMI Research report # 85. Pp. 25. IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Thenkabail, P.S., Stucky, N., Griscom, B.W., Ashton, M.S., Diels, J., Van Der Meer, B., and Enclona, E. 2004. Biomass estimations and carbon Stock calculations in the oil palm plantations of African derived savannas using IKONOS data, International Journal of Remote Sensing. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 25(23):5447-5472.

Thenkabail, P.S., Enclona, E.A., Ashton, M.S., Legg, C., Jean De Dieu, M., 2004. Hyperion, IKONOS, ALI, and ETM+ sensors in the study of African rainforests. Remote Sensing of Environment, 90:23-43.

Thenkabail P.S., Smith, R.B., and De-Pauw, E. 2002. Evaluation of Narrowband and Broadband Vegetation Indices for Determining Optimal Hyperspectral Wavebands for Agricultural Crop Characterization. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. 68(6): 607-621.

Thenkabail P.S., Nolte, C., and Lyon, J.G. 2000a. Remote sensing and GIS modelling for selection of benchmark research area in the inland valley agroecosystems of West and Central Africa. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Africa Applications Special Issue, 66(6):755-768.

Thenkabail P.S., Smith, R.B., and De-Pauw, E. 2000b. Hyperspectral vegetation indices for determining agricultural crop characteristics. Remote sensing of Environment. 71:158-182.

Thenkabail S. Prasad, Ward A.D., Lyon J.G., and Merry C.J. 1994. Thematic Mapper vegetation indices for determining soybean and corn crop growth parameters. The Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. 60(4):437-442.

Expertise:

1. Irrigated area mapping;
2. Remote sensing and GIS;
3. Rural development, Disaster management;
4. GIS spatial analysis and modelling;
5. Flood Mapping using LiDAR Technology

Venkat joined the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Head Quarters, Colombo on May 2005. Prior to joining IWMI, he was a Assistant Professor in Geometric cell at the National Institute of Rural development (NIRD), Hyderabad, India and he has done Internship in IWMI, Colombo in 2004.

In 2007 Venkat has registered for PhD program in the Kuvempu University, Karnataka, (India). He has done Master of Technology in Spatial Information Technology (Remote Sensing) from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India. Also he has Bachelor degree in civil engineering from Osmania University.

Presently at IWMI, Venkat is Regional Research Officer (Remote sensing /GIS expert) playing a lead role in Irrigated area mapping for India using Landsat 30m and MODIS 500m. He is also playing a key role in the irrigated area mapping project for China. Venkat is a key core group member of the Global Irrigated Area Mapping project.

Venkat is the current administrator of the IWMI's spatial data gateway or it's Data Storehouse Pathway (IWMIDSP). IWMIDSP is a well recognized Global Public Goods (GPG) with over 2000 visitors from over 70 Countries every month supports regional and HQ researchers for GIS services to different research activities and development at IWMI. He is proficient in many leading Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) software packages such as ERDAS Imagine, ERMapper, ArcGIS and ArcView. He is knowledgeable in remote sensing data from a wide array of sensors such as Landsat, SPOT, IRS, MODIS, and AVHRR and also has very good understanding of remote sensing theory.

Venkat has played highly significant team role in GIAM, IWMIDSP, and Tsunami Satellite Sensor Data Catalogue. All of this resulted in the team awards during 2005, 2006, and 2007. In 2007, the IWMIDSP, GIAM, Tsunami Team was recognized by the Environmental System Research Institute (ESRI) for "Special achievement in GIS" (SAG award) for their innovative spatial data portals, science applications, and Tsunami work. In 2006, the GIAM got the best team award during IWMI's annual research meeting (ARM). In 2005, "Team Initiative 2005" during IWMI's ARM2005 for Tsunami mapping efforts.

Thenkabail, P. S.; Biradar, C. M.; Turral, H.; Noojipady, P.; Li, Y. J.; Vithanage, J.; Dheeravath, V.; Velpuri, M.; Schull, M.; Cai, X. L.; Dutta, R. 2006. An irrigated area map of the world (1999) derived from remote sensing. Research Report 105. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute.

Thenkabail, P.S., Biradar C.M., Noojipady, P., Cai, X.L., Dheeravath, V., Li, Y.J., Velpuri, M., Gumma, M., Pandey., S. 2007. Sub-pixel irrigated area calculation methods. Sensors Journal (special issue: Remote Sensing of Natural Resources and the Environment (Remote Sensing Sensors Edited by Assefa M. Melesse). 7:2519-2538. http://www.mdpi.org/sensors/papers/s7112519.pdf

Biradar, C.M., Thenkabail, P.S., Turral, H., Noojipady, P., Li, Y.J., Vithanage, J., Dheeravath, V., Velpuri, M., Schull M., Cai, X. L. and Dutta, R. 2006. A Global Map of Rainfed Cropland Areas at the end of last millennium using Remote Sensing and Geospatial Techniques. 14th international conference on Geoinformatics, which will be held in Wuhan, China, on Oct 28-29,2006. Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6418 64181R-1

Biradar, C.M., Thenkabail, P.S., Turral, H., Noojipady, P., Li, Y.J., Vithanage, J., Dheeravath, V., Velpuri, M., Schull M., Cai, X. L. and Dutta, R. 200X. Rainfed Cropland Areas of the World (1999) derived from Remote Sensing and Geospatial Techniques. (IWMI Research Report in Preparation).

Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Noojipady, P., Vithanage, J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Islam, A., Kulawardhana, W., Yuanjie Li, Gunasinghe, S., and Alankara, R. 2006. International Water Management Institute's Data Storehouse Pathway (IWMIDSP) - A Unique Data and Knowledge Gateway of Spatial Data with Emphasis on River Basins. 14th international conference on Geoinformatics, which will be held in Wuhan, China, on Oct 28-29,2006. Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6418 64181R-1

Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Noojipady, P., Vithanage, J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Islam, A., Kulawardhana, W., Gunasinghe, S., and Alankara, R. The Spatial Data and Knowledge Gateways at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 2006. 14th international conference on Geoinformatics, which will be held in Wuhan, China, on Oct 28-29,2006. Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6418 64181R-1

Biradar, C.M., Noojipady, P., Thenkabail P.S., Li, Y.J., Vithanage, J., Dheeravath, V., Velpuri, M., Cai, X. L. Dutta, R., Muralikrishna, G., and Schull M. 2006. GIAM Knowledge Gateways. International Workshop on Global Irrigated Area Mapping, September 25-27, 2006, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Obi Reddy, P. G., Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Dheeravath, V., Noojipady, P., Velpuri, M., and Muralikrishna, G. 2006. Irrigated Areas of India based on Satellite Sensors and National Statistics: Issues and Way forward from Global Irrigated Area Mapping (GIAM)-2006. International Workshop on Global Irrigated Area Mapping, September 25-27, 2006, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Noojipady, P., Vithanage,J.,Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Islam, A., Kulawardhana, W., Yuanjie Li, Gunasinghe, S., and Alankara, R. The Spatial Data and Knowledge Gateways at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 2006. 14th international conference on Geoinformatics, which will be held in Wuhan, China, on Oct 28-29, 2006. Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6418 64181R-1

Expertise:

1. Irrigated area mapping;
2. Remote sensing and GIS;
3. River basin studies and land use\land cover;
4. GIS spatial analysis and modelling.

Murali Krishna, an Indian National, joined the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) South Asia in Hyderabad, India from 01 May 2003. Prior to joining IWMI, he was Project Associate at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad for one and half years. He is currently registered to do his PhD on Remote sensing using Multi temporal data at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. At IWMI, Murali Krishna was involved in integrated modelling from field to basin and Wastewater projects. He provided RS\GIS expert services to IWMI researchers at South Asia office. Murali worked on land use\land cover (LULC) mapping in the Krishna basin using continuous MODIS data (2000-03).

Currently, Murali is taking a lead role in Irrigated area mapping for China using Landsat 30m and MODIS250m data. He is also playing a key role in the detecting informal irrigation in Ghana using Landsat and MODIS data. Murali is a core team member of the Global Irrigated Area Mapping and IWMI Data Storehouse Pathway. Murali, was involved in the methodology development component of GIAM as evidenced in the 2 peer-review publications (as co-author) in the International Journals based on the work in the Krishna basin. IWMIDSP is a well recognized Global Public Goods (GPG) with over 2000 visitors from over 70 Countries every month supports regional and HQ researchers for GIS services to different research activities and development at IWMI. He currently manages the IWMI's RS\GIS lab. in terms of its data management and cataloguing. He is proficient in many leading Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) software packages such as ERDAS Imagine, ERMapper, ArcGIS and ArcView. He is knowledgeable in remote sensing data from a wide array of sensors such as Landsat, SPOT, IRS, MODIS, and AVHRR and also has very good understanding of remote sensing theory.

Biggs, T., Thenkabail, P.S., Gumma, M.K, GangadharaRao, P., and Turral, H., 2006b.. Vegetation phenology and irrigated area mapping using combined MODIS time-series, ground surveys, and agricultural census data in Krishna River Basin, India. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 27(19):4245-4266.

Thenkabail, P.S., GangadharaRao, P., Biggs, T., Gumma, M., and Turral, H., 2007. Spectral Matching Techniques to Determine Historical Land use/Land cover (LULC) and Irrigated Areas using Time-series AVHRR Pathfinder Datasets in the Krishna River Basin, India. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. 73(9): 1029-1040.

Gaur, A., T.W. Biggs, M.K. Gumma, GangadharaRao. P and H. Turral. 2007. Water scarcity effects on equitable water distribution and land use in Major Irrigation Project ? A Case study in India. JOURNAL OF IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE ENGINEERING © ASCE / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008.

Gumma, M.K., Biggs, T. Thenkabail, P.S., and Gangadhara Rao, P. 2006. Irrigated Area Mapping in Krishna River Basin using MODIS 500-m Time-series Data. International Conference on Geo Informatics for Rural development (ICORG-2006) Rajendranagar, Hyderabad.

Biggs TW, Gaur A, Scott CA, Gumma, M.K, Gangadhararao,P. S. Acharya and H.Turral.2006. Closing of the Krishna basin: Summary of research, Hydronomic zones and water accounting. Iwmi Research Report, Colombo: IWMI. 38p. (IWMI Research Report 111)

Gaur A., T. W. Biggs, Gumma, M.K, Hugh Turral, and P.G. Rao. 2005. Implications of Spatial Distribution of Canal Flows from a Multipurpose Reservoir on Irrigated Areas and Land Use Patterns. Working conference on enhancing equitable livelihood benefits of dams using decision support systems. Nazareth, Ethiopia, 23-26 January 2006.

Biradar C. M., Thenkabail P. S., Turral, H., Noojipady, P., Li, Y. J.,Velpuri, M ., Dheeravath, V., Vithanage, J., Schull M., Cai, X. L., Gumma, M.K., and Rishi, Dd.2006. A Global Map of Rainfed Cropland Areas at the end of last millennium using Remote Sensing and Geospatial Techniques.

Velpuri, M., Thenkabail, P.S., Gumma, M.K.,Biradar, C.B., Noojipady, P., Dheeravath, V., Reddy, G.P.O., Cai, X., Turral, H., Yuanjie, Li., 2007. Methods for mapping irrigated areas using Landsat ETM+ 30 meter, SRTM 90 meter, and MODIS 500 meter time series data taking Krishna river basin India. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (in preparation).

Thenkabail, Prasad S., Biradar, C M., Noojipady, P., Xueliang, Cai, Dheeravath, Venkateswarlu, Li, Y. J., Velpuri, M., Gumma, M.K., Pandey, Suraj. 2007. Sub-pixel area calculation methods for estimating irrigated areas. Sensors, 7: 2519-2538

Obi Reddy, P. G., Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Dheeravath, V., Noojipady, P., Velpuri, M., and Gumma, M.K. 2006. Irrigated Areas of India based on Satellite Sensors and National Statistics: Issues and Way forward from Global Irrigated Area Mapping (GIAM)-2006. International Workshop on Global Irrigated Area Mapping, September 25-27, 2006, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Xueliang Cai, a Chinese national, is a Post Doctoral Scientist (remote sensing) at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). With 13 publications under his name, he is an irrigation and remote sensing specialist. His expertise in irrigation includes irrigation hydrology, irrigation performance diagnosis and integrated agriculture water management. He also has enriched experience in application of RS/GIS in agriculture and irrigation water management which involves hyper spectral remote sensing of agriculture and vegetation, ET mapping, agricultural crop biophysical and yield modelling. Skilled with programming, database and statistic analysis, he has copyrights of two softwares registered to SIPO China.

He joined IWMI as a PDF in Jun, 2007, where he mainly works on two projects: Global Irrigated Area Mapping (GIAM) and Water Productivity Mapping in central Asia, both combine active practices in land, agriculture water management and Remote Sensing/GIS. Prior to this, he received his PhD degree in College of Water Resources & Hydropower, Wuhan University, China with dissertation focusing on integrated irrigation water management with OASIS model and application of remote sensing / GIS.

N. Roost, X.L. Cai, D. Molden and Y.L Cui. 2007. Adapting to intersectoral transfers in the Zhanghe Irrigation System, China. Part I: In-system storage characteristics. Agricultural Water Management. (Accepted)

N. Roost, X.L. Cai, H. Turral, D. Molden and Y.L Cui. 2007. Adapting to intersectoral transfers in the Zhanghe Irrigation System, China. Part II: Impacts of in-system storage on water balance and productivity. Agricultural Water Management. (Accepted)

Thenkabail, P.S., Biradar C.M., Noojipady, P., Cai, X.L., Dheeravath, V., Li, Y.J., Velpuri, M., Gumma, M., Pandey., S. 2007. Sub-pixel irrigated area calculation methods. Sensors Journal (special issue: Remote Sensing of Natural Resources and the Environment (Remote Sensing Sensors Edited by Assefa M. Melesse). 7:2519-2538. http://www.mdpi.org/sensors/papers/s7112519.pdf

Xueliang Cai, Yuanlai Cui, Bin Dong. 2007. Estimating pond storage capacity using remote sensing and GIS: a case study in Zhanghe irrigation scheme, southern China. Methodology in Hydrology (Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Methodology in Hydrology held in Nanjing, China, October-November 2005). IAHS Publ. 311, 2007.

CAI Xue-liang, CUI Yuan-lai, DAI Jun-feng, LUO Yu-feng,2007. Small Storage Based Return Flows Estimation and Evaluation in Melon-on-the -Vine Irrigation System. Journal of Wuhan University (Engineering edition).

Thenkabail, P.S., Biradar, C.M., Turral, H., Noojipady, P., Li, Y.J., Vithanage, J., Dheeravath, V., Velpuri, M., Schull M., Cai, X. L. and Dutta, R. 2006. An Irrigated Area Map of the World (1999) derived from Remote Sensing. IWMI Research Report 105.

CAI Xue-liang, CUI Yuan-lai, DONG Bin, WANG Jian-zhang. 2006. OASIS Model and the Application in Zhanghe Irrigation System. International conference on effective utilization of agricultural soil & water resources and protection of environment and the 4th annual academic conference of Chinese Society of agricultural soil and water engineering, Nanjing, China.

CAI Xue-liang, CUI YL, SONG Zq, WANG Lx, WU L. 2003. Study on Real-time Irrigation Forecasting in Doushan Irrigation Scheme, Journal of Irrigation and Drainage, Vol.22, No.3, 33-36

Yufeng Luo?Yuanlai Cui?Xueliang Cai. 2005. A Fourier series model for forecasting of reference crop evapotranspiration. Journal of Wuhan University (Engineering edition), Vol. 38(6): 45-47, 52. (In Chinese with English abstract)

CAI Xue-liang, CUI YL, SONG Zq, WANG Lx, WU L. 2003. Study on Real-time Irrigation Forecasting in Doushan Irrigation Scheme, Journal of Irrigation and Drainage, Vol.22, No.3, 33-36 (In Chinese with English abstract)

Ma, JG; Cai, XL; Cui, YL; Yuan, HY; Wang, LX; Lei, W. 2003, Decision support system for real-time allocation of irrigation water, International Conference on Water- Saving Agriculture and Sustainable Use of Water and Land, Yangling, Shaanxi, China

Expertise:

1. GIS analysis and modelling;
2. Spatial Database Management;
3. GIS Based Customized Application Development;
4. Wetland mapping using remote sensing;
5. Applications of remote sensing in habitat mapping, water productivity studies.

Aminul Islam joined International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR supported research institute, headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka in January 2004. He is currently working as a Remote Sensing and GIS specialist at IWMI. At IWMI he has worked on various projects that include : (a) wetland Mapping using multi resolution satellite sensor data, (b) Water Productivity Mapping by using GIS and Remote Sensing, (c) Irrigated area mapping by using time series MODIS, (d) Habitat Mapping using multi resolution satellite sensor data, (e) Change Detection, (f) Global Land Cover Projection, (g) Flood Mapping by GIS, (h) Tsunami disaster mapping by GIS, (i) Application of geospatial tools for water and disaster management, (j) GIS modelling, Topographic Analysis, Spatial database management, Topographic mapping with Geo-spatial Programming skill. Aminul is competent in using remote sensing data such as MODIS (Optical bands), Landsat (MSS, TM, ETM+), IRS (LISS, Pan), IKONOS (MSS, Pan), QuickBird (MSS, Pan) etc. He is an expert on topographic analysis based on SRTM DEM. He is very proficient in many leading Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) software packages such as ERDAS Imagine, ERMapper, ArcGIS and ArcView. Aminul has excellent GIS programming skill for geo-spatial analysis and spatial modelling.

Aminul worked as one of the key experts in developing IWMI's Data Storehouse pathway (IWMIDSP), which is a popular global public good (GPG). His duties include providing RS\GIS services IWMI researchers at headquarters and regional offices. He was one of the main contributors to the GIS mapping effort for Asian Tsunami Rapid Response for relief activity in Sri Lanka which was awarded for outstanding team effort by IWMI during its Annual research meeting of 2005.

Prior to joining IWMI he worked as a Geo-spatial Expert at Institute of Water modelling, Dhaka, Bangladesh for 4 years. Aminul holds a Masters degree (M.E) in Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and a Bachelors degree (B.E) in Urban and Rural Planning (BURP) from Khulna University, Bangladesh.

Web portals:
   IWMI-DSP
   Global Wetland Mapping
   IWMI Wetland Mapping Project using Remote Sensing

Islam, Md. A., Thenkabail, P.S., De Silva, S., Finlayson, M., Alankara, R., Gunasinghe, R., Edussriya, C., Gunawardana, A., and Mariagrazia, B., 2007, Automated and Semi-automated methodology for mapping wetlands in Ruhuna Basin, Sri Lanka, International Journal of Remote Sensing.

Kulawardana, W., Thenkabail, P. S., Musiyadima, M., Biradar., C., Vithanage., J., Islam., Md. A., Finlayson., M., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara., R, 2007, Methods for Mapping, Characterization, and classification of the wetlands of Limpopo River basin using using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM Data.

Biradar C.M., Islam Md. A., Thenkabail P.S, and Markandu A., 2007, Spectral analysis of habitats based on Landsat and MODIS. International Journal of remote Sensing (peer reviewed paper in Press)

Expertise:

1. Natural resource management and environment impact assessment;
2. Crop modelling, Climate change studies;
3. Hydrology, habitat mapping;
4. Irrigated area mapping Fourier transformation;
5. GIS spatial modelling.

Jagath C Vithanage, a Sri Lankan, has more than 6 years experience in climate change, environmental sciences, GIS and Remote Sensing fields, and working as a National researcher at IWMI Headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 2005. Prior to joining IWMI, he worked as Research Officer in "Assessment of Impacts and Adaptations for Climate Change in particular to tea and Coconut sectors in Sri Lanka" at Department of Meteorology Sri Lanka. Jagath holds a Bachelors degree in Natural Sciences in The Open University of Sri Lanka and MSc. in Environment Sciences, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. He is a Member of American Society for Photogammetric and Remote Sensing and Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science as well as a life member in Geo Informatics Society of Sri Lanka. Jagath's expertise include GIS modelling using SRTM and GIS datasets, River basin studies, and habitat mapping using Landsat and IRS data. Currently at IWMI, he is involved in Irrigated area mapping using Satellite Remote Sensing, water productivity studies, and wetland mapping. He has also contributed to IWMI's Data Storehouse Pathway. Jagath has played key role in RS\GIS unit's activities at IWMI. He is proficient in many leading Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) software packages such as ERDAS Imagine, ERMapper, ArcGIS and ArcView. He is knowledgeable in remote sensing data from a wide array of sensors such as Landsat, SPOT, IRS, MODIS, and AVHRR and also has good understanding of remote sensing theory.

Kulawardana, R. W., Thenkabail, P. S., Vithanage, J., Biradar, C., Islam, Md. A., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara, R. Methods for Mapping, Characterization, and classification of the wetlands of Limpopo River basin using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM Data. Journal of Spatial Hydrology (JoSH), 2007.

Biradar, C. M., Thenkabail, P. S. Islam, A., Anputhas, M., Tharme, R., Vithanage, J., Alankara, R., Gunasinghe, S. 2007. Establishing the best spectral bands and timing of Imagery for land use / land cover (LULC) class separability using Landsat ETM+ and Terra MODIS data. Canadian Journal of Remote sensing. 2007.

Kulawardana, R. W., Thenkabail. P.S., Masiyandima, M., Biradar, C.M., Vithanage, J., Finlayson, M., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara., R. 2006. Evaluation of different methods for delineation of wetlands in the Limpopo river basin using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM data. Proceedings of the first Globwetland Symposium: Looking at wetlands from space Frascati, Italy, from 19 to 20 October, 2006

Prasad S. Thenkabail , Chandrashekhar M. Biradar , Hugh Tural , Praven Noo jipady ,Venkateswarlu Dheravath , Manohar Velpuri , Xueliang Cai , Jagath Vithanage , Yuan Ji Li, Samyuktha Varma , and Muralikrishna Guma 2006. GIAM: to help answer questions about water for food and nature, Water figures, International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka. Issue ¾.

Thenkabail, P. S.; Biradar, C. M.; Turral, H.; Noojipady, P.; Li, Y. J.; Vithanage, J.; Dheeravath, V.; Velpuri, M.; Schull, M.; Cai, X. L.; Dutta, R. 2006. An irrigated area map of the world (1999) derived from remote sensing. Research Report 105. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute.

Biradar, C.M., Thenkabail, P.S., Turral, H., Noojipady, P., Li, Y.J., Vithanage, J., Dheeravath, V., Velpuri, M., Schull M., Cai, X. L. and Dutta, R. 2006. A Global Map of Rainfed Cropland Areas at the end of last millennium using Remote Sensing and Geospatial Techniques. 14th international conference on Geoinformatics, which will be held in Wuhan, China, on Oct 28-29,2006. Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6418 64181R-1

Thenkabail, P. S.; Biradar, C. M.; Turral, H.; Noojipady, P.; Dheeravath, V.; Li, Y. J.; Vithanage, J.; Velpuri, M.; Schull, M.; Cai, X. L.; Dutta, R. 2005. A Methodology to Develop Global Map of Irrigated Area (1999) using Remote Sensing. GIAM Documentation. p.100. (Published online: www.iwmigmia.org).

Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Noojipady, P., Vithanage, J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Islam, A., Kulawardhana, W., Yuanjie Li, Gunasinghe, S., and Alankara, R. 2006. International Water Management Institute?s Data Storehouse Pathway (IWMIDSP) - A Unique Data and Knowledge Gateway of Spatial Data with Emphasis on River Basins. 14th international conference on Geoinformatics, Wuhan, China, on Oct 28-29,2006. Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6418 64181R-1

Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Noojipady, P., Vithanage, J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Islam, A., Kulawardhana, W., Yuanjie Li, Gunasinghe, S., and Alankara, R. The Spatial Data and Knowledge Gateways at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 2006. 14th international conference on Geoinformatics, which will be held in Wuhan, China, on Oct 28-29,2006. Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6418 64181R-1

Basnayake, B.R. S. B., Vithanage, J. C., Downscaling of future scenarios of rainfall and temperature for Sri Lanka. Proceedings of the Second International workshop on Assessment of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change, 28June-2July 2004, Munich, Germany.

Basnayake, B. R. S. B., Vithanage, J. C., Rainfall Scenarios for Changing Environment in Sri Lanka, International Conference on Sustainable Water Resource Management in the Changing Environment of the Monsoon Region, 17-19 November, United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan.

Basnayake, B. R. S. B., Vithanage, J. C., Climate Change over past few decades,2004. National Atlas of Sri Lanka, Department of Survey, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Basnayake, B. R. S. B., Fernando, T. K., Vithanage, J. C., Variation of Air Temperature and Rainfall During Yala and Maha Agricultral Seasons, Proceedings of the 58th Annual Sessions, Sri Lanka association for the Advancement of Science, pp212, 02.12.2002

Basnayake, B. R. S. B., Vithanage, J. C., A comparative study of the ambient air temperature at Hambantota and Angunukolapelessa, Proceedings of the 59th Annual Sessions, Sri Lanka association for the Advancement of Science, pp194, 02.12.2003

Basnayake, B. R. S. B., Vithanage, J. C., Spatial Climatologies of temperature for Sri Lanka with terrain dependency feature, First National Symposium on Geo-Informatics July 30,2004, Geo Informatics Society of Sri Lanka in Collaboration with University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka .

Basnayake, B.R.S.B., and Vithanage, J. C., Terrain dependency of rainfall & temperature climatology of Sri Lanka, 2004. Proceedings of the 60th Annual Sessions, Sri Lanka association for the Advancement of Science.

Basnayake, B.R.S.B., and Vithanage, J. C., Future Climate scenarios of rainfall and temperature for Sri lanka, 2004. Proceedings of the 60th Annual Sessions, Sri Lanka association for the Advancement of Science.

Expertise:

1. Wetland mapping using remote sensing;
2. Spatial modelling and best site selection;
3. Remote sensing and GIS;
4. Remote sensing applications to natural resources management.

Wasantha Kulawardhana, a Sri Lankan employed at IWMI as a RS & GIS Specialist. Over the past three Years at IWMI She played a major role as a research analyst for development of RS and GIS methods and techniques for wetland mapping and characterization. Currently Wasantha is working in an IWMI/Japan cooperative program, a research work on transferring effective irrigation and water-resource management techniques. Her contributions for the project are for developing RS and GIS based spatial modelling framework for the evaluation of land suitability for paddy cultivation in Ghana. Her past work at IWMI was based on Limpopo River Basin in Southern Africa which was carried out for developing RS and GIS based research methodologies for delineation, mapping and characterization of wetlands within the river basin. Wasantha is also a team member of the IWMI's spatial data gateway. Her contributions for the IWMIDSP are in terms of data processing, streamlining and metadata recording for the datasets and also through delivering data and products which are coming from her research analyses.

Wasantha holds a Masters degree (M.Phil) in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) obtained from the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture of the University of Peradeniya and Bachelors degree (B.Sc.) specialized in Agriculture obtained from the same University. Prior to joining IWMI, she was attached to the academic staff of the University of Peradeniya and also has worked for the Department of Agriculture, Department of Horticultural Crop Research and Development Institute (HORDI) of Sri Lanka and Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka contributing to various research activities.

Postgraduate thesis submitted to the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture (PGIA) of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka for the partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) entitled "Determination of Spatio-Temporal variability of Rainfall, Land Surface Temperature and Vegetation Cover and their relationships over Sri Lanka using low resolution satellite data (NOAA AVHRR data). Undergraduate thesis submitted to the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka for the partial fulfillment of the Degree of Science (B. Sc. Sp. in Agriculture) entitled "Effects of organic tea cultivations on soil Biomass with special reference to abundance of micro-arthropods". She is proficient in many leading Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) software packages such as ERDAS Imagine, ERMapper, ArcGIS and ArcView. He is knowledgeable in remote sensing data from a wide array of sensors such as Landsat, SPOT, IRS, MODIS, and AVHRR and also has very good understanding of remote sensing theory.

Web portals:
   IWMI-DSP
   IWMI Wetland Mapping Project using Remote Sensing
   Geo-Informatics Society of Sri Lanka
   International Water Management Institute

Kulawardana, R. W., Thenkabail, P. S., Vithanage, J., Biradar, C., Islam, Md. A., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara, R. Methods for Mapping, Characterization, and classification of the wetlands of Limpopo River basin using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM Data. - Paper accepted for publication in Journal of Spatial Hydrology (JoSH), Decmber 2007

Islam, Md. A., Thenkabail, P. , Kulawardana, R. W., Finlayson, M., Vithanage, J., Alankara, R., Gunasinghe, S., Edussuriya, C., Gunawardana, A., De Silva, S., and Mariagrazia, B. Evaluation of Automated and Semi-automated Methods for mapping wetlands using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM data. (International Journal of Remote Sensing).

Kulawardhana, R. W., Dayawansa, N. D. K. and De Silva, R. P. 2004. Determination of Spatio-Temporal Variations of Vegetation Cover, Land Surface Temperature and Rainfall and their Relationships over Sri Lanka Using NOAA AVHRR Data, Tropical Agricultural Research, Vol. 16, 2004.

Kulawardhana, R. W., Thenkabail. P.S., Masiyandima, M., Biradar, C.M., Vithanage, J., Finlayson, M., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara., R. 2006. Evaluation of different methods for delineation of wetlands in the Limpopo river basin using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM data. Proceedings of the first Globwetland Symposium: Looking at wetlands from space held on 19 to 20 October, 2006, Frascati, Italy.

Kulawardhana, R. W., Mohotti, K. M. and Wijegunawardhana N (2002) Effects of organic tea cultivations on soil Biomass with special reference to abundance of micro-arthropods, Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Session of the Institute of Biology, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Thenkabail, P.S., Biradar, C.B., Noojipady, P., Islam, Md. A., Vithanage., J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Kulawardhana, R. W., Li, Y.J., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara, R., 2006. International Water Management Institute?s Data Storehouse Pathway (IWMIDSP): A unique data and knowledge gateway of spatial data with emphasis on river basins. Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6418 64181R1-6. Geoinformatics 2006. GNSS and Integrated Geospatial application (Editors: Daren Li and Linyuan Kia).

Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Noojipady, P., Vithanage, J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Islam, Md. A., Kulawardhana, R. W., Yuanjie Li, Gunasinghe, S., and Alankara, R. The Spatial Data and Knowledge Gateways at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6421 64211Z1-10. Geoinformatics 2006. GNSS and Integrated Geospatial application (Editors: Daren Li and Linyuan Kia).

I joined the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in 2002 and currently hold the position of Research Officer attached to the Research Division at IWMI HQ. My main area of work relates to water management research. At IWMI, for the past six years, I have worked on irrigation management issues, wastewater reuse in agriculture, hydrology and the application of remote sensing and GIS for water resource management. My research in the Uda Walawe river basin in southern Sri Lanka contributed to Basin Water Managers arriving at correct decisions to increase irrigation performance, minimize the conflicts that occur between user groups, especially conflicts that arise due to upstream damming that directly affect downstream irrigation. I have quantified wastewater irrigated areas by conducting questionnaire surveys and using secondary information such as maps and figures for 53 cities around the globe. As a result I have been able to learn and understand the diverse techniques adopted in different locations to cope with wastewater irrigation constrains. I have setup, calibrated and validated a Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macro scale hydrological model for the Solani watershed in northern India. I also have experience in meso scale semi-distributed hydrological modelling which I learned in the process of setting, validating and calibrating the Soil Water Analysis Tool (SWAT) for the Solani Watershed in India and the Kulna River Basin in Bangaldesh. In addition I contribute my remote sensing and GIS knowledge and expertise to other IWMI research projects and I am a key player in the RS & GIS lab where I have worked on the IWMI Global Irrigated Area Mapping (GIAM) Project and contributed to the IWMI Data Store House Pathway (DSP).

In October 2007 I participated in a nine month RS & GIS Training Program conducted by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Deheradun, India. Upon completion of this Training Program I was awarded the Postgraduate Diploma for RS & GIS and a Gold medal for my superior achievements. In 1999 I graduated Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (four years Special Degree) from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. During my first degree I studied crop, soil and social sciences, irrigation, hydrology, economics and specialized in agriculture engineering. I completed six months research work on a water balance model for an upstream catchment as a partial fulfillment of the degree. In 2005, I was awarded a Master of Philosophy (Mphil) degree for Agriculture Engineering from the Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya. My Mphil covered the areas of remote sensing and GIS, irrigation and hydrology and also included a wide range of agriculture engineering subjects. This post graduate degree comprised one year of course work and one year of research. For the year of research work I investigated the hydrological regime of a small tank cascade and contributed my knowledge to optimize its irrigation efficiency.

List of major Assignments and Projects (2002 to 2008):

• Hydrological modeling of Solani watershed using macro and micro scale hydrological models. This study was conducted as a partial fulfillment of RS & GIS post graduate diploma. Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model and Soil Water Analysis Tool (SWAT) was applied in one river basin in India and compare the results. Most of the inputs required to the models were prepared using remote sensing and GIS techniques.

• Quantification of Irrigation command using land sat images for Sri Lanka. Under Global Irrigate area mapping project, irrigated area of the Sri lanka was estimated using Land sat images with the help of other secondary information.

• Assessment of Wastewater Irrigation Practices, sanitation and health in selected Cities (50) of less Developed Regions. A survey was conducted around the globe to estimate the wastewater irrigated area and to asses the drivers behind such a usage.

• Study on social conflict due to Kaltota Irrigation scheme. Studied the conflicts occur with down stream and upstream users due to dam a river. Social analysis as well hydrological analysis was conducted to make some suggestion to over come current conflicts.

• Study on social conflict due to Kaltota Irrigation scheme. Studied the conflicts occur with down stream and upstream users due to dam a river. Social analysis as well hydrological analysis was conducted to make some suggestion to over come current conflicts.

• Comprehensive assessment of the Uadawalwe river basin. In this study detail assessment was done to understand the water management opportunities and constrains. Two IWMI working papers and many other conference papers were publish as written out comes.

MOLLE, F., JAYAKODY, P., ARIYARATNE, R., SOMATILAKE, H.S. 2007 - Irrigation vs Hydropower: Sectoral conflicts in Southern Sri Lanka. Water Policy 10/1: 37-50.

Priyantha Jayakody Francois Molle 2006 Paddy To Hydropower - A Conflict Between Uses: Case Study In Kaltota, Sri Lanka, The European Small Hydropower Association (ESHA) organises HIDROENERGIA 2006 in Crieff, Scotland, UK, 7-9 June 2006.

Priyantha Jayakody, M.I.M.Mowjood, Nimal Gunawardena 2005 ?Determination of the village tank dynamics in relation to water usage in a cascade system of the dry zone in Sri Lanka? Thesis for the degree of Master of Philosophy In Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture ,University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka 2005.

François Molle, Priyantha Jayakody, Ranjith Ariyaratne, H.S. Somatilake 2005 ?Balancing Irrigation and Hydropower: A Case Study from Southern Sri Lanka? IWMI RR 94 (Was among the five best papers for the 2005)

Jayakody, P.: Mowjood, M.:Gunawardena, E. 2004. Modifying and Testing a Cascade Water Balance Model Using a Mini Cascade System with two Tanks. Tropical Agriculture Research Vol.16: 159-170 (2004)

Liqa Raschid, Jayakody Priyantha 2008: Understanding the drivers of wastewater agriculture in developing countries - results from a global assessment: IWMI Research Report 2008.

Priyantha Jayakody and S.P.Aggarwal 2008 "Hydrlogical modeling of Solani Watershed using micro and macro scale models" A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Post Graduate Diploma in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System. Center for Space science and Technology Education in Asia and the pacific (cssteap), affiliated to the United Nations host by Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, National Remote Sensing Agency

Lal Muthuwatta and Priyantha Jayakody 2006 ?Development And Testing A Spatially Distributed Hydrological Model For A Meso-Scale Watershed A Case Study From Hulanda Oya Catchment Sri Lanka Thrid national symposium on Geo informatics, Symposium Proceedings pp 40-55 held at Colombo Sri Lanka http://www.gissl.lk/thirdsymposium/2/7.pdf

Priyantha Jayakody and P. G. Somaratne 2006 Evolution Of The Anicut Systems: A Case From Hulanda Oya Sub Catchment; Water professional day 2006 held at University of Peradeniya Proceedings. http://www.gissl.lk/water_prof_day/2006/Proceedings/5.pdf

P. Jayakody, L. Raschid-Sally, S.A.K. Abayawardana and M. Najim, Sri Lanka Urban growth and wastewater agriculture: A study from Sri Lanka ; Sustainable Development of Water Resources, Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation 32 WEDC Conference pre print pp547 ? 554 An international conference held at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall Colombo Sri Lanka

Doan Doan Tuan, Liqa Raschid , Jayakody Priyantha 2005: Waste Water Management And Impact Of Wastewater Use On Farm Households - Case Study In Nam Dinh City : Technical report 92pp, Danida wastewater project Vietnam 2005.

Priyantha Jayakody, P.G.Somarathne and K.Jinapala 2005 :Evolution of small Tank Cascade Systems in walawe Basin "Water Resources Research in Sri Lanka, Symposium Proceedings of the Water Professionals" Day pp85-101 2005

Priyantha Jayakody, Francois Molle and M.M.M.Najim 2005 :Deviation of Planned Water Demand from Actual on Farm water Usages and Suggestions for Improvements "A Case Study from Uda Walawe Irrigation Scheme, Sri Lanka, Water Resources Research in Sri Lanka, Symposium Proceedings of the Water Professionals" Day pp1-14 2005

Jayakody, P.; Molle, F.; Gamage, C. 2004. Growing pressure over land and water resources: Transformations in the Belihuloya catchment. Proceedings of the "Water Professionals' day", Peradeniya University, 1st of October 2004. Edited by Ranjith Premalal De Silva

Jayakody. P.; Ariyarathne, R.: Abayawardana, S. 2004. Synthesis report of the RBMB network meeting, Ruhuna benchmark basin proceedings No 2. Colombo: International Water Management Institute. 18 p.

Somaratne, P.G.; Jayakody, P.; Molle, F.; Jinapala, K.C. 2004. Small tank cascade systems in the Walawe river basin. Technical report. Colombo: International Water Management Institute. 46 p. - for WP

Molle, François; Jayakody, Priyantha and Shyamalie de Silva. 2003. Anicut Systems in Sri Lanka: The Case of the Upper Walawe River Basin. Working Paper No.61, IWMI. http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/pubs/working/wor61.pdf

Markandu Anputhas, Ranjith Ariyarathne,Nilantha Gamage,Priyantha Jayakody, P.G.Somarathne, Parakrama Weligamage, Neelanga Weragala and Deeptha Wijerathna 2005 "Bringing Hambantota Back to Normal" A Post Tsunami Livelihoods Needs Assesment of Hambantota District in Sourthern Sri Lanka 2005

Jayakody, P and Gunewardene E.R.N 1999: Soil water balance Model (Computer simulation model for the Kandapola Catchments Upper water shed area of SriLanka)

Jayakody.P and Murray, F, J 2001: Nutrient Dynamics of seasonal Tanks in north western province Sri Lanka: Out put of Fish in irrigation system technology Project in Sri Lanka www.dfid.stir.ac.uk/Afgrp/greylit/WPSL-7.pdf

Expertise:

1. Digitizing, Editing, and Map Making in GIS.

Sarath, a Sri Lankan national, joined IWMI on July 1st 1990 and prior to that he worked at the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka based in Digana Village. He is doing his training as a GIS Analyst in the RS/GIS unit of IWMI. He obtained a GIS Training Certificate from the University of Peradeniya, and Colombo, Sri Lanka. Currently Sarath is involved in providing RS/GIS support services to IWMI researchers.

Islam, Md. A., Thenkabail, P. , Kulawardana, R. W., Finlayson, M., Vithanage, J., Alankara, R., Gunasinghe, S., Edussriya, C., Gunawardana, A., De Silva, S., and Mariagrazia, B. Evaluation of Automated and Semi-automated Methods for mapping wetlands using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM data. International Journal of Remote Sensing. Draft ready by December 2006.

Kulawardana, R. W., Thenkabail, P. S., Vithanage, J., Biradar, C., Masiyadima, M., Finlayson, M., Islam, Md. A., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara, R. Methods for Mapping, Characterization, and classification of the wetlands of Limpopo River basin using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM Data. Journal of Spatial Hydrology (JoSH) or International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. Draft ready by December 2006.

Thenkabail, P.S., Biradar, C.B., Noojipady, P., Islam, Md. A., Vithanage., J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Kulawardhana, W., Li, Y.J., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara, R., 2006. International Water Management Institute?s Data Storehouse Pathway (IWMIDSP): A unique data and knowledge gateway of spatial data with emphasis on river basins. Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6418 64181R1-6. Geoinformatics 2006. GNSS and Integrated Geospatial application (Editors: Daren Li and Linyuan Kia).

Kulawardana, R. W., Thenkabail. P.S., Masiyandima, M., Biradar, C.M., Vithanage, J., Finlayson, M., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara., R. 2006. Evaluation of different methods for delineation of wetlands in the Limpopo river basin using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM data. Proceedings of the first Globwetland Symposium: Looking at wetlands from space Frascati, Italy, from 19 to 20 October, 2006.

Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Noojipady, P., Vithanage, J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Islam, Md. A., Kulawardhana, W., Yuanjie Li, Gunasinghe, S., and Alankara, R. The Spatial Data and Knowledge Gateways at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6421 64211Z1-10. Geoinformatics 2006. GNSS and Integrated Geospatial application (Editors: Daren Li and Linyuan Kia).

Expertise:

1. Digitizing, Editing, and Map Making in GIS.

Ranjith is a Sri Lankan national who joined IWMI on July 1st 1995. Prior to that he worked at the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Sri Lanka. He is doing his training in GIS Analysis in the RS/GIS unit of IWMI. He obtained a GIS Training Certificate from the University of Colombo, and Arcview training from EMSO, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Currently, Ranjith is involved in providing RS/GIS support services to IWMI researchers.

Islam, Md. A., Thenkabail, P. , Kulawardana, R. W., Finlayson, M., Vithanage, J., Alankara, R., Gunasinghe, S., Edussriya, C., Gunawardana, A., De Silva, S., and Mariagrazia, B. Evaluation of Automated and Semi-automated Methods for mapping wetlands using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM data. International Journal of Remote Sensing. Draft ready by December 2006.

Kulawardana, R. W., Thenkabail, P. S., Vithanage, J., Biradar, C., Masiyadima, M., Finlayson, M., Islam, Md. A., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara, R., Methods for Mapping, Characterization, and classification of the wetlands of Limpopo River basin using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM Data. Journal of Spatial Hydrology (JoSH) or International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. Draft ready by December 2006.

Thenkabail, P.S., Biradar, C.B., Noojipady, P., Islam, Md. A., Vithanage., J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Kulawardhana, W., Li, Y.J., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara, R., 2006. International Water Management Institute?s Data Storehouse Pathway (IWMIDSP): A unique data and knowledge gateway of spatial data with emphasis on river basins. Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6418 64181R1-6. Geoinformatics 2006. GNSS and Integrated Geospatial application (Editors: Daren Li and Linyuan Kia).

Kulawardana, R. W., Thenkabail. P.S., Masiyandima, M., Biradar, C.M., Vithanage, J., Finlayson, M., Gunasinghe, S., Alankara., R., 2006. Evaluation of different methods for delineation of wetlands in the Limpopo river basin using Landsat ETM+ and SRTM data. Proceedings of the first Globwetland Symposium: Looking at wetlands from space Frascati, Italy, from 19 to 20 October, 2006.

Thenkabail P.S., Biradar, C.M., Noojipady, P., Vithanage, J., Velpuri, M., Dheeravath, V., Islam, Md. A., Kulawardhana, W., Yuanjie Li, Gunasinghe, S., and Alankara, R. The Spatial Data and Knowledge Gateways at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 6421 64211Z1-10. Geoinformatics 2006. GNSS and Integrated Geospatial application (Editors: Daren Li and Linyuan Kia).

Sadir Mohideen, a Sri Lankan national, joined IWMI on August 1st 2000, having Fourteen years experience in Software Development as a Programmer, System Analyst, Systems Network Administrator and Senior Web Software Development Engineer / Project Manager. He shows proficiency on design, develop, test and maintain spatial data web-portals & data warehouses, Database-driven GIS web applications, Web-Map servers, Research oriented scenario development tools, Hydrological models and Other Research oriented dynamic database driven websites.

• IWMI Data Storehouse Pathway (IWMI-DSP)
• IWMI Global Irrigated Area Mapping (IWMI-GIAM)
• IWMI Global Irrigated Area Mapping - Interactive Online Web Map Server
• IWMI Global Irrigated Area Mapping Statistics site
• IWMI Wetland Mapping Project using Remote Sensing
• IWMI Global Policy Dialogue Model (PODIUM)
• IWMI Online Irrigation Benchmarking Services (OIBS)
• IWMI Tsunami Satellite Data Catalog (TSDC)
• IWMI Global Wetland Initiative - Interactive Online Web Map Server
• IWMI Water Blog
• IWMI Online Journal System (OJS)
• IWMI GeoNetwork Data Dissemination Portal (IWMI-GeoNet)
• IWMI-CPWF India's National River Linking Project (NRLP)
• CGIAR CSI Global GeoNetwork Data Dissemination Portal
• CGIAR CSI SRTM 90m Digital Elevation Data Portal
• CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information (CGIAR-CSI)
• ENCOFOR Forest Definition On-Line Analysis Tool

Alexander Platonov has 10 years experience as a GIS/RS specialist in projects for agricultural land and water resources management in Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). During these years he has been involved in GIS/RS activities for international projects (WARMAP, ISEAM, Cirman-Aral, "Bright Spots", Water Productivity Mapping).

Alexander Platonov was appointed National Researcher of the International Water Management Institute, Central Asia sub-office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, effective February 2006.

Yann Chemin, Alexander Platonov, Iskandar Abdullaev, Mehmood Ul Hassan. Supplementing Farm-level Water Productivity Assessment by Remote Sensing in Transition Economies. IWRA, Water International, Volume 30, Number 4, Pages 513-521, December 2005

Alexander Platonov, Bernard Vincent. Remote Sensing applied for irrigation. The chapter of book: ?Irrigation management for combating of desertification processes in Aral Sea Basin. The evaluation and tools.? Submitted for publication.

Pedro S. Fortes, Alexander Y. Platonov, Luis S. Pereira. GISAREG ? A GIS Based Irrigation Scheduling Simulation Model to Support Improved Water Use. Agricultural Water Management 77 (2005) 158-179

Yann Chemin, Alexander Platonov, Mehmood Ul-Hassan, Iskandar Abdullaev. Using Remote Sensing data for Water Depletion Assessment at administrative and irrigation systems levels. Case study of Ferghana Province, Uzbekistan. Agricultural Water Management 64 (2004) 183-196

Expertise:

1. Water Resources/Irrigation Management
2. Remote Sensing applications for Evapotranspiration, Soil Moisture and Land Use/Land Cover Mapping
3. Agro-hydrological modelling

Mobin-ud-Din Ahmad, a Pakistani national, joined IWMI-Global Research Division in Colombo, as an international researcher on 1st February, 2003. Mobin has Doctorate in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering from Wageningen University-ITC, the Netherlands, Masters in Irrigation Engineering and Management from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand and B.Sc. Agricultural Engineering from University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. He has specialization in the application of remote sensing and modelling techniques for water balance and productivity analysis from field to basin scale. He has over 14 years of research experience of working in various multidisciplinary international research teams in several countries including Pakistan, France, India, Iran, Thailand, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka in areas such as:

• Irrigation & salinity mapping
• Land use classification (cropping pattern & cropping intensity)
• Irrigation and drainage performance diagnosis
• Actual evapotranspiration and soil moisture estimation (using Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land: SEBAL)
• Net groundwater use estimation; and Agricultural water use performance using satellite imagery

He has strong interest in integrated water resources management, particularly in the application of remote sensing techniques and computer simulation models to evaluate the effects of different irrigation and groundwater management strategies on crops and the environment for enhancing food security. At present, he is involved in the performance investigation & scaling-up water productivity projects in Pakistan, conservation agriculture project in China and Karkheh Basin Focal Project in Iran.

Ahmad, M.D., M. Giordano, H. Turral, I. Masih, Z. Masood 2007. At what scale does water saving really save water? Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 62(2): 29A-35A.

Gamage, M.S.D.N., M.D. Ahmad, H. Turral 2007. Semi-supervised technique to retrieve irrigated crops from Landsat ETM+ imagery for small fields and mixed cropping systems of South Asia. International Journal of Geoinformatics. 3(1): 45-53.

Ahmad, M.D., T. Biggs, H. Turral, C.A. Scott 2006. Application of SEBAL approach and MODIS time-series to map vegetation water use patterns in the data scarce Krishna river basin of India IWA Journal of Water Science and Technology 53(10): 83-90.

Ahmad, M.D., W.G.M. Bastiaanssen, R.A. Feddes 2005. A new technique to estimate net groundwater use across large Irrigated areas by combining remote sensing and water balance approaches, Rechna Doab, Pakistan. Hydrogeology Journal 13: 653-664.

Ahmad, M.D., T. Magagula, D. Love, V. Kongo, M. Mul, J. Kinoti 2005. Estimating actual evapotranspiration through remote sensing techniques to improve agricultural water management: A case study in the transboundary Olifants catchment in the Limpopo Basin, South Africa. 6th WaterNet/WARFSA/GWP Annual Symposium, 1-4 November 2005, Ezulwini, Swaziland.

Ahmad, M.D., I. Masih, H. Turral 2004. Diagnostic analysis of spatial and temporal variations in crop water productivity: A field scale analysis of rice-wheat cropping system of Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of Applied Irrigation Science, 39(1):43-63.

Bastiaanssen, W.G.M., M.D. Ahmad, Z. Tahir 2003. Upscaling water productivity in irrigated agriculture using remote-sensing and GIS technologies. In Kijne, J. W.; Barker, R.; Molden. D. (Eds.), Water productivity in agriculture: Limits and opportunities for improvement. Wallingford, UK : CABI pp.289-300.

Scott, C.A., W.G.M. Bastiaanssen, M.D. Ahmad 2003. Mapping root zone soil moisture using remotely sensed optical imagery. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 129(5):326-335.

Ahmad, M.D., W.G.M. Bastiaanssen, R.A. Feddes 2002. Sustainable use of groundwater for irrigation: A numerical analysis of the subsoil water fluxes. Irrigation and Drainage, 51(3): 227-241.

Bastiaanssen, W.G.M., M.D. Ahmad, Y. Chemin 2002. Satellite surveillance of evaporative depletion across the Indus Basin. American Geophysical Union. Water Resources Research, 38(12) 1273.

Ahmad, M.D. 2002. Estimation of net groundwater use in irrigated river basins using geo-information techniques:
A case study in Rechna Doab, Pakistan. Ph.D. Thesis, Wageningen University, the Netherlands. http://www.gcw.nl/dissertations/3334/dis3334.pdf

Expertise:

1. RS/GIS to Drought Assessment and Reporting.
2. Remote Sensing Application for the Water Resources and Disaster Management.
3. GIS, Spatial Time Series Data Analysis and Agricultural Engineering.

Nilantha, a Sri Lankan National, joined to IWMI on September 1st 2003 and prior to that he worked at the Agricultural Engineering Department, University of Peradeniya as a Research Assistant. He was trained as a trainee officer at the UN center for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and Pacific-India (2002/2003). He has a Bachelors degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Currently, at IWMI, he is the lead Remote Sensing analyst in Drought Assessment in Southwest Asia where he has processed over 100 GB of AVHRR and MODIS time-series data for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of India. He is currently working on an automated drought assessment and reporting system using MODIS.

Smakhtin. V., Gamage, N., Bharatai, L., Hydrological and Environmental issues of interbasin water transfers in India: A case study of Krishna River Basin. IWMI Research Report N 120, International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Gamage M.S.D.N., Mobin-ud-Din Ahmad, Hugh Turral (2007) Semi-supervised technique to retrieve irrigated crops from Landsat ETM+ imagery for small fields and mixed cropping systems of South Asia. International Journal of Geo informatics Vol 3

Smakhtin. V., Thenkabail, P., Gamage, N. (2006) Developing on-line near real time drought monitoring system for South West Asia, Agro-meteorological Monitoring in Russia and Central Asian Countries, Savin, I., and Negre T., (Ed), pp 104~118, Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen, European Commission Directorate General Joint Research Centre. Italy.

Smakhtin V., Thenkabail P., Gamage N., Weragala N., Hughes, D. (2005) Drought Assessment and Monitoring in South Asia Using Remote sensing Data. International Water Resources Association XIIth World Water Congress. New Delhi.

Gamage M.S.D.N., Mobin-ud-Din Ahmad, Hugh Turral (2005) Semi-supervised technique to retrieve irrigated crops from Landsat ETM+ imagery for small fields and mixed cropping systems of South Asia. ACRS-2005 Hanoi Vietnam.

Weragala N, Gamage M.S.D.N., (2005) Definition of Tsunami safe boundary for Sri Lanka-A case study in the costal zone of Galle Matara and Hambantota District. LOICZ II Inaugural Open Science Meeting, Egmondaan Zee, Netherlands

Thenkabail P.S., Gamage M.S.D.N. and Smakhtin V.U.,(2004) The Use Of Remote Sensing Data For Drought Assessment And Monitoring In South West Asia. IWMI Research Report N 85, International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Nilantha, M.G.S.D., Prasad, H.V.,(2004) Groundwater Recharge Estimation using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques. Sri Lankan Journal of Geo Informatics. Vol 1

Anputhas Markandu has more than Six years of experience in the research related work mainly focused on statistical aspects of the different project for designing the questionnaires, conducting survey using different techniques to collect data, downloading data from web site, synthesize and organize the data by creating data base, analyze the data, interpret the results and making recommendations and future projections / forecasting. This works mainly on climatic variables, production and their extends, salinity affects and etc. He has gained his experience in projects done by universities (Faculty of agriculture and Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture), Government Institutions (Rice Research & development institute of Sri Lanka, Department of Agriculture and Tea small Holder?s Development Authority of Sri Lanka) and Non-Governmental Organizations (FAO & CARE International).

In his M.Phil research, he proposed a methodology to taking account of several traits in selecting rice varieties for recommendations by taking account of their interaction with environment. Here he also used the variance components analysis to validate the results. He developed a statistical programme to analyze Multi location trails (Coordinating Rice Varietals Trails) taking account of genotypic ? environmental interaction.for Rice Research & development institute of Sri Lanka as his research component for the undergraduate study. He is competent in using statistical packages such as SPSS, SAS and MINITAB.

Anputhas worked for some short term assessment on benefit monitoring and impact evaluation conducted by Tea small Holder's Development Authority of Sri Lanka and Baseline survey for conducted by CARE International.

Anputhas has been appointed as Biometrician of the International Water Management Institute; a CGIAR-supported research institute headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, effective April 2002. At present he is working on Malaria risk assessment epidemiological project.

Biradar, C.M., Islam, A., Thenkabail, P., Anputhas, M., Tharme, R., Vithanage. J., Alankara, R., and Gunasinghe, S. (2007) Study of Landsat ETM+, SPOT HRV, and Terra MODIS wavebands for habitat change mapping during pre- and post-irrigation project, Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing ? Accepted for publication.

V.Smakhtin and Anputhas M., (2006) An Assessment of Environmental Flow Requirements of Indian River Basins, Research Report 107. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute.

Upali A Amarasinghe, Madar Samad and Markandu Anputhas (2005), Spatial clustering of rural poverty and food insecurity in Sri Lanka, Food Policy , 30 (5-6), 453 ? 612.

Upali A Amarasinghe Madar Samad and Markandu Anputhas (2005), Locating the poor: Spatially disaggregated poverty maps for Sri Lanka, Research Report 96. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute.

Anputhas, M., Ariyaratne, R., Gamage, N., Jayakody, P., Jinapala, K., Somaratne, P.G.,Weligamage, P., Weragala, N., and Wijerathna. D. (2005) Bringing Hambantota Back to Normal: A Post-Tsunami Livelihoods Needs Assessment of Hambantota District in Southern Sri Lanka, IWMI, Colombo

Samita.S., Anputhas. M. and Abeysiriwardena, D.S.deZ., (2005), Accounting for multi traits in recommending rice varieties for diverse environments. Experimental Agriculture, 41,213-225.

Anputhas. M. (2004), Multivariate approach in recommending crop varieties, M.Phil thesis, Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Upali A Amarasinghe and Markandu Anputhas (2003), Intervention Analysis for Impact Assessment of Irrigation Systems, Sri lankan Journal of Applied Statistics,4,59-81.

Anputhas. M., Samita. S., and Abeysiriwardena,D.S.deZ., (2003), Multivariate approach in varietal recommendations. Tropical Agriculture Research ,15,207-216

Ronald Loeve, P.G. Somaratne, B.R. Ariyaratne, Markandu Anputhas and K. Jinapala (2003), Institutional changes to reduce land preparation delay in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka, Working paper 69, International Water Management Institute