Predicting the magnitude and timing of floods accurately and with long lead times is essential for flood warning bulletins to be released in such a way that the emergency services and the public at large can have time to prepare and subsequently respond to evacuation orders.  However, the flood prediction models used for issuing such bulletins are heavily reliant upon the precipitation and flow data available for calibration, the pre-event model states (soil moisture and stream flow), and the forecast precipitation.  Whilst the accuracy of flood prediction models is critically reliant upon the availability of such data, stream gauging and precipitation monitoring sites have been in constant decline over recent decades, and operational soil moisture monitoring networks are non-existent in most parts of the world. Despite these challenges, the space-age era has given rise to new opportunities for monitoring of precipitation, soil moisture, inundation and stream flow.   This lecture will report on activities underway at Monash to utilise space-age technologies to improve flood prediction, and the contributions to maturing such observational techniques.

    Dr. Jeff Walker got his Ph.D degree from The University of Newcastle, Australia, in 1999. And then he worked as a Research Scientist in the Hydrological Sciences Branch, NASA/GSFC. Currently, Dr. Jeff is a Professor and the Head of Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Australia. His research interesting is focusing on: i) environmental sensing, ii) earth system modelling, and iii) optimal convergence of model predictions with observations through data assimilation