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Research, Innovation & Development (RID)

Innovating through Research for a Sustainable Future

About RID Unit


IWM undertakes two types of research: one is sponsored research, meant for devising solution to problems of national/international importance for its clients; and the other is for development of new tools and methods or for adaptation of some new technology or tools for future useful purposes, actually intended for providing better services to its Clients in the long run. The research shall encompass application of water modelling/computational hydraulics and allied sciences in the field of hydrology, hydraulics, sediment transport, river morphology, oceanography, marine science and coastal engineering; and also in the associated laboratory and field measurements along with information technology (IT), social and environmental sciences. The second type of research may be undertaken either entirely by IWM's own resources or by resources drawn from partners and associates through collaboration/sub-contracts/joint ventures.

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Services of Research, Innovation & Development (RID)

The main services of this Unit are:

1. RID Activities

Research and development activities, other than the aforesaid research projects, comprise variety of activities for generating knowledge, which are as follows:

  • Conducting innovative research work on water environment, climate and associated fields.
  • Organisation of professional meetings, workshops, conferences and seminars in connection with RID activities.
  • Participation in professional meetings, workshops, conferences and seminars in connection with RID activities.
  • Work as resource person in some national and international technical committees, professional groups.
  • Review some study reports/papers of IWM or others.
  • Active support to MSc and PhD dissertation
  • Writing of manuals/books
  • Publications in professional journals
  • Temporary exchange of personnel between IWM and research institutions in Bangladesh and abroad.

These activities may be funded by IWM or by outside. However, these activities will be approved by the Executive Director.

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Milestone Projects/Activities of Research, Innovation & Development (RID)

Milestone Projects


1. Consultancy Services for Bird and Bat Survey at Two Locations in Connection with Wind Energy Assessment

Wind power is a sustainable and renewable energy source that has minimal impact on the environment, as it reduces GHG emissions. It is essential for economic growth and human development, and there is a strong correlation between economic development and energy utilization. The Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) has engaged IWM to conduct a study project called "Consultancy Services for Bats and Birds Survey for Wind Energy Assessment," a sub-project of the "Technical Assistance for Renewable Energy Resource Assessment and Piloting (TARERAP)" project. The main objective of this study is to survey the bat and bird communities, particularly their habitat, activity, and mortality of target species prone to collision, in and around the proposed wind turbine at two locations, Charfasson and Kutubdia, in connection with wind energy assessment. The study methodology covers several aspects such as bat habitat survey, bat activity survey, bat roost and colony survey, bat mortality survey, bird habitat survey, survey of breeding and resident bird, migratory bird survey and flyway, identification of target bird species prone to collision, bird mortality survey, potential impact identification and mitigation measures during pre-construction, construction, and operation phases etc.

 

 

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2. Assessment of Drinking Water Resources in the Selected Coastal Polder 29 at Dumuria of Khulna and Polder 40/1 at Patharghata of Barguna in Bangladesh

Coastal zone is one of the six hotspots considered in Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100. The coast of Bangladesh is known as a zone of vulnerabilities as well as opportunities. It is prone to natural disasters like cyclone, storm surge and flood. coastal areas have already been facing salinity problem which is expected to be exacerbated by climate change and sea level rise. And salinity intrusion in the coastal areas has already limited the accessibility of people to safe drinking water. But access to safe drinking water is one of the basic human rights. Therefore, to ensure safe drinking water by identifying different sources is inevitable in the coastal zone. Main objective is to assess the drinking water resources in the coastal polder 29 and 40/1 through identifying present sources and their condition of drinking water, estimating present & future demand, assessing the quantity and quality of resources, formulation and subsequently application of an index to assess overall situation of drinking water. The overall approach and methodology of this research study is comprised of data & information collection from both primary and secondary sources, analysis of the data, assessment of quality and quantity of resources, and assess the overall drinking water condition for the study areas at mouza level. Several field trips have been organized in connection with the reconnaissance survey, hydro-geochemical survey, geo-physical survey, exploratory drilling, and rapid assessment survey. Drinking water condition is good for 33 mouzas, moderate for 10 mouzas and poor for 19 mouzas in polder 29. And drinking water situation is moderate for 6 mouzas and poor in one mouza ‘Koralia’ out of 7 mouzas in the polder 40/1. 

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3. Research on Two-Stage Hydro-Meteorological Pre-Monsoon Flash Flood Forecast over North-East Haor Region of Bangladesh

Due to the geographical position, north-eastern part of Bangladesh experiences the highest amount of convective rainfall. Also, deep convective cloud often formed over Sylhet and adjoining area of India adjacent to Sylhet, causes heavy rainfall over the area. Among the other systems deep convection is responsible for occurring high impacts rainfall over northeast Bangladesh and liable for flash and local floods. Flash floods are the main cause for the poverty at Haor region. Recently, Haor has been experienced flash flood in 2004, 2010, 2016 and 2017 where a large number of almost matured Boro crops were lost. The main objective of this study is to develop two-stage hydro-meteorological pre-monsoon flash flood forecasting system for the north-east haor region of Bangladesh. Development of probabilistic rainfall prediction with one-month lead-time, selection of suitable cumulus physics for simulating thunderstorm, evaluation of satellite rainfall with observed datasets, and development of deterministic rainfall forecast with seven-day lead time are the specific objectives of this research study. The probabilistic rainfall prediction has been developed using Climate Predictability Tool (CPT) for one-month lead time which is helpful for policy level. And the later part of the development of the rainfall forecast has been done with the application of GFS and WRF numerical modelling technique for seven-days lead time over the haor region to reduce the vulnerability of the people in terms of livelihood, poverty and food security.

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4. Assessment of Effectiveness of Bank Protection Works/ River Training Works Suggested by BWDB through Mathematical Modelling of the Padma River at Naria of Shariatpur District to Combat Bank Erosion

Riverbank erosion is one of the most prominent natural disasters in Bangladesh which has diverse impacts such as social, economic, health, education and along with political. In the year 2018, the devastating bank erosion of the Padma River affects more than 5000 families out of 12 villages of six unions and one municipality of Naria Upazila. The major objective of the study is to assess the effectiveness of the BWDB suggested dredging works through mathematical modelling for river bank protection at Naria, Shariatpur district. Experience in dealing with mathematical modelling and analysis of bank erosion are certainly advantageous for this assignment to assess the effectiveness of bank protection works especially dredging works suggested by BWDB. Hence, this study was formulated with the view of expectation that this assignment would be indicative for dredging alignment and way forward for future detail study for BWDB to manage the bank erosion problem of Padma river. Key approach of this study is to collect hydro-morphological data from secondary sources; lesson learning from review of relevant past studies; analysis of the trend of planform & bank line shifting of the river; retrieval of old model; update of morphological model with collected secondary source data; assessment of effectiveness of BWDB suggested dredging works for bank protection at Naria, Shariatpur using developed model; and  finding out the way forward of future detail study for river bank protection. Relevant hydrometric and bathymetric data, satellite images and other related data and information have been collected from different organizations and sources. 

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5. Assessment of Suitability of Sediment Predictor of the Major Rivers of Bangladesh (Phase-I)

In this research project, the sediment transport characteristics of Brahmaputra-Jamuna River have been studied using the available suspended sediment data collected by BWDB and IWM. The data collected by River Survey Project in FAP 24 study is also used for comparing with the other available data. Comparison of six well known sediment transport formula named EngelundHansen (1967), Van Rijn (1984), Ackers-White (1973), Yang (1973), Bagnold (1966) and Hossain (1985) equation with observed sediment transport have been made against 536 sets of BWDB data at Bahadurabad location and 97 sets of IWM data at Bangabandhu Bridge location. The results suggest that Engelund-Hansen, Van Rijn and Hossain’s equations are the most suitable predictor for Jamuna River. Among these three equations, only Hossain’s formula is developed based on the field data of the major rivers of Bangladesh. Engelund-Hansen equation has been developed using the flume data whereas the Van Rijn equation has been developed based on large amount of flume experimental data in Delft Hydraulics Laboratory along with field data. The median particle size of Jamuna River (d50 range from 0.16mm to 0.23mm) falls within the range of applicable particle size used in these three equations. This is one of the reasons to exhibit good results for these equations in Jamuna River. Furthermore, an attempt has been made to develop a suitable sediment transport equation in Jamuna River by using the available suspended sediment data collected by Institute of Water Modelling (IWM). Considering all the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that the developed equation of IWM gives promising outcome in case of Jamuna River. However, there is still some scope of improvement of this equation if large amount of sediment data including dry and monsoon period is collected at an undisturbed location of Jamuna River.

 

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CORE TEAM: RID Unit

Core Team Members

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Md. Abdulla Hel Kafi

Head, RID Research, Innovation & Development (RID)

Email: ahk@iwmbd.org

Mobile: 01915-494677, 01841-930092

Md. Ashraful Islam

Associate Specialist Research, Innovation & Development (RID)

Email: asf@iwmbd.org

Mobile: 01629659540

Shamoeta Zaman

Junior Engineer Research, Innovation & Development (RID)

Email: shz@iwmbd.org

Mobile:

Anik Hossain

Junior Engineer Research, Innovation & Development (RID)

Email: kna@iwmbd.org

Mobile: 01738436186

Tamanna Tasnim

Junior Engineer Research, Innovation & Development (RID)

Email: tnm@iwmbd.org

Mobile: 01765291201

Md. Sazzad Hossain

Data Entry Operator Research, Innovation & Development (RID)

Email: szh@iwmbd.org

Mobile: 01725991405