ClimateSmart_2_v16

CLI
TE
SMART
CLIMATE SMART ?
Climate Smart is the
newsletter of the Federation
for Environment, Climate
and Technology. It describes
our projects, our researches, and our
institutional activities. We hope to
engage the informed and interested
readers towards better incorporation
of knowledge for betterment of
society and environment.
FOR THE APPLICATION
OF SCIENCE FOR SOCIETAL
WELFARE AND ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
FECT NEWS LETTER
Vol 2 Issue 1 MAY 2019

Climate Smart 02
02 Editorial
03 Semester Highlights
03 Recent Publications
04 Current Projects at FECT
06 Aruwakkalu Landfill (Overlook)
07 IT Matters
07 FECT Library
08 FECT Photo Diary
Boy rowing on flood water
Editorial
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the second edition
of Climate Smart newsletter. We
hope it interests the educated
layperson and is accessible to
those who normally would not
read a technical newsletter.
The Federation for Environment,
Climate and Technology is an
umbrella entity which includes:
• Foundation for Environment,
Climate and Technology,
• Tropical Climate,
• Disaster Services
• Overseas in USA, Comoros and
Maldives.
Our work commenced 19 years
ago although registered two
years later. We have undertaken
many projects that are in our
15th anniversary report. We also
have issued annual climate
reports for Sri Lanka and provided
an institutional progress report
every year. We provide a weekly
climate review for Sri Lanka and
a monthly climate review for
Maldives.
In this newsletter, we provide
some of the highlights of our
organization in the last year,
including:
• Our Current Projects
- Air Quality
- STEM Education
- Drought and Flood Hazard
- Tea and Climate
• Current Environmental Issues
• IT Work
• Photo Album / Diary
• Vacancies and Contacts
Contributors:
Chayana Gunathilake
Tharani Kailaivasan
Piushani Ellegala
Fathima Shakira
Ashara Nijamdeen
Lareef Zubair

Contact Information
Image credits - Creator:Eranga Jayawardena
Climate Smart 03
Semester Highlights
Norochcholai Visit
• Weather stations and AirVisual
instrument set up (on-line).
• PurpleAir instrument setup in
Ilanthadiya & Puttalam.
• M e t o f f i c i a l s o f P u t t a l a m
Environmental Watch in Puttalam
town.
Bokkawala Visit
• Checked the location for installing weather
station and air quality monitoring instruments.
Disaster Services Review Meeting
• Held on 09, January, 2019,
at the Sathyodaya Educational
Training Center, Kandy.
• Progress of the Disaster Services
project was reviewed and project
reports were planned.
American Geophysical Union Fall
Meeting 2018, Washington DC
• We had three presentations.
1. Transportation of particulates
from Sri Lanka’s coal power plant
to its Central Highlands.
2. Climate drives the seasonal and
regional variation in seasonality
and epidemics of the Maldives
Islands.
3. Seasonal climate variability impacts on tea
production in Sri Lanka.
February
2019
January
2019
December
2018
November
2018
October
2018
Health Symposium
• 5 th Research Symposium
“Research into Practice”of
the Dept. of Health Services
Central Province.
• Rushdha Salih presented on
‘Climate Sensitivity of Dengue
in Central Sri Lanka’.
Pinga Oya Floods
• Special address about Pinga
Oya floods was given by Dr.
Lareef Zubair at the Akurana
Asna Conference Room on
08, October, 2018
Social Science and Climate Change
• Lareef Zubair participated in the “Afro Asia-A New
Axis of Knowledge Conference” at the University
of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on the panel on
Climate Change and the Indian Ocean - Social
Science Challenges.
• Lareef Zubair visited Zanzibar as a guest of
the Deputy Minister of Industries and visited the
Institute of Marine Sciences, State University of
Zanzibar, and Environment, Disaster
Management and Fisheries Agencies.
September
2018
Maldives School Visit
• We provided water quality
instruments and a microscope for
schools in Thinadhoo and
Maathoda.
Recent Publications
15 th ANNIVERSARY REPORT
2002 - 2016
15 th Anniversary Review
Annual Climate
Report 2018
Annual Climate Report
FEDERATION FOR ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE AND TECHNOLOGY
FECT
FECT
Annual Progress Report 2018
TC
DS
FECT-MV
FECT-Inc
FECT-KM
Annual Progress Report
Foundation for Environment,
Climate, and Technology,
Digana Village, Rajawella,
Sri Lanka.
Phone : +94 - 81 - 2376746
Web : www.climate.lk
www.tropicalclimate.org/maldives
Can Drought and Flood Hazards be
Skillfully and Robustly Assessed at Fine
Spatial Resolution in
Maldives and Sri Lanka?
Goal : To develop operational drought, flood and landslide hazard assessments using climate,
terrestrial and societal information and to assess drought, flood and landslide risk more reliably in
Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Duration : 2015-2019
Foundation for Environment, Climate, and Technology [FECT] |
Maldives Meteorological Services [MMS] | NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center [GSFC] | Maldives
National University [MNU] | University of Peradeniya [UoP] |
Ministry of Disaster Management.
Sponsors: US National Academy of Sciences and USAID.
Summary :
Current drought and flood disaster hazard estimations do not combine separate
indicators from models, observations, and remote sensing into an overall
assessment or provide a way to cope with shortfalls in data in real time; we hope
to implement a hazard analysis framework for combining multiple terrestrial
indicators from satellite observations and climate/hydrological model simulations
to assess hazard risks and impacts of climate variability. These assessments shall
be evaluated for utility in decision support for disaster management.
OBJECTIVES
» ●●Engage with Key stakeholders
» ●●Develop Data resources
» ●●Develop Historical hazard indices
» ●●Assess multiple methodologies for hazard
estimation
» ●●Assess vulnerability and resilience for the
different hazards
» ●●Assess predictions from satellite and model
predictions
» ●●Develop multivariate hazard estimation
methodology
» ●●Diagnose physical underpinnings of
differences of multivariate indices
» ●●Capacity building through improving
infrastructure and training
Hazards Flyer
Foundation for Environment, Climate and Technology
පාරිසරික දේශගුණික සහ තාක්ෂණික පදනම
சூழல் காலநிலல த ாழில்நுட்ப நிலலயம்
‏ްނަޝޭޑްނުއަފ ރޯފ ‏،ްޓްނެމޮރިއަވްނެއ ‏ްޓެމިއަލުކ ‏ްޑްނެއ ‏ީޖޮލޮންކެޓ
Fondation pour l’Environnement, le Climat et la Technologie
Foundation for Environment, Climate and Technology
C/o Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, Digana Village,
Rajawella,
Kandy, KY 20180, Sri Lanka
Federation for Environment, Climate and Technology is a Federation comprising Foundation for Environment,
Climate and Technology - FECT (Reg. No. – N (A) 1148, GA 56 ), Tropical Climate Guarantee Ltd. – TC (Reg. No.
– GL 2438 ), Disaster Services – DS (Reg. No. – GA 00209570), FECT– Maldives - FECT-MV, FECT – Inc which is
registered in New York, USA( DOS ID No. – 3976120) and FECT – Comoros - FECT-Km.
Anticipated Development Outcomes :
●●Improved risk management and policy making
●●Use of advanced climate information
●●Application of near-term climate change info
●●Expertise in application of near-term climate change information
●●Training of undergraduates, researchers, disaster managers.

Climate Smart 04
Current projects at FECT
MONITORING AIR QUALITY IN NOROCHCHOLAI,
KALPITIYA, PUTTALAM
The coal power plant at
Norochcholai in western Sri Lanka
has been a source of controversy since
2011 in relation to the environmental
impacts. It generates 900MW later
and supplies 40% of the national
electric demand. Air quality is affected
by emissions from the 150 meter tall
chimneys and open yards of coal and
fly ash removed from the bottom of
the electro-static precipitator (ESP).
The hill country which rises to about
2532 meters is particularly sensitive as
there are orographic cloud formation
processes. The Kandy district has
large areas which are western facing
in this mountain massif. There is
transport of pollutants across these
locales, which is of high interest.
Hourly particulate (pm2.5)
measurements have been obtained
since March, 2017 by the US
embassy within central Colombo
with an EPA accredited BAM-1020
pm2.5 monitor. In March, 2018,
we deployed lower cost sensors
at Norochcholai and Nawalapitiya
(Climate Change Observatory of
the Dilmah Tea Company). These
instruments had been assessed well
by California’s Southern Coast Air
Quality Management District. Wind
measurements were obtained within
the triangle of these locations.
These readings show with very high
likelihood that fine particulates are
being transmitted from the Coal
Power Plant to the central hills – a
few alternative hypotheses are being
explored. It has significant implications
for hydrology, ecosystems, agriculture
and human health.
Dr. Lareef Zubair with teachers of
Thinadhoo school
STEM EDUCATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING IN THE
MALDIVES
This project focuses on enriching
student education in Science,
Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) in an
interdisciplinary and applied
approach. FECT has been involved in
the Maldives in projects on climate,
water resources, natural hazards
and droughts. As a supplementary
project, we seek to use the outcomes
of these projects on the advancement
of STEM education in Thinadhoo and
Huvadhoo schools. The project is in
partnership with the Small Island
Research Centre of the Maldives
which has research facilities in this
island. We are already operating a
weather station in this island.
Dr. Lareef Zubair at G. Dh. Atoll
Education Center

DROUGHT AND FLOOD HAZARD PREDICTION IN SRI
LANKA AND THE MALDIVES
Sri Lanka is densely populated with high spatial variability in climate and high
vulnerability to disasters. Recent droughts have led to drops in economic
growth and losses in livelihoods. Floods are a leading causes of loss in life from
natural disasters of the population of 21 million. In 2014, a severe drought
emergency up to September was followed by a flood emergency from
December. The Maldives is a country made up of almost 1,200 small islands,
and their isolated location, size, and storage limitations leave the population
of 350,000 vulnerable to drought risk.
This project involves expanding, testing, and implementing a hazard analysis
framework for combining multiple terrestrial indicators to estimate the
probability of drought and floods. This work builds on studies of hazards,
water, drought and climate, and dengue by our research team,
• Develop a management system for
historical data
• Assess historical hazard indices
based on the ground observed,
satellite and modeled data
• Assess vulnerability and resilience
to different disasters
• Assess precision of satellite and
model data
• Develop indicators for onset, and
termination phases of hazards
• Diagnose physical underpinnings
of variations in multivariate indices
• Contribute to inter-sectoral
meetings on disaster management
• Contribute to national disaster
management and disseminate
findings
Climate Smart 05
In order to facilitate further aims of this project, we collected data to update and record rainfall, humidity and
temperature data in Sri Lanka, in recent years. We have so far installed 3 weather stations at Norochcholai (Puttalam),
Asupeniella (Kegalla) and Queensbury Estate, Nawalapitiya.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE IMPACTS ON TEA PLANTATIONS IN SRI LANKA
Tea regions in Sri Lanka ↑
Tea production by region in Sri Lanka ↓
This project seeks to assess the impacts of climate on the tea plantation
systems in Sri Lanka. This year, we studied the impacts of climate on
production and prices of tea. Dilmah Conservation is sponsoring this
project.
Research Abstract: Impacts of Seasonal Climate Variability on
Production Across Tea Regions of Sri Lanka
We investigated the effects of
seasonal climate variability on
production, yield and quality by
agro-climatic districts. We undertook
a correlation analysis at monthly
time step and identified a significant
relationship between production
and climate variables (rainfall,
temperature) for some seasons. The
Impacts of El Nino were analyzed
for and detected in the Tea sector
data for the 1st and 2nd quarter
for the mid/high elevations and low
elevations respectively.
This study showed Tea production
is influenced strongly by rainfall
and temperature in some seasons.
The influence is most pronounced
in January to March and August
to September - higher rainfall
leads to higher production. Higher
temperatures in the warm months
of February to March lead to a
drop-in production while warmer
temperatures from September to
November reduce production in the
subsequent months. El Nino leads to
lower rainfall and lower production
in the first quarter of the year in the
higher elevation. It leads to higher
production in the 2nd and 3rd
quarters in the lowest elevations.
These climate influences are skillful
enough for plantation advisories and
shall form a multivariate prediction
system for tea by region in Sri Lanka.

Climate Smart 06
ARUWAKKALU
LANDFILL
Solid waste disposal is a major
problem for Colombo, which
generates a huge amount of garbage
per day. As the garbage dumps
are reaching their capacities, the
Ministry of Megalopolis and Western
Development has proposed to
construct and operate a semi-aerobic
sanitary landfill in Aruwakkalu (in
the Puttalam district), to dispose
municipal solid waste generated
from the Metro Colombo region. The
abandoned limestone quarries in
Aruwakkalu are to be converted into
the proposed sanitary landfill.
The plan is to transfer the garbage
using rail transport from Colombo
to the proposed landfill site at
Aruwakkalu, at a rate of 1200 tons
per day, covering a distance of 170
km one way.
Already the residents of Puttalam
are facing adverse impacts of two
other mega projects: the air pollution
from the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant
in Norochcholai and the massive
cement factory. There are houses
located 300 – 400 m away from the
proposed landfill site and dust could
reach this area from the landfill
during heavy windy seasons. Majority
of the families depends on natural
resources for their livelihoods and
these resources will be contaminated
once rubbish is dumped at the
site. There are possibilities for the
leachate to leak and contaminate
ground water.
The landfill will also have numerous
harmful effects on the different
ecosystems located in the
surrounding,
which are
rich in
biodiversity.
The Lunu Oya,
one of the
tributaries
of the Kala
Oya is located towards the east of
the landfill area at Aruwakkalu and it
is one of the few pristine mangrove
areas in Sri Lanka. Kala Oya provides
the largest fresh water volume to the
Puttalam lagoon. Puttalam lagoon
is the second largest brackish water
body of Sri Lanka and one of the most
productive estuaries, being important
for fisheries.
The proposed landfill is located
within the one mile buffer zone of
the Wilpattu National Park. Once
the garbage is dumped at the site
it will attract more elephants, and
other animals worsening the human
elephant conflict.
The Aruwakkalu project is likely to
harm the precious Miocene fossil
site. The quarries contain calcified
fossilized bony shells and remains
of animals which died many million
years ago. Sadly, a section of this
fossil site is included for the proposed
landfill.
It has been clearly shown that this
project will have very serious impacts
on the mangrove forests in the Kala
Oya – Lunu Oya estuary, within and
adjoining the Wilpattu National
Park and Miocene fossil sites at
Wedipitiya, among many other
hazardous impacts on environment
and biodiversity.
Map below from the Department of
Surveys location for “Aruwakkalu”. Note
that colloquially the Aruwakkadu is in
colloquial use while the Department
itself use “Aruwakalu”

Climate Smart 07
IT Matters
Map room
Map room is a collection of maps and other
figures that monitor climate and societal
conditions at present and in the recent past.
The maps and figures can be
manipulated and are linked to
the original data, it is possible
to create visual representations
of data, including animations.
We plan to develop a map room
for Sri Lanka and Maldives.
Data Library installation
The IRI Data Library is a
powerful and freely accessible
on-line data repository and
analysis tool, which can do
complex geographical analysis,
statistical computations and data
manipulation. We have installed
local versions of Data Library in
our Digana and Akurana offices.
Digital platforms for
Akurana Women’s Welfare
Association (AWWA)
AWWA is a Women’s
Association in the Kandy
district with a history of 3
decades. AWWA collaborates with FECT and other
organizations to carry out welfare activities. FECT
has provided digital, technical and social marketing
support for AWWA . An official website for AWWA,
www.awwa.lk was successfully launched on 12,
December 2017.
FECT Library
FECT-Zanzibar
Portal
We launched our
official portal for
FECT - Zanzibar “www.
tropicalclimate.org/
zanzibar” in 2018 this portal captures research,
information products and tools related to the climate
of Zanzibar and its use. This work was initiated by
Lareef Zubair at the Foundation for Environment,
Climate and Technology.
The FECT library is equipped with
1596 of books/journals and
related literature. Books have been
detailed and are stored in the library
software database. A similar physical
identification method is also in place
as the books are organized according
to the Dewey Category Number and
Dewey Decimal Specific Number. The
staff continue to utilize this resource
in much of the research, discovery
and education tasks of the institute.

Climate Smart 08
FECT
PHOTO
DIARY
FECT team after review meeting
Replacing the weather station near Norochcholai
power plant - Norochcholai visit
FECT team after DSC meeting
Ms. A. Nijamdeen(left) and Ms. P.S.
Ellegala(right) - Bokkawala field
Mr. T. Hadgie and Mr. Zahid checking
AirVisual instrument in Norochcholai.
CONTACT
Federation for Environment,
Climate and Technology,
Mailing : c/o Mahaweli Authority
Maintenance Office, Digana village,
Rajawella, 20180, Sri Lanka.
: 76/2 Matale Road,
Akurana, 20850, Sri Lanka.
Tel: +94 81 237 6746
+94 81 230 0415
Email:
Website:
Facebook:
Twitter:
fectsl@gmail.com
fectmv@gmail.com
www.climate.lk
www.tropicalclimate.org
www.disaster.lk
www.facebook.com/
FECTSL
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fectmv
@fectlk
@fectmv
@climatelk