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The DRAGON partnership is creating an international community of practice to share
data on the great deltas and rivers of the world and to develop comparative models
and visualization tools in order to facilitate ecological forecasting regarding
climate change and development that ultimately helps in guiding decision making.
More...
For past accomplishments of the DRAGON Partnership, please click here.
Latest News
DRAGON Expands with “Forecast Mekong”
On July 23, 2009, in Phuket, Thailand, USGS scientists met with U.S. Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the foreign ministers from Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand, and Vietnam to view a video on “Forecast Mekong.” This first-ever
group meeting of the Secretary and the ministers highlighted the increasing
cooperation between the United States and Lower Mekong countries in the areas
of environment, health, education, and infrastructure development.
Part of the
Delta Research and Global Observation Network (DRAGON) Partnership, “Forecast
Mekong” is an interactive data integration, modeling, and visualization system
to help policy makers, resource managers, and the public understand and predict
outcomes from climate change and development projects in the Mekong River Basin.
When fully developed by the USGS, in partnership with local governments and
universities throughout the Mekong region, the Forecast Mekong program will
provide a valuable planning tool to visualize the consequences of climate change
and river management. The United States will spend more than $7 million in 2009
on environmental programs in the Mekong Region, and the Forecast Mekong effort
will be among the funded programs.
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DRAGON Asia Summit 2009: A Huge Success
The purpose of the DRAGON Asia Summit was to forge new global partnerships to
develop the science needed to inform decision making in the Mekong, Mississippi,
and other large river and delta systems around the globe. The 2009 DRAGON Asia
Summit took place June 22 – 25 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and was attended by more
than 130 scientists from 11 nations, two U.S. ambassadors, and three ministers
from Cambodia. During the Summit, information, data, and tools were presented
in 23 plenary presentations and in 54 technical presentations. Pre-conference
short courses on knowledge integration and mapping and on climate change were
also offered, as well as a field trip to the dynamic Tonle Sap Lake.
The DRAGON Partnership has grown tremendously because of this gathering of
scientists, policymakers, and natural resource managers. The work performed
at the Summit provides the partnership with an expanded network and direction
for the future and supports a scientific approach to addressing the issues
challenging the planet’s dynamic delta ecosystems.
Click here for more information on the DRAGON Asia Summit.
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Upstream Dams 'Threaten Mekong'
Reported by Radio Free Asia
Vietnamese environmental experts have sharply criticized plans by Laos,
China, and Thailand to build a cascade of dams along the upper reaches of
the Mekong River, which flows through six countries, including Vietnam.
More...
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Vietnam starts $112 million climate change program
Reported by Mai Vong, Thanh Nien News
Vietnam’s environment agency formally launched its VND 1.96 trillion
(US $112.44 million) program to protect the country from the effects
of climate change on Monday 12 January 2009. Scientists from the US
and Vietnam will study the impact of climate change on the Mekong
Delta and other low-lying river regions around the world. Gregory
Smith, head of the National Wetlands Research Center of the US Interior
Department, said the aim of the joint study is to gather large-scale
data sets to help model the impact of rising sea levels and worsening
cyclonic storms on river deltas, man-made structures and communities.
More...
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DRAGON Institute-Mekong to be established at Can Tho University, Vietnam
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and President George W. Bush welcomed the
commencement of the Delta Research and Global Observation Network (DRAGON)
project in Vietnam, which will establish an institute at Can Tho University
to cooperate on training and research to produce healthy ecosystems and
sustainable deltas. More...
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Hurricane Gustav
Hurricane Gustav hit the coast of Louisiana on Sept. 1, 2008, damaging wetlands
and several barrier islands off the coast of the Mississippi River's Deltaic
Plain. To learn more, go to http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/hurricane.
Aerial photography will be continuously added to the site.
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USGS biologists conduct aerial surveys of Mississippi River oil spill
At the request of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), USGS Pilot/Biologist
Tommy Michot and Biologist Wylie Barrow conducted aerial surveys of the area impacted
by the June 23, 2008 oil spill on the Mississippi River. More...
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Deltas in crisis: the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar (Burma)
Tropical Cyclone Nargis formed into a tropical cyclone on 27 April 2008, in the
central Bay of Bengal about 360 miles off the southeast coast of India. The United
Nations has estimated that up to 2 million people have been affected by the storm.
More...
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DRAGON News Archive
DRAGON bibliography
The delta research bibliography on the DRAGON Web
site includes over 1,400 citations related to research on deltaic systems. Records link
to abstracts and/or full-text or real- or near-time data. Some full-text is free while
other items are restricted to subscribers or pay-per-view access. Users may search by
title, author, or other fields. The asterisk (*) may be used for truncation. Clicking
on the arrow labeled "all indexed fields" on the Advanced Search page will provide more
options. The bibliographic database is updated monthly. If you have a paper or dataset
to add to the network, please click the
Data Upload tab on the DRAGON Web site for instructions.
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What’s available on the USGS DRAGON Web site?
DRAGON includes information on 15 deltas of international importance: the
Amazon,
Chao Phraya,
Danube,
Ganges,
Huang He,
Irrawaddy,
Lena,
Mekong,
Mississippi,
Nile,
Okavango,
Rhine,
Selenga,
Volga, and
Yangtze.
More...
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Click on a river above to view more information. 
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