The U.S. government recently authorized the release of 1 arcsecond (approximately 30m) SRTM data for most of the globe. In support of the release of these data the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and the Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRECTEALC) hosted the Workshop on Higher Resolution SRTM Data & Flood Modeling to demonstrate the utility of the data in flood modeling applications. CRECTEALC and CEOS generously invited OU graduate students Zac Flamig and Race Clark to conduct an EF5 training course as a part of this effort.

The workshop (25-29 May 2015) was held at the cultural complex of the Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla (BUAP) in Puebla, Puebla, Mexico and at the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics, and Electronics (INAOE) in Tonantzintla, Puebla, Mexico. Included were participants representing Colombia, Honduras, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. EF5’s participation in this workshop is part of an ongoing pattern of international outreach and capacity building activities on the part of the model development team. EF5 and CREST have now been presented on five continents to people from dozens of countries. Travel support for the training workshop was provided by the Secure World Foundation and the University of Oklahoma.