Dr. Tomoki Oda, Senior Researcher at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) and a member of the SATREPS  VaryAla Project (Output 4), traveled to Madagascar in February to conduct field surveys and fold meetings with collaborating research institutions． 

At two small catchments established within Ankarafantsika National Park, rainfall, water level, and turbidity data were collected, confirming the successful acquisition of monitoring data. Soil depth and hydraulic conductivity were measured to investigate hydrological processes in forest soils. Sap flow sensors were also installed to monitor forest transpiration. In addition, meetings were held with collaborators from the Laboratoire des Radio-Isotopes (LRI), University of Antananarivo, to discuss the progress of the project.