BULGARISK: Integration of satellite imagery in the operational procedures of hazard management in Bulgaria

 
Bulgaria is highly exposed to natural and man-made hazards, as evidenced by repeated flooding and pollution in the Danube river basin, earthquakes, fires, and pollution in the Black Sea.

As Europe is working to organize the security and defence of its populations and monitor the environment through the GMES programme, the increasingly frequent disasters that Bulgaria is experiencing, and their human and economic costs, are motivating a concerted drive within the country to improve hazard management. Government decisions, legislation, Bulgaria’s international presence and the allocation of funding to support crisis management and reconstruction are all part of this effort. 
 

• Compile a status report and analyse geoinformation needs for managing hazards in Bulgaria, before, during and after the event.
• Show decision-makers and stakeholders the value of satellite data as a source of information on natural disasters and as a hazard management tool, providing a panorama of the state of the art and compiling 3 prototype databases on 3 pilot regions for 3 types of hazard (floods, forest fires and pollution).
• Draw up a list of recommendations for setting up a hazard management information centre in Bulgaria and more particularly for integrating satellite imagery and NICTs in the compilation of national hazard management databases (database content, human and material resources required to build and maintain them).

The BULGARISK project will run for 24 months.
 

Besides coordinating BULGARISK partners and overseeing the project, Spot Image’s chief missions are to supply SPOT, FORMOSAT-2, Envisat and KOMPSAT-2 imagery and to provide expertise, i.e.: 

• review user requirements 
• organize training in the use of satellite imagery for natural hazard management 
• promote and communicate project results among the user community

13 June 2007
Bulgarisk project kick-off meeting in France at DDSC, attended by the French project partners: Spot Image, SERTIT, DDSC, Infoterra and CLS.

July 2007
Bulgarisk project kick-off meeting in Bulgaria at MTITC in Sofia, attended by Spot Image, SERTIT, Infoterra, ReSAC, Alliance for Environment, ASDE, NIMH, SAITC and NFSCPS.

September 2007
SERTIT and Spot Image took part in 2 events:
- FIRE 2007 observers exercise, from 24-26 September, in Ruse, Bulgaria.
- International Conference on fire safety of water transport and oil harbour, from 26-27 September, in Varna, Bulgaria.

26 November 2007
Organisation of the seminar on “State of the art in satellite imagery for hazard management” in Sofia. 

27 to 30 November 2007
Canvassing of user requirements by interviewing a representative panel of stakeholders in hazard management to identify:
- their degree of knowledge and use of geospatial information;
- their requirements for hazard mapping and distribution/sharing of data.

March 2008
ReSAC and Spot Image took part in:
- EURISY 2008 (Local and Regional Risk Management - Integrated Use of Satellite Information and Services) on 10-11 March 2008 in Sinaia, Romania.

May 2008
ReSAC and Spot Image took part in:
- BALWOIS 2008 (Water Observation and Information System for Decision Support) from 27-31 May 2008 in Ohrid, Macedonia

March to December 2008: training
Five training sessions were attended by 20 participants in Bulgaria:
- The 1st session focused on theory, explaining the basics of remote sensing and GIS.
- The 2nd session was devoted to applications of satellite imagery in hazard mapping.
- The 3rd session, in two parts, entitled Event mapping – Rapid Mapping, concentrated on operational applications for tracking marine pollution and flood and wildfire hazards.
- The 4th session, called Satellite Imagery Exploitation for the Full Risk Management Cycle, illustrated the use of crisis event information. A GPS and GIS tutorial demonstrated the value of combining these 2 technologies with satellite imagery for urban change detection and regional map updating.
- The 5th and last session on Risk Management Applications and Tools presented and evaluated a GIS risk management platform using previous case studies.

September 2008: fact-finding trip
Eight people from Bulgaria spent a week in France learning about risk management procedures. During their stay, they visited Spot Image, Infoterra, CLS, SERTIT and DDSC, the French defence and civil protection directorate.




 

January to May 2009
Drafting of final report detailing recommendations for integrating satellite imagery into Bulgaria’s operational risk management procedures.

June to August 2009
- ReSAC presented the Bulgarisk project at the Spot International Conference on 10-11 June in Toulouse, France.
- A promotional film about the project was produced

Coming soon
The project beneficiaries are currently validating the final report.
Project results and recommendations will be presented at the closing meeting scheduled to take place in Sofia in November 2009.

- ESA
http://news.eoportal.org/policy/071113_pol2.html 
- The Sofia Echo.com :
http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/french-bulgarian-initiative-for-pilot-projects-on-natural-disaster-management-to-start/id_27241/catid_64?bulletinstat=1
- MediaTerre 
http://www.mediaterre.org/femmes/actu,20080121151838.html 
- SAITC (in Bulgarian)
http://www.daits.government.bg/?t=novina&id=75  
- Computer World (in Bulgarian)
http://www.computerworld.bg/?call=USE~home;&page=paper&n=18778