DISARM developed an observation and early warning system to help authorities better respond to drought and wildfires in Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece. The system includes forest fire risk indicators and a high-resolution fire spread model, adapted to the geography and climate of the Southern Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean. Five partners from the three countries collaborated on the project, which contributes to efforts to reduce deforestation and desertification and ensure sustainable development in the region.
- 10 June 2020
‘In previous years it was not possible to send photos and videos to the field, so the team leaders didn’t have the information they needed. Now we can send photos and videos and, most importantly, we have this predictive fire model which shows the course of the fire. So the head of the firefighters’ team has all the data and can make the right decisions.’
The project partners created the disarmfire.eu website, a mobile application, and the IRIS early warning system for firefighting services. Algorithms to establish fire and drought vulnerability indices to provide short-term and monthly forecasts were developed.
Remote sensing techniques were elaborated to detect wildfires from space. The shortcomings of existing techniques, including low detection near the coasts, were identified and solutions proposed.
Drought and fire risk for the three countries, for the next 50 years, was estimated based on regional climate simulations. The necessary software, hardware and other scientific equipment were acquired.
In addition, the existing network of meteorological stations was expanded and/or upgraded.
Spreading the message
The mobile application is available in the languages of the three partners. It includes the current state of fire/drought risk and forecasts. In case of a major fire, the application provides simulations of its evolution. Users can upload information about the presence of accumulated dead biomass and the location of fires.
The disarmfire website has detailed maps of each country. Users have access to satellite weather images and forecast data for variables including temperature, wind, lightning activity, and the Fosberg fire weather index – a tool for evaluating the risk of a wildfire given the prevailing temperature, humidity and windspeed
Both of these tools have allowed for dissemination of the project outputs and increased public awareness of drought and wildfires
IRIS
The project partners developed the IRIS fire spread forecasting system. Named after the Greek messenger goddess, it is used in Greece, in collaboration with the Hellenic Fire Corps.
Once a fire alert is received, physicists and a meteorologist at the National Observatory of Athens use IRIS to send firefighters a fire spread forecast for the next 6 and 24 hours within 15 and 60 minutes respectively. This helps them plan their response and deploy resources more effectively.
The system takes into account the interaction between weather and fire and incorporates European vegetation and land cover data from the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service.
IRIS was first used operationally during the 2019 fire season.
Collaboration for greater impact
The project was based on transnational collaboration to produce a better understanding of - and find ways to address drought and wildfires. This allowed each partner to provide their expertise and share resources.
Interaction with potential users of the system across the Balkan-Med region allowed for it to be tested, which could not be achieved had each partner been working in isolation.
DISARM took advantage of state-of-the-art observational and modeling techniques and crowdsourcing to build a common prevention and mitigation framework for the region. Regional strategies were elaborated to adapt to climate change.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Drought and Fire Observatory and Early Warning System (DISARM)” is EUR 1 028 547, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 874 265 through the “Interreg Balkan-Mediterranean” Cooperation Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Environment”.