Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning systeM

Programme 2014 - 2020 INTERREG VB Balkan-Mediterranean

Date of latest update: 2025-12-20

Description

Description (EN):

The DISARM (Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning systeM) project aims at developing an integrated set of services to support prediction and promote prevention of drought and wildland fires. Bringing together Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus, the overall objective is to deliver an innovative, integrated observatory platform and an early warning system that will serve as a key tool for protecting the environment, thus promoting sustainable development in the region. Employing state-of-the-art approaches, DISARM will contribute to the prediction of drought and wildland fire risk in Balkan-Med area, as well as to the assessment of the risks under a changing climate. A rapid-response system for the short-term prediction of wildland fire behavior will be also developed, while an observatory for near real-time monitoring of wildland fire activity will be established. The system will be based on the use of high resolution meteorological forecasts, forest-fire spread models, satellite data for the detection of fires and the estimation of biomass, surface observations and monthly forecasting systems. Moreover, DISARM will include a desktop and mobile application that will be used for disseminating the project outputs, increasing thus public awareness with respect to drought and wildland fires. This application will also provide users with a simple tool for reporting forest fires, as well as the presence of dead biomass, that is of great importance for the ignition of a fire. Regional authorities could directly benefit from DISARM system, in setting up/programming preparatory actions. Civil protection agencies and fire services will increase their capacity to combat forest fires, by using the system. The general public and private sector stakeholders will benefit from DISARM through the use of the interactive mobile application. This approach provides the citizens with useful information but also involves them actively in the process of the information generation. DISARM addresses the problem of provision of accurate and timely observations and forecasts on drought and fire risk through a holistic and transnational approach. The interaction between the two hazards, coupled with the estimation of vulnerability for periods ranging from the present to the distant future, will provide a comprehensive prevention and mitigation framework. The transnational approach is necessary as it allows the exploitation of each partner expertise and the sharing of available resources. Interaction with end-users/stakeholders over the Balkan-Med region will allow for testing/evaluation of the system for various and different needs, which could not be achieved if every partner was working individually. Concluding, the added-value of the project comprises of the build of an integrated framework that goes beyond existing practices, uses smartly modern technologies and includes civil protection services and the general public in the acquisition and sharing of information.

Website: http://www.interreg-balkanmed.eu/

Expected Results (EN):

DISARM project will be realized through transnational collaboration between countries in the SE Mediterranean for addressing the common challenges of climate-related disasters, namely drought and wildland fires. Within this context, the establishment of a transnational collaborating network, comprised of the countries of Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus, will result in the following direct and immediate results: (i) Exchange of knowledge. This will allow for a better specification of the requirements for a joint action plan towards the development of common practices and tools. (ii) Design of protocols for the harmonization of methods. This is essential for ensuring that a consolidated set of services will be delivered. (iii) Increase of the awareness of both public authorities and of the general public. This will result from joint dissemination activities that will be conducted with the purpose of highlighting the need for climate change resilience measures and tools, such as the ones that will be delivered in the frame of the proposed project. (iv) Contribution to the protection of life and property through the use of the operational tools and information incorporated in the proposed system and delivered via desktop and mobile platforms. Conclusively, the anticipated exchange of knowledge, harmonization of methods, and joint planning and deployment of common tools and practices can be seen as an important advance towards the setup of a common framework of measures for increasing the resilience of land and forested areas to climate change.

Expected Outputs (EN):

The main output of the proposed project is expected to be an integrated observation and early warning system for drought and wildland fires in SE Mediterranean. To ensure that the project’s expected main output is successfully reached, several intermediate products will be delivered. These could be summarized as follows: (i) Drought and wildland fire risk assessment indices as derived with the use of ground and satellite data. These indices will be derived based through transnational cooperation with the aim to harmonize existing methods and develop new ones. (ii) Modeling system for the long- (monthly) and short-term (up to 5 days) prediction of drought and wildland fire risk. This system will be jointly planned and operationally implemented in all participating countries. (iii) Rapid-response modeling system for the very short-term prediction of wildland fire behavior. This system will be jointly designed and operated for all participating countries. (iv) Observation platform for near real-time monitoring of wildland fire activity or of the parameters that may influence the development and propagation of a wildland fire (i.e. land use, terrain topography, vegetation index, volume of burning fuel etc.), based on remote sensing techniques. (v) Platform for the assessment of the future (decadal) drought and wildland fire risk, based on the analysis of climate change scenarios. (vi) Desktop and mobile application. This will be used for disseminating the project’s products but more importantly it will act as a crowdsourcing means. Especially, the proposed mobile application will enable citizens to report on the presence and location of accumulated dead biomass as well as on the reporting of wildland fires. (vii) Comprehensive documentation reporting on all aspects of the conducted activities. This documentation will include both technical reports and articles published in international peer-review scientific journals.

Thematic information

Managing natural and man-made threats, risk management Institutional cooperation and cooperation networks

Specific Objective: Sustainable territories: fostering transnational cooperation for resource efficiency and climate change resilience

Thematic Objective: (06) preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency by:

Investment Priority: (06f) promoting innovative technologies to improve environmental protection and resource efficiency in the waste sector, water sector and with regard to soil, or to reduce air pollution

Partners (5)

Lead Partner: ΕΘΝΙΚΟ ΑΣΤΕΡΟΣΚΟΠΕΙΟ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ, ΕΙΔΙΚΟΣ ΛΟΓΑΡΙΑΣΜΟΣ ΚΟΝΔΥΛΙΩΝ EΡΕΥΝΑΣ

Address: Lofos Nymfon, Thission, 11810, Athens, 11810 Athens, Greece

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.meteo.noa.gr/

Total budget: EUR 355 907.50

ERDF budget: EUR 302 521.38

IPA2 budget: EUR 53 386.13

Τμήμα Μετεωρολογίας

Name: Τμήμα Μετεωρολογίας

Address: L. Nikis 28, 1086, Nicosia, 1086 Nicosia, Cyprus

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/ms/ms.nsf/DMLindex_gr/DMLindex_gr?OpenDocument

Total budget: EUR 180 000.00

ERDF budget: EUR 153 000.00

IPA2 budget: EUR 27 000.00

Ινστιτούτο Κύπρου

Name: Ινστιτούτο Κύπρου

Address: 20, Kavafi Str., Aglantzia, NicosiaNicosia, Cyprus

Legal status: public

Website: https://www.cyi.ac.cy/

Total budget: EUR 120 000.00

ERDF budget: EUR 102 000.00

IPA2 budget: EUR 18 000.00

Национален институт по метеорология и хидрология – Българска академия на науките

Name: Национален институт по метеорология и хидрология – Българска академия на науките

Address: Sofia 1784, Tzarigradsko shosse 66 blv., 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.meteo.bg/

Total budget: EUR 250 000.00

ERDF budget: EUR 212 500.00

IPA2 budget: EUR 37 500.00

ΕΘΝΙΚΟ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΠΟΔΙΣΤΡΙΑΚΟ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ

Name: ΕΘΝΙΚΟ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΠΟΔΙΣΤΡΙΑΚΟ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ

Address: PANEPISTIMIOPOLIS, BUILD PHYS -V, ATHENS 15784, 15784 Athens, Greece

Legal status: public

Website: http://en.env.phys.uoa.gr/

Total budget: EUR 122 640.00

ERDF budget: EUR 104 244.00

IPA2 budget: EUR 18 396.00

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Department of Meteorology

Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning systeM

Partners and Projects info

The Cyprus Institute

Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning systeM

Partners and Projects info

National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning systeM

Partners and Projects info

NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS

Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning systeM

Partners and Projects info

National Observatory of Athens, Management Unit of Special Research Account

Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning systeM

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning systeM

Project acronym: DISARM

Project start date: 2017-09-15

Project end date: 2019-12-31

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 028 547.50

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 874 265.38

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 874 265.38.

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 INTERREG VB Balkan-Mediterranean

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2022-12-09

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

44 / 44 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

282 / 282 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme. Achievements were retrieved by Interact from the Programme website (http://www.interreg-balkanmed.eu/), or a website directly linked from it, on 2021-09-20.

The financial data featured in keep.eu for this programme, it's projects and its partners is not exact and should be taken as a reference only.

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Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning systeM

Description

Thematic information

Partners (5)

Partners map

Summary

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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