Space technology used to fight Greek forest fires

25 August 2009, 10:19am

Toulouse, 25 August 2009 - On Sunday 23 August, at 20:15, the Hellenic General information information Secretariat for Civil Protection requested that the European Services and Applications for Emergency Response (SAFER) be put in to effect to help fight the fires raging around
Athens.

Developed as part of the European Commission’s Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security (GMES) programme, SAFER is an emergency service that produces maps from satellite images to help the work of disaster and emergency services. The European Space Agency will ask several satellite operators, including Spot Image, to supply images of the Athens area. The Greek Civil Protection teams will then receive a series of maps showing how the situation is developing on the ground. The maps will also allow Greek authorities to accurately measure the extent of the damage caused by the fires.

Introduced in January 2009, SAFER is now operational with teams on standby 24/7. Astrium’s subsidiary, Infoterra France, is coordinating operations. The service draws on the skills and know-how of many service providers and European research centres that specialise in Earth observation and risk management, such as SERTIT, CNES, DLR and Telespazio.

Since early July 2009, the GMES SAFER service has been called on four times: satellite images have already been used to fight fires in Marseille, Sardinia and Aullène in southern Corsica.

The image above shows the situation as viewed from the European Space Agency’s Envisat satellite. The size of the plume of smoke, seen from an altitude of 800 km, clearly indicates the extent of the fires.
(Copyright picture: © European Space Agency / Treatment Infoterra – Astrium Services)

Further information will be available soon on www.emergencyresponse.eu.

See also the ESA article and additional imagery in our on-line article at the link below.

European Services and Applications for Emergency Response (SAFER)

ESA article on monitoring Greek fires

Geo: International