More Than Maps Case Studies Archives | Page 4 of 12

Copernicus Services: Evaluating and aiding wildfire recovery in Portugal

National landscape data was provided by the Directorate General for the Territory to enable insights into the impact of one of Portugal’s biggest ever wildfires.

The highly-detailed land use and land cover data was used in conjunction with geological, Digital Terrain and Surface Models (DTM and DSM) as well as other field data to monitor damage and evaluate risk.

“By providing trusted authoritative geospatial data, Directorate General for the Territory is committed to enabling insights that promote a better knowledge of Portugal. Accurate information about land cover and land use is essential for managing the landscape but also to support ecological recovery in the aftermath of disasters such as wildfires and floods.”

Fernanda do Carmo, General Director, Directorate General for the Territory, Portugal

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Copernicus Services: Assessing landslide risk in wake of heavy rainfall in Slovenia

Detailed height data provided by the Surveying and Mapping Authority was key to assessing the risk of landslides and soil erosion following heavy rainfall in Slovenia.

Slovenia’s national LiDAR-derived Digital Terrain Model (DTM) was used as authoritative elevation data for the risk assessments.The one metre resolution height information was key to evaluating the hazards in two regions, Maribor and Cirkulane of almost 300 km² in total. Analysis revealed a moderate or severe risk of soil erosion in around 20 per cent of the area. In terms of susceptibility of landslides, the assessment showed a very low risk in general with only a few localised areas at significant risk.

“Accurately assessing the risk of landslides is crucial for managing the environmental, economic and social impact of heavy rainfall. By providing trusted authoritative geospatial data, the Surveying and Mapping Authority is enabling insights to underpin planning and decision-making at all levels.”

Tomaž Petek, Director General, Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia

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Copernicus Services: Contributing to the new European baseline for monitoring Land Cover and Land Use

As one of the Entrusted Entities implementing the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS), the European Environment Agency (EEA) is developing the CLC+ Suite of products.

Authoritative data from National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities is important input to the CLC+ Backbone (the geospatial component of the CLC+ Suite of products) to complement the production and updating of satellite-data derived land cover data.

“We are delighted to provide data for CLC+ which plays a vital role in supporting key EU policy needs, as well as specific requirements for stakeholders in EU Member States. As a member of EuroGeographics, we fully support the partnership with the EEA to further explore solutions for providing full, free, and open access to geospatial data for the Copernicus programme.”

Gunnar Haukur Kristinsson, Director General, National Land Survey, Iceland

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Copernicus Services: Assessing flood risk and economic impact in the Drin river basin

Detailed elevation data provided to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service by the State Authority for Geospatial Information (ASIG), Albania was essential for assessing flood risk and its economic impact in the Drin river basin.

AISG also provided digital national orthophotos of 8 cm and 20 cm resolution, retrieved through CORDA.

“Flooding along the Drin river has caused high economic and environmental losses to the infrastructure of the region – from houses to power distribution, gas stations and water supply. As the National Mapping Agency of Albania, our trusted relief information and height data is vital for assessing, managing and, therefore mitigating, flood risk in this important environmental and economic region.”

Vilma Tomco General Director, State Authority for Geospatial Information (ASIG), Albania

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Coperncius Services: Understanding the impact of extreme weather to plan preventive measures

Authoritative digital elevation and land cover data provided by the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Germany is being used to better understand, predict and prevent future flooding caused by extreme weather.

In July 2021, heavy rainfall caused catastrophic flooding that devastated communities and claimed at least 187 lives along the Moselle, Rhine and Ruhr rivers in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. To better prepare and recover from such events in the future, it was crucial to understand how the disaster evolved within such a short timescale. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service Risk and Recovery Standard was activated by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) so that it could carry out a retrospective assessment of the flooding.

“Extreme weather conditions caused by global climate change have become increasingly frequent phenomena of our everyday life. By establishing a nationwide uniform basis for heavy rainfall hazard information maps in Germany, the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) is making an important contribution to risk management. As the first region mapped, North Rhine-Westphalia marks the beginning of the BKG project planned to be expanded to other federal states.”

Professor Paul Becker, President, Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Germany

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Copernicus Services: Evaluating impact and erosion risk after devastating forest fire

Transportation, Land Use and Land Cover data provided to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service by the National Geographic Institute of Spain played a key role in evaluating the impact of the 2022 Ceuta wildfire. It was also used to assess the risk of soil erosion in more than 130 hectares of forest in the Spanish autonomous city which is located on Africa’s north coast.

"As the National Mapping Authority for Spain, we were pleased to support post-fire impact assessments with authoritative data. The insight gained from the various analysis not only identified the levels of damage in different areas but also confirmed the subsequent erosion risk due to soil loss."

Lorenzo Garcia Asensio, Director General, National Geographic Institute, Spain

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