OBSERVER: Disaster forecast and recovery through the Copernicusprogramme

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Disaster management professionals around the world needed an immediate and accurate way ofidentifying risks and managing the aftermath of emergencies. After a ten-month hiatus to make theprogramme evolve, the Risk and Recovery activity of the Copernicus Emergency ManagementService has relaunched to provide the world with on-demand geospatial information to forecast,prepare, and rebuild after an event.

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Fig 1. The Risk and Recovery map of activations and list of activations provide a real-time andsearchable portal of the service's activations.

Geospatial information to save lives and protect assets: Standard andFlex Activations

The pre and post periods of a disaster represent a critical moment to mitigate damage and implementmanagement lessons based on past events. Geospatial information reveals disaster indicators thattell national authorities and response groups where, and how, to focus their emergency managementefforts. EU member states and agencies across the globe can request Copernicus data throughAuthorised Users to get free data tailored to their region. Copernicus acts as the only free and openaccess service on the global stage. Its EMS component has played a pivotal role in saving lives andprotecting infrastructure in major and minor events around the world.

Risk and Recovery outputs generally include vector data sets, geo-referenced overview maps, and adetailed technical report. Authorities input digital elements of a product into their mapping models tobetter understand and make decisions about disaster management. Technical reports tell the story ofthe activation allowing users and interested entities to gain insight from them. Additionally, someproducts produce a printable map that allows even non-technical users to visualise the current stateof their region of interest in great detail.

The activity offers two services: Standard or Flex activations. The Standard activation provides apredefined set of 20 geospatial data sets common to most disasters This allows for a fast productdelivery, between 5 and 10 days. The standardised products have a predefined methodology, scaleand have a maximum Area of Interest of 500 km2. Standard activations account for the majority ofRisk and Recovery requests. The streamlined design makes the service somewhat routine, evenwhen every disaster is unique.

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STANDARD EXAMPLE:

A wildfire in Andalusia, Spain prompted a service request to evaluate the event’s impact on thestatus of the environment. Copernicus EMS Risk and Recovery provided data on:

Fig 2. The scope of the service request EMSN-060 is to evaluate the status of the environmentaffected by two forest fires that occurred in the summer of 2017.

The impact of fire and burned area: fire severity, forest volumes before and after;The consequences for the flora and fauna: vegetation recovery volume change soil loss;The impact on human settlements: road network access, erosion and landslide risk.

For more complex and long-lasting events, users can now request a new service called “Flex”. AFlex activation provides products tailored to the user’s needs to inform decisions for multifariousdisasters. The extensive and intricate nature of Flex activations lends itself to studies onpreparedness and risk. A request takes considerably more time, generally > 15 days, for users toreceive a data set. The recovery phase of a disaster rarely requires this level of detail.

FLEX EXAMPLE:

A recent pre-disaster situation analysis conducted for UNESCO. Their Section on Earth Sciences &Geo-Hazards Risk Reduction requested a Flex product for Chile, Peru and Mozambique. CopernicusEMS Risk and Recovery provided data to develop comprehensive knowledge on:

Adequate disaster preparedness;Efficient support & informed decision-making; planning and recovery activities of the involvedstakeholders;Assessment of occurrence & severity of potential secondary risks (soil/ coastal erosion);Proposals for risk-specific mitigation measures;Critical information for development and management of first response infrastructures

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Fig 3. Three maps created for activation EMSN037.

Supporting European Commission Priorities

Risk and Recovery analyses natural and manmade disasters before and after an event. Once theEMS team has fulfilled a request, they post the data sets on the EMS portal for all to utilise and learnfrom. In this way, the service integrates seamlessly into the EMS platform. Rapid Mapping providesinformation for disaster response. Risk and Recovery bookends this holistic approach. CopernicusEMS supports the entire disaster cycle with risk assessments, pre-tasking, on-demand mapping forcurrent activations, and post impact assessments.

The tasks achieved by Risk and Recovery support several European Commission priorities. Forexample, Copernicus open and free data directly supports The Green Deal and A Europe Fit for theDigital Age. Risk and Recovery allows users to request a range of products based on their uniqueneeds. The service supports Member States with products in the context of the Union Civil ProtectionMechanism and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Their delivery supportsprocesses such as cost-benefit analysis of major investment projects for disaster prevention andclimate change adaptation and help effective investments under the European Structural andInvestment Funds.

Information with an immediate impact and an accessible record

In the first trial-month of Risk and Recovery’s fully operational phase, the service has alreadydelivered 4 Standard and 3 Flex activations and is working on a continuous flow of requests. Thisdata helps regions prepare for events and learn from past ones. Anyone can freely access the dataand technical reports through the EMS portal. The archive stands as a highly detailed record of dataon regional disaster preparedness and event impacts across the globe. The added value extends tousers and any interested parties concerned with the safety and protection of our Earth’s people andplaces.

Reference activations through our portal and active map and connect with us on Twitter to get up-to-date announcements on activations and product deliveries from the entire EMS service.

Stay tuned as the Risk and Recovery service embarks on the second phase of their critical mission to

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provide free and open-access data through the Copernicus programme to inform disastermanagement decision making!

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