DISARM Early Warning System for Wildfires in the Eastern Mediterranean

Vassiliki Kotroni, Constantinos Cartalis, Silas Michaelides, Julia Stoyanova, Fillipos Tymvios, Antonis Bezes, Theodoros Christoudias, Stavros Dafis, Christos Giannakopoulos, Theodore M. Giannaros, Christo Georgiev, Athanasios Karagiannidis, Anna Karali, Ioannis Koletsis, Konstantinos Lagouvardos, Ioannis Lemesios, Thaleia Mavrakou, Katerina Papagiannaki, Anastasios Polydoros and Yiannis Proestos
Additional contact information
Vassiliki Kotroni: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Constantinos Cartalis: Department of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15771 Athens, Greece
Silas Michaelides: The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia 2121, Cyprus
Julia Stoyanova: National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria
Fillipos Tymvios: Department of Meteorology, Nicosia 1086, Cyprus
Antonis Bezes: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Theodoros Christoudias: The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia 2121, Cyprus
Stavros Dafis: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Christos Giannakopoulos: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Theodore M. Giannaros: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Christo Georgiev: National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria
Athanasios Karagiannidis: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Anna Karali: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Ioannis Koletsis: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Konstantinos Lagouvardos: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Ioannis Lemesios: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Thaleia Mavrakou: Department of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15771 Athens, Greece
Katerina Papagiannaki: Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, 15236 Athens, Greece
Anastasios Polydoros: Department of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15771 Athens, Greece
Yiannis Proestos: The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia 2121, Cyprus

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 16, 1-30

Abstract: This paper discusses the main achievements of DISARM (Drought and fIre ObServatory and eArly waRning system) project, which developed an early warning system for wildfires in the Eastern Mediterranean. The four pillars of this system include (i) forecasting wildfire danger, (ii) detecting wildfires with remote sensing techniques, (iii) forecasting wildfire spread with a coupled weather-fire modeling system, and (iv) assessing the wildfire risk in the frame of climate change. Special emphasis is given to the innovative and replicable parts of the system. It is shown that for the effective use of fire weather forecasting in different geographical areas and in order to account for the local climate conditions, a proper adjustment of the wildfire danger classification is necessary. Additionally, the consideration of vegetation dryness may provide better estimates of wildfire danger. Our study also highlights some deficiencies of both EUMETSAT (Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) and LSA-SAF (Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis) algorithms in their skill to detect wildfires over islands and near the coastline. To tackle this issue, a relevant modification is proposed. Furthermore, it is shown that IRIS, the coupled atmosphere-fire modeling system developed in the frame of DISARM, has proven to be a valuable supporting tool in fire suppression actions. Finally, assessment of the wildfire danger in the future climate provides the necessary context for the development of regional adaptation strategies to climate change.

Keywords: wildfires; fire danger; fire spread forecasting; remote sensing of wildfire activity; early warning systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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