New GMES Project „SAFER - Services und Applications for Emergency Response“ with strong involvement of DLR started
On January 01, 2009, the EU-project „SAFER - Services und Applications for Emergency Response“ started. Aim of SAFER is to develop the existing satellite based emergency response service into an operational service (ERCS - Emergency Response Core Service). The 3 years project will be coordinated by InfoTerra France, involving 54 partners, 29 private und 25 public organisations, from 16 countries.
In SAFER the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) emergency response service will be prepared and implemented into an operational ERCS. It will be based on the recommendations of the implementation group, build on the outcomes of the former projects (PREVIEW, RISK-EOS, RESPOND, TERRAFIRMA, LIMES, BOSS4GMES), and the integration of the existing capacities at European level to validate and qualify the operational performance. Main focus is on emergency situations that are associated with meteorological-driven hazards (e.g. fires, floods), geophysical hazards (e.g. earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides), man-made disasters (e.g. chemical incidents) as well as humanitarian disasters. The upgrading of the core service and the validation of its performance in SAFER is divided in 2 different priorities. First priority is the short term improvement of response when crisis occurs, with the satellite based rapid mapping capacity after disastrous events. The second priority is the extension to core service components before and after the crisis. It targets the longer term service evolution, through the provision of thematic products derived from remote sensing data, to be added in the portfolio of services.
The Kick-Off Meeting of SAFER with about 100 participants took place in Brussels on January 30, 2009. During the meeting the project and its tasks were in detail presented. Particularly, the challenge of the rapid provision of satellite based crisis information (within 24 hours) as well as the working plan of the next months was deeply discussed.
The DLR has “co-lead” functions in SAFER and is involved with 2 institutes: the DFD with different departments and the MF.