News

Year 2011

Workshop for “COSMOS” Project under the Seventh Framework Programme of the EC, partner and participant in which is ReSAC, was held in Rome, Italy

10.2011

From 24th to 26th of October 2011, another workshop for “COSMOS” - Cooperation Of Space NCPs as a Means to Optimise Services Project under the Seventh Framework Programme of the EC, partner and participant in which is ReSAC, was held in Rome, Italy. The main task of the participants was to exchange information about the current project results and to outline the future tasks, related to the final conference for the “COSMOS” Project, which will be held on 28th – 29th of February 2012. The runtime of the Project is 1st of June 2008 – 31st of May 2011.

The participants visited the Institute for Research of the European Space Agency in Frascati (ESA-ESRIN), where some reports related to the Earth Observation Programme and risk management, as well as the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, were presented.

In the end of the workshop, a visit of a factory for equipment of Ariane – booster of ESA, made by AVIO at Colleferro - was organized. The participants were familiar with the technology and industrial process and access to all halls was provided.

Visit of ReSAC experts in the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES) of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission – JRC, Ispra, Italy

10.2011

On 21st of October 2011, a technical meeting between experts from MARS Unit at IES and ReSAC was held in JRC, Ispra, Italy. ReSAC presented their activities in the subjects, which were of interest for feasible collaboration between the two organizations.

The meeting agenda consisted of 3 topics:

• presenting the ReSAC activities during the last two years;
• discussions and exchange of information mainly for applying the methodology for quality assessment of Land Parcel Identification Systems (developed by the GeoCAP group at MARS Unit) in another areas of geoinformation (for example Land Cover Change products assessment);
• presenting the GMES Programme implementation in Bulgaria, focusing on the Bulgarian Information Office for GMES (BIOG) role and activities. BIOG is responsible also for the implementation of its initiative for creating of Regional Unit for integrated Risk and Security Management for South-East Europe (RURSE).

The ReSAC experts met also with Mr. Olivier Leo – acting Head of MARS Unit – who attended the meeting.

Eight International Workshop of the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories (EARSeL) Special Interest Group (SIG) on Forest Fires, Stresa, Italy

10.2011

On 20th to 21th of October the workshop was organized by Laboratory of Forest Management and Remote Sensing, Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in collaboration with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and the University of Alcala. The main subject of the workshop was the operational use of remote sensing in forest fire management, paper contributions were focused on local to global RS and GIS applications on:

• Pre-fire assessment planning and management
• Fire detection and monitoring
• Post-fire evaluation and management

Remote Sensing Application Center (ReSAC), Bulgaria, has taken a part with scientific research on "Forest cover monitoring and forest damage assessment in the frame of GMES projects – Case study in Bulgaria". The study involves assessing the damage from forest fires affect considerable areas coniferous forests in southwestern Bulgaria, near Gostun village (EUFODOS project, part of FP-7).

The poster represented the combination of different data source such as satellite images as reference, post event images and vector data – Forest management plans to assess the damaged forest vegetation type in burned area. Main interest in the poster discussion was related to methods for determining the different types of fire (surface and crown fire).

ReSAC Participated on the regular meeting of EUFODOS project - software training workshop, in Graz, Austria

09.2011

On 26th to 28th of September in Graz, Austria was held the regular meeting of EUFODOS project (European Forest Downstream Services - Improved Information on Forest Structure and Damages) part of FP7, as main goal software training workshop.

The intended efforts of various software developed recently to be integrated with the EUFODOS conceptual objectives, needed to be shared with the project partners.

Remote Sensing Application Center - ReSAC as a partner of the project were presented of three young experts.

The workshop covered a presentation of the Finish company - VTT package software, and the Austrian JOANNEUM RESEARCH Institute - "Impact" package software.

The discussion was spread to the exercising the newest approaches to gain valuable results for the forest parameters, land cover classification and other.

ReSAC activity in the preliminary flood risk assessment in Bulgaria

09.2011

In the middle of September 2011 ReSAC won a tender and signed a contract with the Basin Directorate for Water Management in the Danube region to the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water

The task of the contract is to consult the institution in preparing the preliminary assessment of the flood risk, in reference to the Directive 2007/60/EC for flood risk estimate and management, that entered into force on the 26th of November in 2007.
The first step in preparation of the management plans is a preliminary assessment of flood risk. It does include description of floods, occurred in the past, with significant disadvantageous impacts on human health, environment, cultural heritage, technical infrastructure and economic activities, which can be expected to occur in the future.

Besides the conclusions of the preliminary assessment of the flood risk along with maps of area with possible flood risk including maps under current flood risk, the Management plans regarding the flood risk in the Danube region will contain a description of the purposes of flood risk management, and short performance of the measurements for achieving the related purposes.

After the Water Amendment Act, the Basin Directorates to the Ministry of Environment and Water will prepare Management plans of flood risk. With these amendments, the aim is to create conditions to prevent or reduce harmful effects on human life and health, environment, cultural heritage and economic activities, related to the harmful effects of water.

The Danube River Basin Directorate administrates the following catchment areas of the rivers – Iskar river, Erma river, Nishava river, Ogosta river and west of Ogosta river, Vit river, Osum river, Yantra river, Russenski Lom river and other rivers in Dobrudzha region, which are the main area or interest of the contract.

During contract implementation, not only the requirements of the European and National legislation will be followed, but the documentary of ICPDR and the results of the project „Danube Floodrisk“ also. The collected data and analysis, will be used in the Danube strategy in terms of its further development.

ReSAC Participated in GEOSS Summer School, organized by Romanian Space Agency in Neptun, Romania

09.2011

In August 29 – September 4, 2011 in Neptun, Romania, GEOSS Summer School was held on topic: „Advancing Earth Observation Data Understanding for Crisis Management and Emergency Response“, organized by Romanian Space Agency (ROSA), under the auspices of ANCS, the Romanian Authority for Scientific Research.

Remote Sensing Application Center – ReSAC as ROSA’s longtime partner was invited to attend two young experts on the summer school.

The main goal of the summer school was to acquire knowledge on current use of EO data and image information mining techniques contributing to prevent, monitor and assess the impact of natural and man-made disasters and crisis situations

Main discussion was focused on the usage and interpretation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imageries, advanced InSAR techniques and different software was presented.

Participation of ReSAC on Core Information Service – Spatial Planning (CIS- SP) – Geoland 2 (FP7 Project) Technical Meeting

07.2011

On 28th и 29th of July, 2011 г. in Thessaloniki, Greece, Aristotle University was held a technical meeting between the partners from the international consortium of Core Information Service - Spatial Planning (part of Geoland 2 FP7 Project) financed by the 7-th Framework Program. ReSAC took place in meeting as a partner in the consortium. The main objective of the meeting were:

• Overview on project status;
• Discussion of input data availability;
• Training on indicator production;
• Agreement on responsibilities and deadlines.

The output comprises GIS-ready information products and toolsets to better describe, explain and forecast urban land use changes:

• Information products: The product portfolio consists of a selected set of policy-relevant land take trend indicators (= describe & explain) as well as urban growth scenarios (= forecast) to illustrate the benefit of systematic and geospatially explicit territorial analysis for spatial planning.
• Tools and models are employed for efficient production of spatial planning indicators and urban growth scenarios.

ReSAC participation in INSPIRE Conference 2011 in Edinburg, Scotland

07.2011

The INSPIRE Conference 2011 took place from 27th June to 1st July 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The theme of this year's edition was "INSPIREd by 2020 - Contributing to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth" .

In 2010, the European Union renewed its commitment to 'knowledge-based' sustainable development by putting forward three mutually reinforcing priorities in the Europe 2020 Strategy¹:

• Smart growth: developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation;
• Sustainable growth: promoting a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy;
• Inclusive growth: fostering a high-employment economy delivering social and territorial cohesion.

This edition of the INSPIRE Conference offers an opportunity to explore INSPIRE's contribution to Europe's 2020 strategic goals and to root it's further implementation and development in the EU 2020 follow-up programmes:

• INSPIRE for Sustainable Growth calls for ideas and demonstrations of INSPIRE's contribution to resource efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions. For protecting the environment and preventing biodiversity loss. For strengthening the resilience to climate risks, and disaster prevention and response capacities;
• INSPIRE for Smart Growth explores INSPIRE's contribution to Europe's Digital Agenda and more in particular it's role in eGovernment and the development of eEnvironment services;
• INSPIRE for Inclusive Growth - opens new avenues for INSPIRE in the context of New Skills for New Jobs. It calls for an exploration on the kind of jobs and the potential for job creation related to INSPIRE. What skills and competences are needed? What kind of education and training is needed? What kind of INSPIRE applications can help people integrate in the communities where they live?

In addition to these 3 exploratory chapters, the INSPIRE Conference examined and reported on the progress being made in the development and implementation of INSPIRE Directive and Implementing Rules.

A common presentation was prepared by the side of experts from ReSAC, Agency for Sustainable Development and Eurointegration – ASDE and an Executive Agency “ Electronic Communication Networks and Information Systems on “Bulgarian contribution to INSPIRE implementation”.

Participation of ReSAC on SATChMo – Geoland2 (FP7 Project) Technical Meeting

06.2011

On 8^th and 9^th of June, 2011 in Kaunas, Lithuania technical meeting between the partners from the international consortium of SATChMo (part of Geoland2 FP7 Project) was performed. The Remote Sensing Application Center – ReSAC, as partner in the consortium participated with presentation on land cover change detection products validation.

SATChMo will provide maps and data on land cover for selected samples of the European territory. The aim is to deliver statistics for the trends and changes in land cover. In order to validate the products ReSAC will use modified methodology of JRC for Quality Assurance of LPIS.

ReSAC participation in the HELM project, 7 FP Research programme, EU

03.2011

On 16 and 17 of March 2011, in Baden, Austria was held kick-off meeting of partners in general consortium, one of which is the Remote Sensing Application Center - ReSAC, of the project financed by the 7-th Framework Program

HELM: Harmonised European Land Monitoring

HELM is a Coordination Action which has responded to the call FP7-Space 2010.1.1-06, Coordination of national activities for land monitoring in the frame of the program for Global Monitoring for Environment and Security – GMES.

HELM has started in January 2011. The project website www.FP7HELM.eu will be online soon.

HELM is a network of authorities concerned with land monitoring across Europe. It will initiate a move to increase the maturity of European land monitoring along five sequential steps:

• Mutual interest in achieving reciprocal knowledge.
• Shared visions and planning for the future.
• Joint activities by taking on tasks collectively.
• Alignment of national systems involving the mutual adaptation of data interpretation methods and of the timing of data gathering.
• Lasting integration and combining data across all administrative levels.

ReSAC – partner in the organization of the COSMOS Matchmaking Event, Sofia, Bulgaria, 18^th of March 2011

03.2011

On 18^th of March 2011 the National FP7 Space Contact Points network COSMOS is offering a matchmaking event related with the upcoming 5th Space call of FP7. The event is organized in the frame of the 2^nd Earth Observation-GMES Operational Capacity Workshop and is supported by the Bulgarian Information Office for GMES (BIOG).

The main objective of the matchmaking event is to create an opportunity for R&D institutes, universities, SMEs, industry and other organizations working in the field of Space: GMES Service and Space Component. Interested organizations can present proposal ideas, their competencies or their field of work via posters and oral presentations. This aims at identifying common interest with other players and thus finally at submitting joint proposals under the next FP7 Space call.

All the presentations and posters will be published on the Bulgarian Information Office for GMES (BIOG) website as well as on the NCP network COSMOS website after approval by the authors.

We are looking forward to welcome you in the COSMOS Matchmaking Event - Bulgaria 2011.

The agenda of the event can be found HERE, and you can register for the event HERE.

For more information, please contact Vassil Vassilev (FP7 NCP Space – Bulgaria):
vassil.vassilev@resac-bg.org

ReSAC participation in the EUFODOS project, 7 FP Research programme, EU

01.2011

On 17 and 18 of January 2011, in Graz, Austria was held kick-off meeting of partners in international consortium, one of which is the Center ReSAC, of the project financed by the 7-th Framework Program

EUFODOS: "European Forest Downstream Services - Improved Information on Forest Structure and Damages".

ReSAC is leading one of the Work Packages – User Requirements. Bulgarian user is the Executive Forest Agency to the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods.

The main goal of the project is development of downstream services for better forests management, oriented to the users of the program for Global Monitoring of Environment and Security – GMES

The meeting was the real start of the project. The participants in the meeting were representatives of partners in the consortium, consisting of six partners, service providers, one of which is ReSAC, and seven users

More information on the project can be found HERE.

News Archive 2010

Meeting on SAFER project with Executive Agency Electronic Communication Networks and Information Systems and ReSAC

12.2010

On December 7^th 2010 in the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Executive Agency Electronic Communication Networks and Information Systems, was held meeting with the team of Mr. Vassil Grancharov, Director of Information and Communication Systems Directorate and representatives of ReSAC on the project SAFER “Services and Applications for Emergency Response”, financed by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme. The SAFER project tests and validates the GMES Emergency and Response Core Service. The SAFER project started in December 2008 and has 3 years lifetime.

ReSAC, as a SAFER partner, presented results from Plain flood risk management WP. Discussed was progress of Assets mapping WP and creation of database for water bodies in Bulgaria.

Past flood event maps for selected sites along Danube River were shown. Extent of the flood and risk analysis, based on land cover was performed. ReSAC demonstrated results from flood hazards mapping with probability of occurrence once every 100 and 1000 years. For the case study was chosen Iskar River within Sofia municipality. The next step is creation of such maps for the other test site – city of Ruse. The maps prepared are in accordance with the requirements of the Directive on flood risk management. All the maps were provided to the Executive Agency Electronic Communication Networks and Information Systems.

Database for water bodies in Bulgaria was presented. There was discussion about creation of the data, metadata population, and the main requirements in that field.

Discussed were issues related to the standards for spatial data, in accordance with INSPIRE directive of European Commission and Bulgarian law.

Thematic map presenting past flood event along Iskar River – city of Novi Iskar, from 12.08.2005, with risk analysis based on land cover, is now available HERE.

ReSAC participation in the European LiDAR Mapping Forum, The Hague, Netherlands

12.2010

ReSAC was attended in European LiDAR Mapping Forum (ELMF) in The Hague, Netherlands, between November 30^th and December 1^st. The ELMF was about airborne, bathymetric and terrestrial LiDAR, and its use in a field of transport, urban modeling, coastal zone mapping, asset management and GIS application. Alongside there is an associated international exhibition for system and components, and service companies.
The meeting was attracted 530 attendees from 46 countries and 50 exhibiting companies.

In the conference were covered topics about Airborne and Terrestrial LiDAR, Mobile mapping, Bathymetric, and Coastal LiDAR. There were presented latest technologies in Terrestrial laser scanner in a field of visualization, modeling and monitoring of manmade structures. In a field of Mobile Mapping were discussed applications about road, railway and boat-mounted LiDAR. Mobile laser scanning produces highly accurate 3D point data in between a few hours. This data can be used for analytical, documenting and planning purposes of the road infrastructure. There were examined new applications in Bathymetric and Coastal LiDAR for creation of accurate terrain model, and high resolution hydrographic data for inland waters and shallow zone.

ReSAC participation in 16th GeoCAP/EC conference
24 – 26 November in Bergamo, Italy

11.2010

This year the GeoCAP Annual Conference has been organized by the GeoCAP Action of the MARS Unit of the Joint Research Centre/EC.

The conference, entitled “Geomatics in support of the Common Agricultural Policy - CAP”, took place between 24 and 26 November 2010 in Bergamo, Italy with participation of all Member States.

The main purpose of this type of conference is to offer an opportunity for MS Administrations, EU officials, Image Providers and contractors to meet and discuss particular problems or innovations.

During the conference are covered topics like: controls with Remote Sensing (CwRS), Land Parcel Identification Systems (LPIS) management and quality assessment, GPS technologies in support of CAP controls, Eligibility for direct supports and the future of the CAP.

ReSAC participation in the poster session is related to the Geoland2 Project within the scope of the Seventh Framework Research Programme of the European Commission.

On the poster are shown the ReSAC activities of the project in support to the clarification of the concept of Good Agriculture Conditions laid down in the EU CAP.

Meeting on SAFER project with Basin Directorate – Danube Region

11.2010

On November 15^th in Basin Directorate – Danube Region, took place meeting with Director Rumen Penkov and representatives of ReSAC on the project SAFER “Services and Applications for Emergency Response”, financed by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme. The SAFER project tests and validates the GMES Emergency and Response Core Service. The SAFER project started in December 2008 and has 3 years lifetime.

The meeting was attended by Director Rumen Penkov and experts from the directorate. ReSAC, as a SAFER partner, presented results from Plain flood risk management WP. Discussed was progress of Assets mapping WP and creation of web database for wetlands in Bulgaria.

Past flood event maps for selected sites along Danube River were shown. Extent of the flood and risk analysis, based on land cover was performed. ReSAC demonstrated results from flood hazards mapping with probability of occurrence once every 100 and 1000 years. For the case study was chosen Iskar River within Sofia municipality. Flood hazard and flood risk maps created represent extent of the hazard and flood depth. Our next step is creation of such maps for the other test site – city of Ruse. The maps prepared are in accordance with the requirements of the Directive on flood risk management. All the maps were provided to Basin Directorate – Danube Region.

Thematic map presenting past flood event along Danube River – city of Lom, is now available HERE.

Meeting on SAFER project with Ministry of Interior

11.2010

On November 3^rd in the Ministry of Interior, General Directorate Civil Protection, Bulgaria, took place meeting with experts from the directorate and ReSAC on the project SAFER “Services and Applications for Emergency Response”, financed by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme. The SAFER project is testing and validating the GMES Emergency and Response Core Service.

The SAFER project started in December 2008 and has 3 years lifetime. The meeting was attended by representatives of the DG Civil Protection and the Aerospace Monitoring Center of the DG. DG Civil Protection is an end user of project SAFER. ReSAC as a SAFER project partner, presented results from Plain flood risk management WP and reported the progress of Assets mapping WP.

ReSAC demonstrated results from flood hazards mapping with probability of occurrence once every 100 and 1000 years. For the case study was chosen Iskar River within Sofia municipality. The maps created represent extent of the hazard and flood depth. Maps of past flood events was another type of product that was shown. Detailed analysis of the flooded area and the type of land cover was performed. The maps prepared are in accordance with the requirements of the Directive on flood risk management. All the maps were provided to DG Civil protection.

Thematic map presenting flood hazard with probability of occurrence once every 1000 years is now available HERE.

The Twentieth International Symposium "Modern technologies, education and professional practice in geodesy and related fields" was held in Albena resort, Flamingo Grand Hotel.

23-24.09.2010

The International symposium with an exhibition was organized by the Union of Surveyors and Land Managers in Bulgaria, under the auspices and in close cooperation with eminent international geodetic and others organizations. The Symposium carried on the established tradition of knowledge exchange and experience in the filed of geodesy, photogrammetry, cadastre and cartography, GNSS and GIS and related fields, as well as of keeping a close regional cooperation among European countries mainly.

This year ReSAC participated with the oral presentation about “EU GMES PROGRAMME AND GEOLAND2 – PRE-OPERATIONAL LAND MONITORING SERVICE OF GMES” under Seventh Framework Program of EU for research and technological development (priority “SPACE”). The role of ReSAC in relation to the program for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security was presented. Attention was paid to the three core services of the Geoland2 project that will be provided by ReSAC. These are Seasonal/Annual Terrestrial Change Monitoring (SATChMo); Spatial Planning, Agri-Environment Monitoring.

Flood in Bulgaria

29.07.2010

Since 25-26 of July, heavy rainfalls have caused extensive floodings in Bulgaria. The floods affected especially the Pazardzhik district in central southern Bulgaria.

The main road between Pazardhzik and Plovdiv as well as the highway between Sofia and Plovidiv have been flooded. Further roads and houses in a number of towns and villages in the region have been affected or are threatened by water.

ZKI provides Reference and Flood Maps in the framework of the GMES Emergency Response project SAFER with funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme. ReSAC (partner in SAFER) supported ZKI with reference topographic information. In the next couple of weeks ReSAC will produce and deliver to Bulgarian Civil Protection, several thematic maps related with flood risk information.

The maps are available at:
http://www.zki.dlr.de/article/1512

The map (flooded land cover) produced by ReSAC are available HERE

The map (flooded land use) produced by ReSAC are available HERE

ReSAC participation in BALWOIS 2010

06.2010

The Forth International Scientific Conference BALWOIS 2010 was held in Ohrid, 24 - 29 May 2010, Hotel Metropol.

The general aim of the BALWOIS Project is to create a community of major stakeholders in the field of water protection and water management involving scientists, private sector, experts, NGO's, decision makers and broader public around the Balkans.

BALWOIS 2010 was organised by IB2E, METEO MAK, , Hydrobiological Institute of Ohrid, Faculty of Civil Engineering at the "Sts. Cyril & Methodius" University in Skopie, the Hydrometeorological Service of Macedonia. BALWOIS is supported by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning of Macedonia, the Ministry of Ecology of France, French Embassy in Macedonia, International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) and various private companies.

ReSAC participation in the poster session is related to the SAFER (Services and Applications for Emergency Response), which is a part of the project GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) within the scope of the Seventh Framework Research Programme of the European Commission.

On the poster were shown two products, which ReSAC should make in relation to the flood risk test in two regions - Sofia and Rousse. One of the products is connected with the planning and management of flood risks (Plain flood risk management package), and the second one (Assets mapping) shows the valuation of the land.

News Archive 2009

Earth observation satellite UK-DMC2 has been launched

07.2009

SSTL’s UK-DMC2 satellite has successfully completed pre-launch tests and after it was integrated with a Dnepr launch vehicle at the Baikonur Cosmodrome it has been launched successfully on Wednesday, 29th July 2009 at 18:46 UTC, 19:46 BST.

The new satellite is operated by subsidiary company DMCii to provide an enhanced imaging capability and operational service to the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). UK-DMC2 has a number of enhancements over previous DMC spacecraft contributing to SSTL’s continuing evolutionary design approach. The satellite is also being used as a test bed for new technologies and is supporting a BNSC sponsored school science experiment called POISE.

UK-DMC2 carries a higher resolution optical payload which will provide 22m ground sample distance (GSD) images, compared with 32m GSD on the four operational satellites currently in the constellation. The 22m imagery has twice the data density of the 32m imagery without loss of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and maintains the ultra-wide 600+km swath.

The satellite carries two high-speed X-band transmitters that will both operate at 20Mbps or 80Mbps. This will enable the satellite to download images up to 10 times faster than previous DMC spacecraft. Storage capacity has increased from 1 to 1.5 GByte on the first generation of DMC spacecraft up to 12 GByte on UK-DMC2. These advancements, in combination with improved power generation and storage systems, will allow UK-DMC2 to rapidly map large areas such as Europe or other continents.

The advances in data throughput and power generation have enabled two new operational modes. Firstly, a near-real time imaging and downlink mode allows imagery acquired within a ~2000 km radius of a ground station to be downlinked within the same pass and, secondly, the implementation of a broadcast downlink mode that

The 96kg UK-DMC2 satellite is based upon SSTL’s SSTL-100 small satellite platform, which uses solar cells integrated into the spacecraft’s surface to generate power. UK-DMC2 includes an additional deployable solar panel that will increase power generation by approximately 50%.

SSTL and its UK-DMC2 satellite will also support a scientific experiment developed by the winners of the Space Experiment Competition for UK students, sponsored by the British National Space Centre (BNSC). Shrewsbury School’s POISE experiment will investigate the way in which fluctuations in the ionospheric layer of the Earth’s atmosphere can affect the radio signals passing through it. The team at Shrewsbury School will use receivers mounted onboard UK-DMC2 to pick up GPS signals that have passed through the ionosphere. POISE will measure the signal properties to determine its integrity. It is thought that by monitoring ionospheric scintillation, the experiment could support research into predicting earthquakes from space.

UK-DMC2 has been launched into a sun-synchronous orbit alongside Deimos-1, another DMC satellite built by SSTL for Spanish company Deimos Space. This will bring the number of operational DMC satellites to six.

To find out more about UK-DMC2, its future role in disaster relief and Earth observation click here.

News Archive 2008

Fourth Training Worksphop Under the BulgaRisk Project

10.2008

On the 8th and 9th of October 2008 in Hall 1 at the SAITC, the forth of the training workshop series related to the Bulgarian-French project BulgaRisk on the topic “Integration of satellite imageries in the operational procedures of hazard management in Bulgaria” was held. Besides the methods for simultaneous analysis of data of various sources, the participants get to know the technology for location determination GPS and its use in a GIS environment with a KOMPSat-2 satellite imagery at the background for mapping and collection of data during a field survey. Guest lector was Mr. Bernard Allenbach – an expert of SERTIT, France. The exercises were carried out together with experts from ReSAC, which granted their Differential GPS units for the demonstration of the difference in the precision of the measurements collected by professional as opposed to the popular navigational GPS receivers.

The participants-trainees were experts of the SFA, ACO at the MES, SAITC, NFSCPS at the MoIn, NIMH/BAS, IO/BAS, BD-Pleven at the MEW, MSAAR.

Visit of National Experts to France Under the BulgaRisk Project Frame

09.2008

Ten experts from the state administration, regional structures as well as from scientific organizations were sent under the BulgaRisk project frame to France from 22nd to 26th of Sept. 2008. More specifically these were members of ReSAC, Port Burgas, SFA, BD-Pleven at the MEW, MSAAR - "e-Government", MoIn - NFSCPS, SAITC and ACO at the MES. The purpose of this business trip was to visit the offices of SPOT Image, EADS Astrium — Intespace , INFOTERRA, CLS, SERTIT, and DDSC at the French MoIn, and to familiarize with their experience in satellite data processing - from the construction of the space devices, trough image processing, together with continuously received traditional measurements on the ground, to end up with decision making in any stage of the risk management cycle. Software solutions, and EO data processing techniques for not only VHR optical but for radar imageries too were shown when applicable. Experts from Bulgaria were able to see, as a result of a well working legal system, the top performance of the French specialist during decision making for critical situations. The entire visit was documented on a movie dedicated to the BulgaRisk project.

The blasts at the military unit near Chelopechene

07.2008

The main objectives of the Bulgarian-French project BulgaRisk are related to the risk management and the accurate assessment of the losses consequent upon natural hazards and man-made disasters. Besides the analysis of historical events, the project has an aim to show the effectiveness of the initiative in real time as fast and effective tool for action planning and decision making in crisis situations. In accordance, a monitoring on the situation following the explosions in the military unit 18 250 near Sofia's housing estate Chelopechene was carried out. The critical situation occurred on 3rd July when a series of blasts concluded in many mostly material losses and the closure of the capital's international airport. a generalized preliminary assessment of the losses was made through change detection on a pair of images with very high spatial resolution. The historic imagery was IKONOS 1m archive and the new acquisition was a product of FOMOSAT-2 with a pixel resolution of 2m. The later was requested only 3 hours behind the first blasts and delivered only few hours after the acquisition made by SPOT IMAGE of 8 July 2008, and which revealed the actual status following the incident. The imageries and the information were delivered to SAITC and ASDE, as the main beneficiaries of the project BulgaRisk, while the assignment was elaborated by ReSAC with satellite data courtesy by SPOT Image.

ReSAC Participation in BALWOIS 2008

06.2008

The Third International Scientific Conference BALWOIS 2008 was held in Ohrid, 27, 31 May 2008, Hotel Bellevue.

The general aim of the BALWOIS Project is to create a community of major stakeholders in the field of water protection and water management involving scientists, private sector, experts, NGO's, decision makers and broader public around the Balkans.

BALWOIS 2008 was organised by IB2E, METEO MAK, Hydrobiological Institute of Ohrid, Faculty of Civil Engineering at the "Sts. Cyril & Methodius" University in Skopje, University "St. Kliment Ohridski" - Bitola, the Hydrometeorological Service of Macedonia, and the Remote Sensing Application Centre (ReSAC, Bulgaria) under the patronage of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning of the Republic of Macedonia and of the French Ambassador in Skopje.

ReSAC was one of the sponsors of the conference together with SPOT Image, who both participated as exhibitors of their services and products. ReSAC's experts presented a report on the topic "Remote Sensing for the purposes of the Integrated Water Resources Management: Examples from Bulgaria". Further, a joint workshop of ReSAC and SPOT Image was held with the thematic titles “From Satellite Data Distribution to Application Provision, Education and Consultation” and “Study for the integration of satellite imagery in the operational procedures of risk management in Bulgaria”.

2nd Training Workshop under the BulgaRisk Project

04.2008

On the 23-th and 24-th of April 2008 in Hall 1 at the SAITC, the second of the training workshop series related to the Bulgarian-French project BULGARISK – “Integration of satellite imageries in the operational procedures of hazard management in Bulgaria” was held. The certificates to participants from the first training workshop were awarded by Mrs. Ljudmila Milenova, Director of ReSAC.

The leader of the project is SPOT Image – France and the beneficents are SAITC and ASDE. The lecturers were experts of SERTIT and SPOT Image. The exercises were supervised by experts of ReSAC.

The main topics discussed during the training workshop were digital image processing for information extraction, classical image classification-segmentation methods, water signature, permanent water identification with optical sensors, water and moisture signature with radar sensors, water bodies survey with EO data from normal to crisis (flood) situation, vegetation, storms and fire, man-made bodies and earthquakes etc.

The participants-trainees were experts of the SFA, CASM at MES, NFSPPS at MInA, NIMH/BAS, IO/BAS, Basin Directorate – Pleven at the Ministry of Environment and Water, MSAAR.

Workshop Training Course by the Bulgarian-French Project BulgaRisk

03.2008

On the 6th and 7th of March 2008 in Hall 1 at the SAITC, the first of the training workshop series related to the Bulgarian-French project BULGARISK – “Integration of satellite imageries in the operational procedures of hazard management in Bulgaria” was held. The workshop was opened by Mr.Petar Iliev – Director of the Network Integration and Planning Directorate. The leader of the project is SPOT IMAGE – France and the beneficents are SAITC and ASDE. The lectures and exercises were prepared and presented by specialists from ReSAC and the French company SERTIT, which are one of the major project executors. The main topics discussed during the training workshop were: remote sensing, GIS technologies, image processing, including radar data for natural hazard risk assessment, such as forest fires, floods etc.

The participants were experts of the State Forestry Agency, CASO at MSPDA, NFSPPS at MInA, NIMH/BAS, IO/BAS, Municipality of Rousse and Basin Directorate – Pleven at the Ministry of Environment and Water.
 

The agenda of the training workshop is available here.

News Archive 2007

BulgaRisk Workshop in Boyana

11.2007

On 27th November 2007 in Boyana Residency SAITC together with ASDE and SPOT Image organised a workshop entitled "State of the Art of Remote Sensing Technologies for Risk Management in Bulgaria". The workshop was organised in the frame of the Bulgarian-French pilot project BulgaRisk - "Integration of Satellite Imageries in the Operational Procedures of Risk Management in Republic of Bulgaria". The project is initiated by the SAITC and ASDE from the Bulgarian side, and SPOT Image from the French side. The main financial support comes from the government of the Republic of France.

Here you can see the presentation of Florance Baillarin regarding the project BulgaRisk.

Shortly after the workshop the magazine Computerworld wrote an article about the project, which could be found here.

ReSAC-GEOSYS Joint Workshop

10.2007

On 23rd October 2007 (Tuesday) at 9:00 h. a workshop with practical focus onto the "Agriculture today and tomorrow" is going to be held in the hotel "Sveta Sofia" (18, Pirotska Str.). The most resent novelties in the industry of the today's agricultural practices, which adopt aerospace and GIS technology, are going to be presented, as well as relevant Web services. The registration is going to take place in front of the Hall Sofia from 9:00 to 9:30 h. when additional materials will be distributed to the workshop's participants.

The information event includes the latest novelties in scope of practice and application of the current technologies in agriculture. The conference is going to continue the entire day. Representatives of the company GEOSYS - France and its partner in Bulgaria - ReSAC (Remote Sensing Application Centre) are going to introduce the moderators and will demonstrate the most resent technologic products and solutions for optimisation of your practices. In addition, they are going to give answers to the questions related to general agriculture policy in European Union.

Fire and Emergency Safety

09.2007

The National Fire Safety and Civil Protection Service (NFSCPS) of the MIA, together with the Bulgarian chairmanship of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Programme, organised two full-scale practical workshops. The subject of the practices was the fire safety of the water transport and ports receiving oil product.

The first workshop was held in Rousse, from 24th to 26th Sept. 2007, and was a full-scale practice with international participation “FIRE 2007”. The subject of the practice was “Localization and elimination of the results of an average and subsequent fire on a site of the critical infrastructure on the territory of the region of Ruse” – during a tanker unshipping in Danube River, an average arises, resulting in fire causing subsequent explosion.

The second workshop was carried out in the town of Varna, on 26 and 27th Sept. 2007, with an organised scientific-practical conference with international participation on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fire suppression on tanker "ERMA". The workshop was split into sessions devoted to the "Organisation and management of the fire safety in the water transport" and to the "Security aspects in the water transport".

Experts from ReSAC, along with experts from the French companies SPOT Image and SERTIT, were invited as observers of the training. This was necessary because one of the main partners in the project BULGARISK is the National Service "Fire and Emergency Safety", and it was of explicit importance to see and analyse at-the-spot the connection between the individual units and structures, which must be in collaboration when a disaster occurs.

When the training was finished the vice-minister of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs Mr. Mustafa presented the representative of SERTIT with a plaket of MIA. Such was given to all foreigner observers from Romania, Moldova, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia.

Contribution to JRC's Study on FORMOSAT-2

09.2007

The duties of ReSAC, according to its contract with JRC – EU, related to the second phase of an insight study on the orthorectification accuracy of FORMOSAT-2, are fulfilled.

The aim of this study was to finalize the analysis on the potential of the FORMOSAT-2 satellite as a backup sensor for the CwRS Campaigns, which are carried out on a yearly basis over the EU member states. Essentially, the research consisted of consecutive orthorectifications of an image with gradually increasing, in a strict order, number of GCPs. The test was performed on two distinct study areas – one over Sozopol in Bulgaria and another over Mausanne in France. Furthermore, for each site two different incidence angles were evaluated for their effect over the orthorectification products' positional accuracy.

The results of this research are going to be reported on the Annual Conference on the CwRS , organized by DG JRC for the member states of the EU, which is going to be held in November 2007 in Madrid.

Participation in MIRAMAP Project

08.2007

In the beginning of August, the team of ReSAC participated in an international remote sensing experiment focused on the soil conditioning and soil moisture as well as infiltration levels and the application of most resent technological solutions.

As a result of the planned flight operation of AeroCommander 500, mounted with 4 sensors for simultaneous measurements of the visible and infrared as well as the cm-wide-bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, a thematic map, as well as 3D imagery of portion of the river valleys of Yantra and Rusenski Lom Rivers, were created.

The unique instrumentation and technology for such soil measurements was developed in Russia, while the European Space Agency has assisted in aircraft's installations.

During the experiment the skills and expertise of teams from Bulgaria, Russia, Holland, USA and Ukraina were utilized, which have started their scientific collaborations years ago.

The experiments were carried out as of the initiative and assignment upon the State Agency for Information Technology and Communications, and with the active collaboration of the municipality of Rousse as well as other state and private institutions.

The results are meant for easy and comfortable usage by specialists and experts, involved in decision making.

Workshop Devoted to BULGARISK Project

07.2007

In the beginning of July 2007 experts from ReSAC participated in the first workshop devoted to the BULGARISK project, organised by the State Agency for Information Technologies and Communications (SAITC). This is a Bulgarian-French pilot project subjected to "Integration of satellite imageries in the operational workflow of risk management in Bulgaria" and is financially aided by the government of the Republic of France.

ReSAC, which is the Bulgarian partner in this project, works closely together with the Agency for Sustainable Development and Eurointegration, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the National Fire Safety and Protection of Population Service (NFSPPS), the National Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH), the State Agency for Forestry (NUG???) and other important institutions.

The project is going to be accomplished in a period of one year, and its beneficent is the State Agency for Information Technology and Communications.

The French party constitutes of SPOT Image – leader on the project, INFOTERRA, SERTIT and Boast Technology.

The risk for floodings, forest fires and Black sea's water pollution with petroleum products as well as their detection and prediction through Space and GIS technologies for the needs of the effective management are going to be the main issues during the work on the project.

ReSAC on InterGeo East

02.2007

InterGeo East is a Trade Fair and Conference for Landmanagement, Geoinformation, Building Industry, and Environment. This year, in the period 1-2 March 2007, Bulgaria will be the conference's host. Visit the counter of ReSAC (Hall 1 | 1.235) on this important forum for product and knowledge transfer in the industry of geoinformation. InterGeo East will be held at the Inter Expo Center Sofia (147 Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd.).

News Archive 2006

Completion of the Project “Creation of the Orthophotomap on the base of satellite images for part of the territory of Bulgaria”

08.2006

The Project for the creation of Digital Orthophoto map for part of the territory of Bulgaria on the base of VHR satellite images was successfully finished. The Project was financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. After an open international tender the project was awarded and fulfilled by a consortium with the Agency for Sustainable Development and Eurointegration – ECOREGION as a leader with its specialized center Remote Sensing Application Center – ReSAC. Partners in the consortium are the major European representatives of the companies which deliver satellite images - EUSI, EURIMAGE и SPOTIMAGE. The Bulgarian survey company Dian Zlatev-98 was also part of the consortium.

The Project is of extreme importance for the membership of Bulgaria in the EU regarding the Common Agricultural Policy - CAP (LPIS/IACS) and was fulfilled respecting all specifications and recommendations of the DG JRC.

The Satellite Digital Orthophoto Map with very-high resolution (0.7 – 1 m) is ready derived from the QuickBird and Ikonos satellites for 33,364 sq.km. for the territory of southern Bulgaria. The satellite images are from the years 2003-2005. The digital elevation model used for the orthorectification is Reference 3D product from SPOTIMAGE, which is the first use of this high-quality DEM used at a country scale for the LPIS purposes.

The Project, containing mainly the processes of orthorectification of satellite images, is unique with the short terms for its fulfillment – 3.5 months, and with the introduction of a new methodology, specific for its tasks. First raw images were delivered on 10th of April and final orthorectified products were finished on 25 of July.

With the accomplishment of the Project Bulgaria joins the countries with proved high-tech and scientifically-applicable capacity in the processing and use of satellite images for the purposes of agriculture, environmental issues, monitoring of natural disasters and emergencies as well as security.

The processed satellite images in the frame of the project are the base for the creation of the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), which is directly related with the provision of the agricultural subsidies from EU. The digitalisation of the physical blocks of the agricultural land and creation of the LPIS is done by a specialised group in the frame of the Agency for Soil Resources/MAF.

With the completion of this project ReSAC and partners successfully finished the cycle of projects related with all aspects of the implementation of satellite data in the CAP:

• Control of the agricultural subsidies with remote sensing (Isperih Region 2004-2005)
• Development of Land Parcel Identification System (Isperih Region 2004-2005), Assenovgrad Municipality 2005)
• Creation of the Orthophotomap for the LPIS purposes (Southern Bulgaria 2006).

News for the establishment of IACS/LPIS in Bulgaria

03.2006

In Bulgaria, the preparation of the country toward the accession in the EU is related with the readiness of the administration to meet the requirement for technical and operational capacity to manage and control the agriculture subsidies. After the successful implementation of the Pilot Project for Control withemote Sensing /CwRS/ of the Agricultural Subsidies, financed by JRC in 2005, and Second Pilot Project on Preparation of the LPIS for Bulgaria, financed by MAF, ASDE/ReSAC continues to provide technical, operational and methodological assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, responsible for the establishment of IACS/LPIS.

An important prerequisite for the preparation of the LPIS and provision of enough data to farmer during the declaration process, is the production of high-accurate orthophoto/orthoimage coverage of the entire country.

For this purpose the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry opened an international tender for delivery and production of orthoimages on the base of VHR satellite data. The project was awarded to an international Consortium lead by the Bulgarian organization Agency for Sustainable Development and Eurointegration (ASDE) and the major European satellite providers - European Space Imaging GmbH (representing also INTA Space Turk), Eurimage S.p.a., SPOT Image. As a local geodetic company in the Consortium was included Dian Zlatev Ltd.

Eurimage, EUSI and SPOT Image perform their activities of data delivery and satellite products generation. The VHR data is derived from IKONOS and Quickbird; the DEM is provided by SPOT Image.

The orthorectification, image processing and quality control is done by ASDE, through its specialised unit ReSAC. The final product is in scale 1:10.000. The initial area covered by the project is 32 985 km2. and is covering 10 regions of Southern Bulgaria. The work should be carried out until the end of June 2006.

For more information please visit the Newsletter of the Eurpopean Association of the Remote Sensing Companies ( EARSC).

News Archive 2005

Ensuring the quality and reliability of land and atmosphere Essential Climate Variables: The EU-25 contribution, Krakow, Poland

15.12-16.12.2005

The Global Vegetation Monitoring (GVM) unit of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES) of the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) organized a workshop on benchmarking the tools required to generate terrestrial and atmospheric Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) identified in the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Implementation Plan, and on assessing the accuracy and reliability of the products currently available or proposed in this context.

The purpose of this workshop is to review the state of the art in benchmarking the models and tools used to generate the required products, and to quality control these products through a variety of methods, including ensuring the internal consistency of the approaches, the compatibility of products generated from different sensors, and comparisons with independent estimates by other methods, including direct field (in situ) measurements. The workshop will showcase existing projects and achievements in this domain and seek the involvement of scientists from EU New Member States.

Expert of ReSAC presented a poster on Integration of EO Data and LCCS to monitor and assess land cover changes.

The workshop's agenda is available here.

Integration of the New EU Member Countries into the GMES Programme, Warsaw, Poland

12.12-14.12.2005

Eurisy, in collaboration with the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the European Commission, ESA, CNES, and DLR, is organizing a conference on the “Integration of the new EU Member Countries into the GMES Programme” on December 12-14 2005 in Warsaw.

The GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) programme, is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency. It aims at providing essential information for policy- and decision-makers and for European citizens, based on operational, integrated Space Earth Observations and in-situ data. The possible applications are numerous: land, ocean and atmosphere use and change monitoring, risk management and early warning, climate and weather forecast, to name just a few. GMES is now in the implementation phase and it should deliver its first operational Service Elements in 2008.

The New Member States were already involved in the programme before their accession to the EU, but a gap remains when compared to the readiness of the EU-15. The capacity of those countries, in applying Earth Observation is substantial; their full involvement in the programme would be beneficial for both the NMS and GMES. The Eurisy Conference aims at being a major step in reaching this goal.

To close the conference, a series of round table will be organised in collaboration with ESPI (European Space Policy Institute). These round tables will serve as a preparation to the GRAZ Conference, organised within the framework of the Austrian EU Presidency. These round table will address the issue of the GMES market in Europe and its regions, and in particular the role of public entities.

Experts of ReSAC will present a poster on GMES Related Activities in Bulgaria.

The agenda of the conference is available here.

Second International Conference "Earth from Space - The Most Effective Solutions", Moskow, Russia

30.11-04.12.2005

The leading Russian companies in the field of Earth Observation - ScanEx, Sovzond JSC and Transparent World NGO organize the 2nd International Conference “Earth from Space – the Most Effective Solutions”.

The emphasis will be placed upon the discussion of efficiently operating systems and practical applications based on the Earth observation imagery.

The conference will focus on the tasks requiring a multifaceted approach. In particular, it will highlight applications of satellite imagery for decision-making in managing territories and large industrial plants, and for permanent on-line monitoring of industrial objects, their infrastructure and their impact on the environment.

Expert of ReSAC will present a report on Application of Earth Observation and GIS technologies for Strengthening the Agricultural Sector in Bulgaria.

The agenda of the conference could be downloaded here.

11th Conference on Control with Remote Sensing of area-based subsidies, Kraków, Poland

23-25.11.2005

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Polish Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMA) are pleased to announce that the 11th European Conference on Control with Remote Sensing of area-based subsidies will take place on 23 -25 November, 2005 at the Sheraton Kraków Hotel in Kraków, Poland. The event will welcome up to 300 participants from the EU25, the 4 Candidate Countries and from the Western Balkan States.

Through presentations in plenary and parallel sessions, discussions, poster sessions, and sw demonstrations the conference will, apart from giving an overall review of the 2005 CwRS Campaign, address the most important technical issues and challenges, such as:

• the implementation of the CAP Reform and the adaptation of the CwRS methodology
• Remote Sensing Controls of GAECs (Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions) and cross compliance
• the progress in the IACS GIS implementation
• new sensors and image handling
• image acquisition optimization
• parcel measurement and GPS.

Experts of ReSAC and LPRIT Directorate, MAF, will participate with an oral presentation "Status of the Implementation of the Land Parcel Identification System in Bulgaria" and two poster presentations - "Processing of VHR data from QuickBird for the purposes of the LPIS in Bulgaria" and "Improvement of the Rapid Field Visits for the CwRS through Voice Technology" (the last poster is prepared with the participation of the New Bulgarian Technologies AD).

The agenda of the conference is available here.

Workshop Building Capacity in Inventory of Land Cover/Land Use by Remote Sensing PROJECT FAO-TCP/MOL/2903 (A), Kishinev, Moldova

15-16.11.2005

Final Workshop of the Project “Building capacity in inventory of land cover/land use by remote sensing” FAO TCP/MOL/2903 was held in Kishinev, Moldova.

The general objective of the project is an increased agricultural production by provision of essential data at medium scale for land redistribution and agricultural planning process suitable to the local conditions.

The immediate objectives of the project are:

• To provide the Ministry of Agriculture with an objective and accurate database on the present land cover of the whole country including detailed land cover/land use maps and also larger scale information for areas of particular agricultural interest.
• To strengthen the capacity of the remote sensing group of SALRC staff to apply internationally recognized methodologies on land cover/land use mapping by satellite remote sensing and GIS technologies.
• To transfer the know-how and practical applications of high resolution optical remote sensing, GIS-based methodologies and LCCS to the staff assigned to project through formal and on-the-job training.

Expert of ReSAC participated with a report "Land cover mapping in Bulgaria, experiences and on-going activities".

The agenda of the workshop could be downloaded here.

Eurimage International Meeting 2005, Rome, Italy

20-21.10.2005

The Eurimage International Meeting took place in Rome from 20 – 21 October with more than 130 delegates and a wide range of interesting presentations from Industry professionals and data providers.

Since 1989, Eurimage has provided global satellite digital and photographic data, both directly to end customers and through a network of more than 150 expert Application Providers world-wide. Products include visible and infrared optical data and radar, offering a variety of mission and sensor types to meet the widest range of user needs. Institutional clients include the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the European Union Satellite Centre and other UN and international organizations.

Eurimage is a Finmeccanica Company. Shareholders are Telespazio (Italy), and Astrium (Germany).

As an Eurimage Application Provider ReSAC participated with a report on Multiple Purpose Use of QuickBird Data in Bulgaria. The agenda of the meeting could be downloaded here.

Enlargement and Integration Workshop Earth Observation for Sustainable Forest Management, Sielnica (Zvolen), Slovakia

19-20.10.2005

The workshop on ‘Earth Observation for Sustainable Forest Management’ (IES-W16) targets new satellite based methodologies for forest resource inventory and forest cover change monitoring at different geographical scales, including the detection and monitoring of logging activities.

Methodologies of advanced remote sensing applied by researchers of the NMS and CC were discussed and promoted during the workshop. The workshop was organised by Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability Ispra, Italy and Forest Research Institute Zvolen, Slovakia.

The objectives of the workshop are:

• to learn about methods on forest mapping and monitoring at global and continental scales,
• to become familiar with methods applied for the monitoring of logging at regional and local scales,
• to present RS applications for forest monitoring and sustainable forest management carried out in the NMS and CC,
• to provide information on the EU FLEGT Action Plan,
• to obtain a brief overview on JRC activities related to RS and forest monitoring in Europe.

In the frame of the workshop head of ReSAC presented a report on "Application of Earth Observation and GIS Technologies for Strengthening the Forest Sector in Bulgaria".

The workshop's agenda could be downloaded here.

Membership in European Association of Remote Sensing Companies, EARSC

29.09.2005

On 27 Sep 2005 on a regular meeting of the Board of Directors of EARSC in Paris ReSAC was accepted to be an Observer Member of the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies, EARSC. EARSC is a non-profit-making organisation that is devoted to promoting the European remote sensing industry and activities. In these times of intensified European integration and co-operation, the role of EARSC is becoming increasingly vital and the Association maintains close links with key European Institutions, European Space Agency and National Space Agencies, providing a key unified voice on wide European issues.

The Observer Members of EARSC could be companies from countries associated to European programs but not eligible for full membership. Any active representative organization, institution or association party in the field of Earth observation and not engaged in commercial or profit-making activities such as Public/Governmental Bodies, International Organisation, International Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Private Non Profit Organisation/Foundation, Network/Association/Aggregation of Intermediaries (profit or non profit), Business Association, Universities, other with interest in Earth Observation.

Peer Review of Paying Agencies PEER 20223, Sofia, Bulgaria

27-30.09.2005

The Peer Review is organised in co-operation with DG AGRI in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Bulgaria. In the review participated experts from DG AGRI EU, Paying Agencies from Germany, Denmark and Netherland, EU Delegation in Sofia, MAF and State Fund Agriculture, ReSAC.

In the frame of the review ReSAC and Directorate LPRIT (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) experts presented a report on "Establishment of LPIS - image acquisition, financial resources, training, linking of farmers to blocks".

Workshop on Understanding and modeling the Black Sea Ecosystem in Support of Marine Conventions and Environmental Policies Infra 20765

22-23.09.2005

The aim of this workshop is to gather expertise from different areas of Black Sea oceanography in an attempt to provide scientific support to decision makers and stakeholders. The principal idea is to enhance the scientific interdisciplinary collaboration between Black Sea countries and to maintain/establish the link to the policy makers. Unlike the other well monitored European Seas like Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea, observations in the Black Sea region are limited mostly to a national level and the exchange of information between institutions, either scientific or political, is not optimal. Thus the Workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss recent results from the ongoing research in the fields of Black Sea physics/chemistry/biology and how to reflect the Black Sea specifics in the marine conventions. The development of indicators which assess the ecosystem status will be a special focus for the discussions.

In the frame of the workshop ReSAC expert will present a report on "Application of Earth Observation Data for Monitoring of the Black Sea Ecosystem". The workshop's agenda could be downloaded here.

Workshop on the implementation of the Bulgarian LPIS, JRC, Ispra, Italy

05-06.09.2005

This workshop was organized by the AGRIFISH Unit, in the frame of its support to Candidate countries for the implementation and control of the CAP (MARS PAC action of the JRC 6th Frame work program).

The objectives were:

• to provide a technical overview on the implementation of the Land parcel Identification System (LPIS) and the IACS GIS (regulation 1782/03);
• to discuss the first results of the Bulgarian pilot study on LPIS in Assenovgrad (started in July 2005) using the satellite imagery provided by the JRC and implemented by ReSAC;
• and to provide recommendations for the implementation of the Bulgarian IACS-GIS.

Workshop on the GMES activities for preparation of NewEuser - Networking the users from Central Eastern Europe - 6 FP Project, Warsaw, Poland

20-21.06.2005

GMES project NewEUser - Networking the users from Central Eastern Europe - a Specific Support Action proposal was accepted by EU FP6 for evaluation. NewEUser will incorporate into GMES Initiative users from New Member States and Candidate Countries, identifying and networking users of similar information needs, convincing them to optimal GMES solutions and supporting their implementation.

NewEUser will integrate the already developed GMES segments in the New Member States (NMS), link this process to the on-going integration in the South Europe and Black Sea region and prepare efficient merging of the established networks with the European GMES structures. Involvement of end-users will be a driving factor in this process. The project will build upon the experience and results of the GMES-Poland project, but will increase by far its international dimension and links to the big GMES IP projects.

The head of ReSAC participated with a report "GMES Related Activities in Bulgaria". ReSAC is a partner in the project proposal among 20 participating institutions.

Delegation of SAFIR Consortium to participate EU-China Digital Olympic Forum, Beijing, China

20-25.06.2005

SAFIR-eGov workshop will be held as a cluster into the EU-China Digital Olympic Games Public Conference. The meeting is the first dissemination action which will focus on Digital Olympics and Safir to promote of user friendly public information services in Olympic games. The major aspects which will be highlited are: User friendly interface, any time any where to get the information services in the Olympic games based on SAFIR project.

In the frame of the workshop ReSAC expert will present a report on "SAFIR Pilot Project in Bulgaria. SAFIR implementation in Agriculture".

V^th Anniversary International Scientific Conference SGEM 2005, Albena, Bulgaria

13-17.06.2005

From 13 th to 17 th of June 2005, in Congress Center “Dobrugja”, Albena Resort, the V th Anniversary International Scientific Conference SGEM 2005 will take place. Scientific sections have been enlarged and now they include other related aspects of science and practice - ecology and environmental protection, geodesy, mine surveying and geology, computer science, high education, European Integration and International relations. During these five conference days, many interesting reports will be presented, by conference exhibition the participants will be able to follow the latest steps of the modern technologies, geological phenomena in the region will be visited.

The abbreviation SGEM unites the main fields, on which contemporary geo-sciences are based on: Surveying – science involving measurements, Geology - science dealing with geology and the world around us, Ecology and Environment – sciences that teach us how to develop our live in harmony with the Nature and the way of conserving it, and Management - science that reveals us the secret of using our erudition in the most wisest way.

In the frame of the conference ReSAC expert will present a report on "Use of Satellite Images and GIS Technologies for the Effective Management of the Territory of Bulgaria". The agenda of the conference could be downloaded here.

Improvement of Information Exchange between Educational Institutions in SEE Region, Godollo, Hungary

01-03.06.2005

FAO workshop on Improvement of Information Exchange between Education Institutions in the SEE Region was hosted in Szent Istvan University, Godollo, Hungary between the 01- 03 June 2005. Main subject of the workshop was the status of the National Web portals - AgroWeb. Presentations of AgroWeb portals on the Internet was given as well as a review of websites and discussion about possible improvement of the content and access was made. Future development of the portals was disscussed and specifically development of the education subportals. Testing the web sites and exchange of experiences was the final session of the workshop.

In the frame of the workshop ReSAC expert was nominated to coordinate the EU Integration section and the future section related to land management of the AgroWeb Bulgaria. The agenda of the workshop could be downloaded here.

Activating e-Community on Land Market related Fields in CEE Countries, Budapest, Hungary

09-10.05.2005

LANDnet Workshop - Activating e-Community on Land Market related Fields in CEE Countries, was held in Budapest, on 9-10 May 2005. The workshop was organized by the Central European Land Knowledge Center (CELKCenter). Related event: PROGIS Conference 2005 - IT in Rural Areas 10th and 11th of May 2005 subsequent to the LANDnet Workshop organized by CELK Center.

The main sessions of the Workshop are the following:

• e-Content, e-Governance strategic objectives, related EU policies with key speakers from the European Commission and FAO
• The needs and the current development stage of e-Governance on Land Management in CEEC and the Caucasus region with Governmental representatives
• Land related e-Governance principles and practices in Western European countries
• LANDnet, IKON, and other e-content service provider companies
• e-Land: Land Management related e-content services with key speakers from GTZ and FAO

In the frame of the session Remote sensing & GIS for Agricultural Information Systems ReSAC expert presented a report on "Implementation of the EU CAP reform in Bulgaria and its impact on the land market in the country. Bulgarian agricultural pilot in the frame of the 6FP project SAFIR". Possible partnership with the Austrian company PROGIS Software AG as well as Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing, Hungary were discussed. In addition a collaboration in the frame of the AgroWeb Network were initiated with FAO-SEUR. The agenda of the workshop is available here.

First Workshop Electronic Government of Territory and Resources, Sofia

26-27.04.2005

Bulgarian-Bavarian workshop on Electronic Government of Territory and Resources was held in Boyana Residence. Representatives were from state administration, Ministry of Regional Development Public Works, National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, district administration of Sofia, Rousse and Vratsa, Rousse municipalities and experts.

The main issues discussed were:

• Electronic processing of data and e-services based on the register for state/municipal property; Unified data base;
• Building and support of e-register based on paper archive/ Hybrid presentation of scanned information and IT information/ Digital transformation of data/ Transformation of information in digital aspect/ Future development of e-registers and public e-services
• Unified geo-data base/ Electronic register for land/ Geo-information systems/ Advantages of GIS as a tool for sustainable management and monitoring of environment /
• Pilot projects - Region Sofia, Region Ruse, Region Vraza;

ReSAC expert participated in the workshop with a report on projects related to the establishment of geodata infrastructure in Bulgaria - Elaboration of Land Parcel Identification System on a Test Area in Bulgaria, Control with Remote Sensing of Area Based Subsidies in Bulgaria and FP 6 IP - IST - SAFIR Project.

JRC Training Course, Ispra, Italy

20-22.04.2005

Three experts from ReSAC staff have participated in a training course on production of Ortho-imagery from aerial and satellite images, Quality control and LPIS. The training took place in JRC, Ispra, Italy. The training was conducted by the leading JRC experts Simon Kay and Peter Spruyt in remote sensing and GIS. The training was focused on geometric requirements for IACS applications, aerial and satellite images requirements and planning, digital versus analog aerial survey and state-of-the art spaceborne sensors. A practical examples were conducted on VHR orthorectification with different softwares as well as DGPS measurements. A detailed discussion was held on the possible sources for the LPIS creation in Bulgaria. The certificates for successfully accomplished training were obtained.

EASTEC FIRE 2005, Haskovo, Bulgaria

20-22.04.2005

An international exercise EASTEX FIRE 2005 was organised in Bulgaria from the National Fire and Emergency Service (NFES) together with 8 countries from the region. The initiative is in the frame of Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC)/UN. The ReSAC together with SPOT Image supported the event with GIS and satellite images. Georeferenced Landsat ETM and SPOT 5 image (kindly provided by the SPOT Image for the event) were provided of NFES together with GIS layer for the infrastructure and water network to support the exercise for forest fire simulation. The support of ReSAC to NSFES is a continuation of the ReSAC's work for the introduction of Earth Observation Data and GIS technologies for disaster management.

Presentation of the GMES, Sofia, Bulgaria

20.04.2005

Presentation of the GMES – Global Monitoring of Environment and Security with the special participation of Mr.Banaszkiewicz - Institute of Environment and Security, JRC. The meeting was held in Ministry of Education and Science (MES). The meeting was organised by JRC and MES. GMES is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency, designed to establish a European capacity for the provision and use of operational information for Global Monitoring of Environment and Security. The JRC expert and Bulgarian participants including ReSAC representatives disscussed the objectives and structure of the main GMES tools, transfer of the results of the GMES programme to the end users, policy makers, identification of the potential partnerships, link to other national programmes and other related topics.

JRC Info event for researchers and scientists, Sofia, Bulgaria

19.04.2005

The main objective of this event was to present recent achievements and future plans of JRC to researchers and to scientific and technical organisations in Bulgaria.

The intention was to encourage dialogue, identify potential partnerships and pave the way for further scientific collaboration with the JRC. The possibilities for participation of Bulgarian scientists at the specialised workshops and advanced training courses organised by JRC, possibilities for joint research projects, as well as future job opportunities at JRC were also presented. In the "Examples of successful collaboration of JRC with Bulgaria" Session ReSAC presented a report on the results from the "CwRS of the area based agricultural subsidies" Project as well as the first results of the SAFIR Project in which it is participating. The report is available here.

International Training Seminar, Information Society Technologies Sofia, Bulgaria

05-06.04.2005

ReSAC experts participated on International Training Seminar on “The Project Circle: Technical, Administrative, Financial and Legal Aspects of FP6 Project Preparation and Completion” under the Thematic Priority of Information Society Technologies, FP6 of the EU. The Ministry of Transport and Communications, together with the Information Society and Media Directorate General of the European Commission, organized the seminar. The goal is to increase the capacity of the scientific and research institutes, the universities and companies in the sector of information and telecommunications technologies from the new EU member-states, the candidate countries for accession to the EU, and the rest of the Southeast Europe countries for a more successful participation in the program. The certificates were issued. The workshop's agenda could be downloaded here.

Final Meeting on the Pilot study on the Control with Remote Sensing of Area Based Subsidies in Bulgaria, Ispra, Italy

10-11.02.2005

ReSAC experts presented the final report on the Pilot study on the Control with Remote Sensing of Area Based Subsidies in Bulgaria in JRC, Ispra. On the meeting participated experts from the IPSC/JRC and representatives of the State Fund Agriculture, MAF, Bulgaria.

The work carried out by ReSAC was considered as outstanding which goes much further than the initial scope and terms of reference of the pilot study focusing on a Control with Remote Sensing exercise. The pilot study was considered also to highly support the implementation of both national LPIS and the control with remote sensing of the agricultural subsidies. In this respect a discussion was held on the LPIS creation and Control Site selection in Bulgaria for which topics additional presentations and reports had been prepared by ReSAC.

The Use of Space Technology: Opportunities and Challenges for South-Eastern Europe and Black Sea Region Workshop, Sofia, Bulgaria

20-21.01.2005

ReSAC experts presented in the Space-based non-transport services and applications Round Table of the workshop the report on the pilot study on control with remote sensing of area based subsidies in Bulgaria. The workshop was organised under the patronage of Mr. Nikolay Vassilev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria and is supported by the European Commission (EC).

The goal of the Workshop was to provide public authorities, research institutions and service providers and users from the public and private sectors with the opportunity to obtain information ‘right from the source’ and exchange ideas and positions on the current status and future trends in the EU Space policy and the benefits from the wide applications of space technology and the European Space Programmes in particular. The workshop's agenda could be downloaded here.