TACIS NEWSLETTER No 3

Project Newsletter
ISSUE No 3, March 2000

Tacis Project ENVRUS9701:

“Improvement in Forest Fire ResponseSystem”

Brief on the 3rd Implementation Phase (October 1999 – February 2000)

(A) Management Support Component:

  • After a lengthy and cumbersome process, the NOAA receiving stations and the hardware and software required for system development, purchased in September 1999, were eventually cleared by the Russian customs authorities at the beginning of March. The last tender comprising the remaining equipment shall be launched this month and, hopefully, completed by August.

  • A discussion paper on the stratification of forest lands as a means to improve wildland fire management, titled “Wildland fire management priority functions: a suggested approach for forest fund lands, and other designated lands, within the Russian Federation“, has been published under the project’s occasional Forest Fire Management Series. Further papers and reports are being prepared for publication during the following implementation periods.

(B) Remote Sensing Component:

  • The development of the basic software modules required for the operation of a satellite data processing chain, including data reception, pre-processing and archiving as well as most data analysis procedures was completed. It is planned to complete the installation of the receiving stations in Pushkino and in Irkutsk by May. The hardware installed and the software modules transferred shall then be tested, debugged and fine-tuned during the coming fire season. Manuals are being prepared.

  • The development of additional software modules for satellite data analysis, e.g., for fire risk and forest condition assessment, has commenced and shall be completed by August. A detailed design of the satellite data processing chain is being refined.

(C) Forest Protection Information System (FPIS) Component:

  • The development of most software modules for baseline and operational data updating, data processing, dissemination, access, and reporting procedures was completed. Work on the design and development of derived products and decision support tools is ongoing. Manuals are being prepared. The new software modules will be installed, tested and fine-tuned during the next project period.

  • In order to ensure the efficient integration of data between the regional and federal functionality and between the producers of data who are working in various locations, the definitions of common data formats, projections for geographic data and a common core database structure are being detailed and the FPIS design is being refined accordingly.

(D) System Integration Component:

  • The specification of communication lines to allow the development of an effective and efficient forest protection information network was completed for the Pushkino and Irkutsk airbases. The Aerial Forest Fire Service completed its tender procedures for the Central Airbase in Pushkino and a contract was closed between the selected company and the contracter under a Direct Agreement “Local Shopping” procedure. Options for the installation of specified communication lines for the Irkutsk airbase are presently being evaluated to ensure their cost-effectiveness and sustainable operation.

(E) Capacity Building Component and Others:

  • Training of selected staff in the operation of the satellite data processing chain will commence with the installation of the receiving stations and the transfer of the developed software modules.

  • Options for establishing an International Task Force on Fire (ITFF) as an integral part of the UN system and other international organisations, e.g. the World Bank or the European Council (EUROPA Major Hazards Agreement), has been presented to and discussed with the Federal Forest Service. There exists consensus that the ITFF will generate significant mutual benefits by mitigating disasters in countries requiring assistance in emergency situations, while enhancing the prospects of agencies actively participating in the task force. An example of a successful operation of an international task force in Ethiopia can be found at https://gfmc.online/iffn/country/et/et_2.htm.

 

Contacts

The project beneficiary is the Russian Federal Forest Service, the project partner the Aerial Forest Fire Service.

A consortium headed by HTS Consultants and including TAESCO Europe and Helsinki Consulting Group under funding by the EU TACIS programme assists the project beneficiary in the implementation of the project.

Local contractors of the above consortium are: (i) the International Forest Institute, Moscow; (ii) the Institute for Space Research, Moscow; (iii) the St. Petersburg Forest Research Institute, St. Petersburg; (iv) the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Irkutsk; and (v) the IT Company, Moscow.

The project is associated with the Global Fire Monitoring Centre, Freiburg, Germany (https://gfmc.online/).

Updates and details on the project can be obtained via the project’s English website (https://gfmc.online/programmes/techcoop/tacis.htm) or the project’s local contact address stated below:

 

Matthias Rhein, Project Manager
c/o Aerial Forest Fire Service, Central Airbase
20 Gorki street, Pushkino, Russia 141200
Tel: (+7) 096-532-6752, Fax: (+7) 096-532-9220

E-mail: tacis@space.ru

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