Earth Observation is a precious information source that support people operating in the field of the management and conservation of natural areas. The integration of EO data with other traditional information enable users to run more efficient monitoring of sensitive areas and to evaluate impact of human and natural changes upon land and sea.
PARC Archipelago (Posidonia Advanced Remote Cognition ) project is about monitoring Posidonia Oceanica seagrass beds in East Greece and specifically the area around the Arki island, by using satellite images (IKONOS, LANDSAT, MERIS). The area of interest is to be included in the foreseen Marine National Park of the North Dodecanese. The user organization is Archipelagos, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Research of the Aegean Sea, a non-profit, non-governmental, environmental organization.
Project description
Posidonia sea grass beds are of fundamental importance for the productivity of Mediterranean marine ecosystems and fish stocks, however their status cannot be always easily and properly assessed. The Scope of the project was to demonstrate how an integration of different technologies can facilitate the user during its operational duties. For this purpose the following two activities were carried out:
1) Detection of Posidonia and classification of the seabed using satellite images;
2) Development of a WebGIS system for the representation of the environment and site promotion to a wider user segment.
The cooperation between Planetek Hellas and the Archipelagos Institute resulted into the implementation of the PARC-Archipelago system. The system functionalities supports sustainable eco-tourism applications while addressing specific data collection towards the design of sustainable environmental practices.
The PARC application is centred around the monitoring of Posidonia seagrass which becomes part of a 3D WebGIS for below sea level visualization. This service aims at facilitating the representation of the below sea level environment (thematic maps of submerged vegetation), so that information related to the posidonia seagrass beds can be included, managed and shown to public.
The system may include data of different sources and type, namely: mapping trough EO in clear and shallow waters, geophysical data (e.g. temperature, oxygen concentration etc.) plus general information such as pictures.
The 3D WebGIS ensures a wider use of the system thanks to a to a visualization module fully integrated into Google Earth.
To have a look at the 3D WebGIS system PARC Archipelago
PARC-Archipelago is based on Planetek’s Cart@net technology already applied on PARC Service, a European Space Agency funded project realized in Italy. The system is designed to support natural park management and promotion using EO data and web mapping technology.
PARC service is now a tool used by the well known Italian Natural Park Parco delle Cinque Terre
located in Liguria Region.
About Planetek Hellas EPE
Planetek Hellas EPE is a company of Planetek Italia Group with headquarters in Athens, Greece. Starting from the experience and assets of the group leader, the Greek market approach of Planetek Hellas is lead towards the development of systems and applied solution that benefits of the know-how gained in relevant european programmes in the field of Aerospace Research, system integration, and in the management, analysis and sharing technologies applied to land information.
Planetek Hellas EPE
Address: 2-4 Messogeion Avenue, 11527, Athens (Greece)
Phone: +30 210 7454306 – Fax: +30 210 7454300
Contact Person: Stelios Bollanos
E-mail: bollanos@planetek.gr