- Damage potentials and indication of dangers derived from satellite imagery and historical maps
- Major cross-border river areas already completely captured
- Key aim is a more efficient flood management across Europe
Friedrichshafen / Heidelberg, 12 Sep 2007. The geo-information service providers Infoterra GmbH and geomer GmbH present detailed maps and information about past and potential future flood events at the rivers Rhine, Elbe and lower Weser.
“Detailed information on the extend and impact of past flood events supports the responsible authorities and teams,” explains Marek Tinz, responsible project manager at Infoterra GmbH. “While it can of course not prevent an actual flood event, the FloodServer significantly supports the efforts to reduce the impact of future events.”
Not only satellite-based maps of recent flood events are used: For example, historical maps of the river Rhine flood in the winter 1881/82 are available. “The more information we can gather, the more precisely we can define potential flooded areas”, explains Tinz further.
A combination of this data with up-to-date land use maps allows the identification of areas particularly at risk, as well as the damage potentials involved. Based on these maps, authorities in charge can implement targeted and efficient preventive measures.
Historical and potential flood areas, information on potential damage as well as up-to-date land use maps – all this can be accessed easily through an info button on www.floodrisk.eu. Additionally, the information system allows the user to access particular locations through a comfortable search function and to print high-resolution maps.
Local squad leaders, water management agencies, civil protection forces and rescue services, as well as European authorities in charge of international flood management – a great variety of users will benefit from the FloodServer in the next years.
“We have developed this platform in close cooperation with the future users,” reports Dr. André Assmann, responsible member of the General Management at geomer GmbH, “thus we can be sure, that the FloodServer will really make a considerable contribution to an improved anticipation of flood events, the initiation of systematic protection measures, an efficient preparation, a targeted reaction in case of crisis and, last but not least, to an optimal implementation of subsequent restoration works.”
In addition to the two geo-information providers user organisations such as the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) as well as the transnational INTERREG III B Project ELLA (ELbe and LAbe) dealing with risk prevention in the Elbe catchment, have supported the definition of the information layers implemented on the FloodServer today.
The novel approach of developing up-to-date geo-information services in close cooperation with the user organisations is a key aspect of the European GMES1 initatitive. Within this program, the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) work together to establish a long-term operational European Earth observation program. GMES is intended to provide authorities and administrations in Europe with environment and security related information. The FloodServer was developed within the GMES projects RISK-EOS and PREVIEW, which address the development and validation of GMES applications in the field of risk management.
The use of the FloodServer, which is jointly operated by Infoterra GmbH and geomer GmbH, is free of charge. Organisations and authorities interested in making flood risk maps and existing additional information accessible for their own responsibilities, can also utilize the platform. Minor charges may apply for individual editing and integration of data.
About Infoterra GmbH
Infoterra GmbH, Friedrichshafen, has been a leader in development and validation of GMES services for several years now. The company has established a strong expertise in geo-information services for land monitoring, water quality assessment, flood risk management, and spatial planning applications. Within the European GMES Land Monitoring services, Infoterra GmbH is coordinating major development and implementation projects.
Infoterra GmbH was founded in 2001 to prepare and conduct the commercial exploitation of TerraSAR-X. The company is responsible not only for the commercial distribution of the data, but for the development and marketing of derived geo-information products and services as well.
Infoterra GmbH employs a workforce of 45 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astrium GmbH.
About geomer GmbH
geomer gmbH is one of the leading German companies for geographic information technology. Founded in 1999 from scientists of Heidelberg University it now assist its customers with a wide range of skills and tailored services. Being an independent company geomer in between has 14 employers from different fields of education.
As a full-service provider for GIS technology, geomer offers the complete range of necessary GIS services, software development, server and web services and experienced training. geomer is authorized reseller for ESRI desktop and server products. Open Source software is also supported. The portfolio is completed by different data products from partners like NAVTEQ.
In addition, geomer offers consulting services in the fields of risk management, flood protection, soil management, terrain analysis and geo- marketing.
Infoterra and geomer provide Flood Information Online
Application Example from the FloodServer
Flood extent at Rivers Aller and Weser (Germany), April 1994:
The system enables the user to select different information layers such as land use or road networks, and to search for specific place names.
Mapping of Flood Events
Flood extent at Rivers Aller and Weser (Germany), April 1994:
Information on flood extent along with land use information supports flood risk management in this particular flood event and for the future.
Contact
Mareike Döpke, Infoterra
T +49 7545 8 3924 M +49 171 793 7253
Email www.infoterra.de
Dr. Stefan Jäger, geomer
T +49 89458 40 M +49 163 3735177
Email www.geomer.de
1 Global Monitoring for Environment and Security