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Intro

At the Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre we’re working to anticipate, respond and support the recovery from disasters such as floods, droughts or wildfires. In a time of (excess of) information, it becomes increasingly important that those capable of making a difference — from policy makers to practitioners, scientists and citizens — get the right information straight from the source (reducing the noise and misunderstandings that often arise) so more lives can be saved and impacts reduced.

At the same time, these disaster events are becoming increasingly frequent and severe and as such, it is crucial that scientists/practitioners know the European Commission tools and software that they can use. Plus, a recent Eurobarometer on “What Europeans think about science and technology” reveals EU citizens (61%) think scientists working in the public sector are the most qualified to explain the impact of scientific and technological developments”. Don’t we own them that?

Science for DRM

Videos

In this video series we aim to create short videos focused on new scientific outputs, about various types of hazards (e.g. wildfires, droughts, floods) or platforms/services/datasets (e.g. the Global Human Settlement Layer, GHSL’s new resolution capabilities or the Risk Data Hub). The idea is to convey key messages on new scientific developments relevant to DRM, in a short, specific, plain language. Each video is designed around the same fundamental questions:

  • How would you explain the impact of the main findings on the life of your friends or family? (interest/proximity)
  • What is the problem/issue that these findings will solve and how? (relevance)
  • How many people will benefit from this new solution to the existing problem and how will this change their life? (impact)
  • Why now? (timeliness)

 

We hope these videos will turn out useful for inspiring and engaging with other scientists and also for bringing our scientists closer to the European citizens, using their voice and authority to present their findings in a clear, simple language.

 

EDO - The European Drought Observatory

Droughts can severely affect ecosystems and key socio-economic sectors. Still, analysing, but analysing droughts remains challenging as their slow evolution makes them difficult to fully characterise, model, and predict in space and time. The European Drought Observatory (EDO) uses data from

  • ground weather stations,

  • satellites,

  • hydrological models, and

  • weather and climate forecasts

to monitor and predict droughts. EDO cooperates at multiple scales to further develop drought prediction, and impact and risk assessment to support better drought management in the EU and worldwide.

Original video

 

River flood maps for Europe: A new science article explained by the scientist

We present a set of hazard maps for river flooding infor Europe and the Mediterranean basin. The maps depict inundation extent and depth for different flood scenarios and are based on hydrological and hydrodynamic models driven by observed climatology. The maps can identify two-thirds of the flood extent reported by official flood maps, with increasing skill for higher-magnitude floods. The maps are used for evaluating the present and future impacts of river floods.

For more information, please see:
URL: https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/1549/2022/

Original video page

 

Wildfire–atmosphere interaction index for extreme-fire behaviour

During the last 20 years, extreme wildfires have challenged firefighting capabilities. Often, the prediction of the extreme behaviour is essential for the safety of citizens and firefighters. Currently, there are several fire danger indices are routinely used by firefighting services, but they are not suited to forecast extreme-wildfire behaviour at the global scale.

For more information, please see:
URL: https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/22/509/2022/

Original video page