Coordinator: The National Meteorological Administration of Romania (NMA)
The National Meteorological Administration of Romania (NMA) is a legal entity of national, public interest whose main aim is to ensure the meteorological protection of life and property. NMA manages its own financial resources, which are reinvested in the specific R&D activities.
Partner 1: Norsk Regnesentral (NR)
The Norwegian Computing Center (NR), Section for EO, has participated in several international projects with a remote sensing component. NR is specializing in automatic and semi-automatic processing methods for remote sensing data, including satellite images and Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data. NR has developed automatic processing chains for time series of satellite data such as MODIS, MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), AATSR, Landsat, etc.
Partner 2: Technical Universityof Civil Engineering (UTCB)
The Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest (UTCB) is the single Romanian university devoted entirely to engineering education in civil engineering, environmental engineering and geomatic engineering. UTCB will be represented in the project by the Groundwater Engineering Research Center.
Partner 3: National Institute for Hydrology and Water Management (NIHWM)
The National Institute for Hydrology and Water Management (NIHWM) is a public institution and a subunit of the “Romanian Waters” National Administration, the national authority in hydrology, hydrogeology and water management. NIHWM was established under its current name in December 2002, but, as different organizations, its activities are over 50 years old. NIHWM develops research activities and provides operational services of national and international public interest for the protection and socio – economic well – being of people.
Partner 4: West University Timisoara (WUT)
The West University of Timisoara (WUT) is one of the most important universities in Romania, occupying a leading position in all national ranking systems, currently situated on the 5th position. The research activity in the WUT consists of: fundamental scientific research; applied scientific research in priority areas; technological development and technological transfer. Department of Geography is placed on the second position in the last national ranking systems.
Overall project objective:
Explore and develop methodology supporting the vision of developing a future service providing national authorities with hind-cast and real-time snow and avalanche information retrieved from earth observation data.
Objectives:
Project Summary
Low spatial and temporal resolution of available in-situ snow data prevents a more accurate and timely monitoring of seasonal snow and related impact and adaptation applications. Snow monitoring is essential for prediction of flooding due to rapid snow melt, to provide snow avalanche risk forecasts, and for water resource management, including hydropower production, agriculture, groundwater and drinking water. The project will deliver a prototype snow monitoring system that combines daily satellite data from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-3 with in-situ weather station observations and state-of-the-art snowpack and climate modelling. Three important applications of snow monitoring will be demonstrated: hydrological modelling, snow-melt induced flash flood warning and snow avalanche warning. The project will also assess the impact of snow under present and future climate conditions on: flash flood statistics due to snow melt contributions, avalanche statistics and groundwater.
Framework: EEA Grants (European Economic Area Financial Mechanism)
Contract number: EEA-JRP-RO-NO-2013-1-0285
Contracting authority: Ministry of National Education (Romania)
Period: 2014 - 2017
Cod DORIS: RO14-0011