Approach

• Integrating and analysing thematic and risk information on potential impact areas of a spill.
• Identifying, characterising, quantifying, and assessing the environmental and societal threat, risk, and potential and actual impact of a spill.
• Accessing the system from fixed and mobile-wireless devices via regional enterprise networks (Internet), using terrestrial and satellite telecommunication networks.

• Incorporating advance data and information collection, analysis, visualisation, communication, and management technologies.
• Prototype system will be developed and tested using data and information obtained from mine tailings dam sites in Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
• Generically designed to address any other types of large-scale industrial spills.

Cornerstones of the regional enterprise network decision-support system:

• Satellite Earth observation data.
• Dam break & surface discharge modelling.
• Socio-economic impact & cost-benefit analysis.
• Risk analysis.
• Information visualisation.
• Information management & decision-support system.
• Enterprise network.

Satellite Earth Observation Data

• Characterise the chief environmental & societal elements under threat from a spill and the environmental factors controlling its dispersion.
• Provide synoptic information on the threatened ‘downstream’ environmental and societal elements at spatial resolutions ranging from 30 m to sub-metre, and scales from1:25 000 to 1:5 000, or less.
• Derive high resolution digital elevation (DEM), terrain (DTM), and surface models (DSM) obtained from satellite stereo imagery and other sources, to identify and characterise the topographic and terrain features and factors controlling the dispersion of a spill.

Dam Break & Surface Discharge Models

• Spatial-temporal depiction of the areal dispersion of effluent into a landscape setting under various spill scenarios through numerical modelling of inundation areas.
• Topographic, environmental, and societal input data from satellite imagery and digital elevation, terrain, and surface models.

Socio-Economic Analysis

• Social, economic, legal, and political analysis of the risks and consequences of a spill to society.
• Evaluation of the economic cost factors (e.g., clean-up, property damage, loss of business, impaired health and safety) related to a spill and cost-benefit analysis related to risk reduction actions.

Risk Analysis

• Assessment of the potential impact and risk to ‘downstream’ areas threatened by a spill.
• Formulation of risk analysis models for assessing environmental and societal risk from a spill.
• Hazard identification, possible consequences, and risk estimation and evaluation, leading to a ‘quantitative’ risk assessment of a threatened area for improved risk management.
• Generation of hazard, vulnerability, sensitivity, and socio-economic impact indices for ‘downstream’ areas.

Information Visualisation

• Development of high-performance visualisation tools for graphical display of information.
• Two and three-dimensional depiction of thematic, risk, and impact information, using digital elevation, terrain, and surface models, and satellite imagery.
• Animated graphical simulation of dam break and surface discharge scenarios of a threatened ‘downstream’ environment.

Information Management & Decision-Support System

• Generic geographic database and enterprise server system for storing, processing, and accessing environmental, societal, risk assessment, and other decision-support information of a threatened area and accessible via an enterprise network.

Enterprise Network

• High-speed and multi-tiered access to the information management & decision-support system from fixed base station and mobile field devices via a regional enterprise network, using broadband terrestrial and satellite telecommunication networks and the Internet.

• Provide new kinds of metadata and information on the prevention, mitigation, and control of spills.
• Make pertinent information on a potential or actual spill more readily available to environmental and civil protection agencies, when, where, and as needed, particularly in emergency situations.
• Allow a better understanding of the potential or actual environmental and socio-economic impact of a spill for improved risk management and identifying ‘best’ risk prevention or reduction actions to be taken.
• Enhance decision-making related to pre-disaster activities (risk assessment, prevention, mitigation, and preparedness), emergency management, and post-disaster activities (response, control, and recovery).

• Support more timely and better co-ordinated disaster response among civil protection agencies.
• Expand the knowledge base on disaster prevention, preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery planning (disaster management).
• Increase public perception, awareness, and communication of the dangers that industrial spills pose to an ecosystem and society and thereby permit public participation in the decision-making and risk management process.
• Foster the development of regional, national, and pan-national infrastructures and networks to share information on the prevention, mitigation, and control of, response to, and recovery from a spill.