Data quality assessment of Copernicus Climate Change Service health domain data for the development of disaster risk reduction plans

Abstract

Bulgaria, located in the Balkans, is subject to a number of natural disasters including floods, earthquakes, landslides, forest fires, strong winds, droughts, heavy snowfall and extreme temperatures. In addition to natural disasters, the country is at risk for man-made events like industrial and nuclear accidents, transport accidents, and infectious diseases. Disaster planning and prevention is a complex process that requires multiple data sources. At the same time, spatial data are often not available on-line, so the country's GIS specialists may find existing spatial data to be a great challenge. This research analyses the application of the health sector data provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service to support the development, implementation and evaluation of disaster risk management plans in Bulgaria. The climate data visualizations provided by the service enable scientists and other stakeholders to view climate change data in a format that is simple to use, visually understandable, and usable for decision makers in government, business, and non-governmental organizations. Many of these visualizations are interdisciplinary and may be critical for gathering and applying information needed to develop disaster risk reduction plans.

Using high precision climate data for wildfire risk assessment

“…These findings could be a good resource when elaborating a forest fire alarm system and may help for appropriate prioritization of factors and management of resources. The present study also shows the importance of climate data as a powerful source of knowledge that may be critical for gathering and applying information needed to develop disaster risk reduction plans (Sarafova, 2022). Considering the prognosis for intensifying wildfire risk (C2ES, 2022) this might become an even more tangible need.…”

Impact of climate change on the extreme weather hazards and natural disasters in Bulgaria

“…По-интензивните и продължителни горещи вълни водят до формиране на т.нар. "остров на топлина" в големите градове, в който неблагоприятният ефект от горещото време се усилва многократно (Dimitrov et al, 2020;Sarafova, 2022) . Градовете са много уязвими и по отношение на растящата опасността от екстремни валежи и наводнения, поради неадекватната на новите условия канализационна мрежа, редуцирането на зелените площи и големите запечатани територии без условия за инфилтрация на валежните води в тях.…”