02/07/2019 EMSR365: Fire in Torre de l'Espanyol, EMS INFORMATION BULLETIN Nr 110

THE COPERNICUS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICE

MONITORS IMPACT OF WILDFIRE IN SPAIN

On Wednesday 26 June, a wildfire broke out in Torre de l’Espanyol, a rural region in the Catalan province of . The fire spread through the municipality and the surrounding areas of , la Palma d'Ebre, and , and then headed in the direction of Lleida. According to media reports, more than 6,500 hectares ​ ​ were affected, and 51 people were evacuated. Five roads were closed to traffic, including the C-12 between Maials and Flix.

The regional conservation office believes that the fire started when heat caused manure to spontaneously combust on a farm. Manure is highly flammable and in this case was not being stored in the legally required conditions. The Copernicus EMS European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) forecasts an extremely high risk ​ ​ of further wildfires in the area and other parts of Spain, due to persistent high temperatures.

The Copernicus EMS Rapid Mapping module was activated on 27 June to provide over a single Area of Interest (AoI) a First Estimate Product, a Delineation Product, followed by a monitoring Delineation Product, and finally a Grading Product once the fire was not active anymore. The first Delineation product, produced using optical satellite imagery from the SPOT-6/7 satellites acquired on 28 June, shows 5041 ha (50.41 km2) of the area burnt at the time of satellite imagery acquisition. The Grading product was produced on the basis of imagery acquired two days later, on 30 June, and also from the SPOT-6/7 satellites. It shows 5046 ha (50.46 km2) of the area burnt at the time of satellite imagery acquisition.

The map and vector data are available for viewing and download on the EMS Website: EMSR365: Fire in Torre de ​ l'Espanyol, Spain. ​ For updates on our activations, follow Copernicus EMS on Twitter. ​ ​ Learn more about the Copernicus Programme and its Emergency Management Service. ​ ​ ​ ​

The grading map of Torre de l'Espanyol, Spain showing 5046 ha (50.46 km2) of the area burnt at the time of satellite imagery acquisition (Copernicus EMS © 2019 EU, [EMSR365]: Fire in Torre de l'Espanyol Grading Product

The Copernicus Emergency Management Service’s European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) forecasts an extremely high risk of further wildfires in the area and other parts of Spain, due to persistent high temperatures (EFFIS, European Union 2019)

For more information contact [email protected] +32 495 544 844 (European CET time) Follow our Twitter feed @CopernicusEMS where maps and vector data are posted automatically in near real-time

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE COPERNICUS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICE (EMS)

Copernicus is the European Union Earth Observation and Monitoring Programme. ​ The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) uses satellite imagery and other geospatial data to ​ provide free of charge mapping service in cases of large natural disasters, human-made emergency situations and humanitarian crises throughout the world. The maps are produced in two temporal modes:

● Rapid Mapping consists of the provision of geospatial information in support of emergency management activities immediately following a disaster. Different types of maps are produced, for example, to ascertain the situation before the event (reference maps), to assess the geographical extent of the event (delineation maps) or to evaluate the intensity and scope of the damage resulting from the event (grading maps). ● Risk & Recovery Mapping consists of the provision of geospatial information in support of disaster ​ management activities that are not related to immediate emergency response but rather to pre-disaster risk assessment or post-disaster recovery monitoring. This applies to activities dealing with prevention, preparedness, disaster risk reduction and recovery phases. The EMS can be triggered only by or through an Authorised User (AU). Authorised Users include the National ​ ​ Focal Points (NFPs) of the EU Member States and countries participating in the Copernicus programme, as well as European Commission services and the European External Action Service (EEAS), including the EU Delegations. Beneficiary end users of EMS include entities and organisations at regional, national, European and international level actors in the field of civil protection and humanitarian aid.

Interested Users may trigger the service by sending a Service Request Form (SRF) directly to the European ​ ​ ​ Response Coordination Centre (ERCC): [email protected]. ​ ​ ​

The Copernicus Programme.

Copernicus, the European Earth Observation and Monitoring Programme, is served by dedicated satellites (the ​ Copernicus Sentinels constellation) and a set of Contributing Missions (additional satellites from existing ​ ​ ​ commercial and national agencies). Since the launch of Sentinel-1A in 2014, the European Union set in motion a process to place a constellation of almost 20 more satellites in orbit before 2030. Today, seven Sentinels are in orbit to continually provide satellite information over the situation of the whole globe. This satellite data is complemented by and validated with in situ data.

Six Copernicus Services transform the full, free and open data into value-added information by processing and ​ analysing the data to transform them into services and products such as informative maps, data sets and reports

These six services are:

● The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service ● The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service ● The Copernicus Land Monitoring Service

● The Copernicus Climate Change Service ● The Copernicus Emergency Management Service ● The Copernicus Security Service Copernicus is coordinated and managed by DG GROW in the European Commission. It is implemented in ​ ​ partnership with the EU Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), EU Agencies and Mercator Ocean. The European Commission Joint Research Centre offers the technical support of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service whilst the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of DG ECHO assists civil protection actors with the handling of the EMS mapping requests in a 24/7 mode.

For more information Copernicus Website: copernicus.eu ​ Emergency Management Website: emergency.copernicus.eu ​ On Twitter @CopernicusEMS