Keywords: hydrology, meteorology, forecast, integration, regional data, crisis management infrastructure, floods 

Project Description
A state-of-the-art meteorological and hydrological forecasting system has recently been set up in Romania to assist the country produce accurate weather forecasts and to combat severe flooding due to run off from the Carpathian mountains. Hydrological run-off causes particular problems in the Western part of Romania where the snow-melt gets dumped into Hungary's river system which, in turn, finds its way into the Danube.

Although the hydrological and weather-forecasting system is located at the National institute for Meteorology and Hydrology in Romania, the geo-spatial data used for day-to day operations covers the entirety of Europe, Eastwards to Kazakhstan in Asia, and to North Africa in the South. In addition it includes detailed, street level data for Romania itself. 

The project was implemented in two separate phases which are now fully integrated: in year 2000, Lockheed Martin - the prime contractor - designed and implemented a system which integrated data from the various weather forecast systems available in Europe at that time (SIMIN). In 2003, this was extended to include a hydrological system (DESWAT - Destructive Water Abatement and Control of after Disaster). As a result, Romania has taken the lead in pan-national weather forecasting for Central & Eastern Europe based on the latest technology in the fields of meteorological radar, meteorological sensors, meteorological buoys for observation at sea (in the Black Sea), and hydrological measuring stations. This is all supported by advanced telecommunications, telemetry and satellite-based systems.

Several types of meteorological radar are integrated with lightning detectors, wind profile tracking devices and satellite based systems. All this investment needed good and accurate geo-spatial (GI) support which extended well beyond national boundaries. Maps and related data were required at a number of scales, various resolutions, different formats and to representations determined by the individual applications.. 

It is too early to assess the impact of this investment on the Romanian or, indeed, regional economy, but the country has certainly improved its meteorological forecasting capabilities. On a day-to-day basis, images from meteorological satellites are now overlaid on maps at various scales and resolutions, and then interpreted in conjunction with radar data, visual observation and telemetry data from around the country. 

Once the data has been combined and refined, it is sent to a number of regional forecast centres where it is overlaid on higher detailed maps - even down to street level; the reports are used to generate local meteorological forecasts. 

In parallel, the newly developed crisis management infrastructure has all the components to detect, monitor and forecast meteorological and hydrological phenomena. It is anticipated that DESWAT will minimise the socio-economic impact of the extreme meteorological conditions encountered in the area, and will also underpin strategies aimed at the reduction of water pollution caused by natural hazards.

Fundamentally, this new technological infrastructure brings together the three essential components of hydrological management: 

Geo Strategies' role in this deployment was to provide all the national and international topographic mapping and also the terrain models for radar siting and run-off calculations. This included the topologically correct river network. 

The topographic mapping covered the entire region of Central & Eastern Europe as weather doesn't respect national boundaries. It even included a dataset extending from North Africa through to Kazakhstan to provide context.

One peculiarity of this region is the high incidence of lightning strikes. For this reason, Geo Strategies also supplied 41 city and town plans so that the impact on the built environment can be assessed.

This deployment is an example of how a multi-national organisation (Lockheed Martin) has worked with a UK company (Geo Strategies Ltd) to define GI specifications which were licensed for regional use. The geo-spatial data was then further enhanced by a local (Romanian) GI company to develop, customise and, subsequently, maintain the GI data infrastructure which under-pins the entire system.

Issues
The SIMIN team is learning how to make a gradual transition from analogue to digital techniques in weather forecasting. It is anticipated that it will take approximately two years before the system is used to its full capacity. 

Data used
Seamless topographic dataset for Europe and Asia at 1:500,000 scale
Seamless Digital Terrain model at 200 m resolution for the entire area
Seamless dataset for Romania and 200km around the national boundaries at 1:200 000 scale
Seamless Digital Terrain Model at 50 m resolution for the entire area
Street level data for 62 towns and cities in Romania
All datasets are fully integrated.

Funding
SIMIN and DESWAT programs represent an investment of US$M101 for Romania provided by Lockheed Martin as part of an offset agreement between the US and Romanian Government. Overall project management is provided by Lockheed Martin who has sub-contracted parts of the system to other companies.
GI maintenance and customisation is fully performed by Geo Strategies locally who keeps in communication with the end user, the National Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology.

For further information, please contact Geo Strategies at:
	Geo Strategies Ltd			Geo Strategies SA
	St John's Innovation Centre			Str G-ral V. Milea, 10A
	Cowley Road			Sibiu 550331
	Cambridge  CB4 0WS			Romania
	United Kingdom
	Tel:	+44 (0)1223 205080		Tel:	+40 (0)269 210832
	Fax:	+44 (0)1223 205081		Fax:	+40 (0)269 211165
	Email:	maps@geo-strategies.com		Email:	maps@geo.strategies.ro