[Portugal] Canary Islands - Open source software to forecast and manage forest fires

[Luís de Sousa]

http://www.osor.eu/news/es-canary-islands-open-source-software-to-forecast-and-manage-forest-fires

Capaware is an open source 3D geographical multilayer framework which
allows to obtain realistic images of land and to navigate a given area
virtually. Based on the environmental conditions of the area
(humidity, vegetation and wind, among others), Capaware "gives a
real-time forecast which allows to know the evolution and intensity of
a fire." said José Pablo Suárez, Professor at the Department of
Cartography and Engineering Graphic Design, University of Las Palmas
de Gran Canaria.

The data provided by Capaware are "very important" for the forecasting
of such incidents as they help manage and control the fire,
"especially in hot weather." Suárez explained.

The programme was developed by professors at the Las Palmas de Gran
Canaria University and the Technological Institute of the Canary
Islands, together with a local private company; it has been recently
published in the international journal 'Computers and Geosciences'.

In the Canary Islands, Capaware has already been installed at the
Insular Operations Coordination Centre (Centro de Coordinación
Operativa Insular - Cecopin, in Spanish) of Cabildo de La Palma, where
operators make use of it to perform fire simulations and to manage the
available resources, both human and material, during a real incident.