Geospatial (Earth Observation (EO), satellite navigation) information is crucial for decision-making in disaster risk management. The benefits provided by geospatial information are best revealed when an analysis justifies how they can be effectively used in a decision. However, there is lack of systematic evidence on the socio-economic impact that geospatial information has for decision-making process. The overall objective of PREFER-RED-VALUE is to assess how geospatial information provided by the products portfolio of the H2020 proposal PREFER-RED is valuable to decision-makers in the phases of the wildfire management cycle (i.e. prevention, suppression and recovery). The portfolio of PREFER-RED includes products handling the phase of: i) prevention (i.e. Forest fuel maps, Vulnerability & Economic value maps, Risk Maps, Fuel Reduction maps, Seasonal Fire Hazard maps, Seasonal Risk Maps, Daily Fire Hazard Index maps, Prescribed fire maps; ii) tactical (i.e. Hot Spots, dynamics of the Fire Radiative Power); iii) recovery (i.e. Across-fire vegetation dynamics; Burned areas; Damage Severity maps; Soil erosion susceptibility; Biomass volume loss). The products are designed to enrich the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) which supports the services in charge of the protection of forests against fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa. Exploring economic methods and approaches used to assess the value of geospatial information, this research develops an impact assessment framework allowing to evaluate the value of information offered by a combination of products which exploit the European EO programme Copernicus. An interdisciplinary scientific team will demonstrate how to assess the socio-economic benefits by engaging decision-makers (potential users of the PREFER-RED product portfolio) in a pilot study area in Sardinia, measuring the effectiveness of applying such information for both strategic and operational wildfire management procedures.
