Projects


I-STORMS – Integrated Sea sTORm Management Strategies

Project website https://istorms.adrioninterreg.eu/

Title I-STORMS – Integrated Sea sTORm Management Strategies
Project summary Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ) is a project partner in the I-STORMS project under the INTERREG Transnational Cooperation Program ADRION (Adriatic-Ionian Initiative) for the period 2014-2020.
I-STORMS is a project of regional cooperation in the exchange of knowledge, data and forecasts, for early warning of sea surges and sea flooding. Through joint infrastructure, joint risk response strategies, the project plans an innovative approach to data sharing, joint early warning guidelines for the public and rescue and rescue services, a transnational strategy for reducing the risk of flooding, and establishing a permanent forum for partner co-operation in the project and national participants and users.
Croatia has a long tradition of observations and marine forecasts, and 24/7 operative Maritime Meteorological Service. More and more, on top of weather and sea conditions (atmospheric pressure, sea state, sea visibility, ocean waves) forecasts for the open sea, there are demands for forecasts and alerts on coastal events caused by interaction between the atmosphere and the sea state. In the area of the eastern Adriatic coast, a whole series of events related to coastal floods have been reported, which, as a result of storms, extreme local winds or due to the effects of the meteo - tsunami (sudden and intense but short-term elevation of the sea level due to extreme changes in atmospheric pressure, in areas of shallow gulfs and harbors). In Croatia, many research institutes deal with oceanographic phenomena and sea level anomalies. The ambition of DHMZ is, as the only Croatian partner in the I-STORMS project, to collect their knowledge of measurements and modeling of coastal flooding and to make room for operational application of results I -STORMS project.
Project goal Specific Project goals where the DHMZ is involved directly or through project teams:
  • Establishment of I-STORMS networks, composed of national partners, who will participate in the development and implementation of I-STORMS tools, and the development and implementation of national practices, early warning procedures and civil protection.
  • Creating an ADRION Sea Storm Atlas, which will include information on past storms, descriptions of the damage and an overview of existing intervention procedures on the threats in the project partners' countries.
  • Creating a catalog of risks associated with storms, and weather-tsunami with stakeholders (various public institutions and institutions responsible for information on the state of the sea or whose activities are carried out at sea).
  • A list of operational metrics, monitoring and forecasting infrastructure infra structures for the ADRION domain (metadata with formats, data policy)
  • Development of a common interoperable information platform for oceanographic measurements, forecasting patterns of sea circulation, for early warning of the possibility of flooding of the sea.
  • Establish a common ADRION strategy for more effective response, management and protection of coastal areas
  • Display and dissemination of project results through public presentations, printed materials and publicly available web and mobile applications.
The specific role of DHMZ: The DHMZ is a national meteorological and hydrological service and a licensed state body for maritime meteorology, and publishes meteorological bulletins and alerts for the Adriatic Sea and Croatian territorial waterways on a daily basis. Recently, the DHMZ has begun the modernization of the observation network, which will also include a network of weather-meteorological moored buoys, working in real time, on Croatian territorial waters (see METMONIC project). By contributing to the I-STORMS project, the DHMZ will actively participate in the achievement of all goals, share knowledge of specific marine and coastal phenomena in the Adriatic (e.g. storm surge, sea level anomalies due to extreme local winds,meteo-tsunamis), observations and forecasts for sea conditions.

The DHMZ is the only member of I-STORMS project from Croatia and is important for:
  • construction and coordination of the national network I-STORMS,
  • a list of national operational infrastructure ofmeasurements, observations and forecast models for the atmospheric and sea circulations,
  • organizing a national I-STORMS conference and contributing to other conferences (scientific, regional) related to coastal phenomena, early warning systems and risk management,
  • building a forum for education on warning systems for the occurrence of the sea and the threat of flooding of the sea, for the target groups: specific users, policy makers and the public.
Key words storm surge, costal floods, coastal risk, Adriatic-Ionian region, early warning, web tools
Contact person and Researchers from DHMZ Dijana Klarić, Project Manager for DHMZ, e-mail: dijana.klaric(at)cirus.dhz.hr
Lidija Fuštar, Coordinator of I-STORMS Network, e-mail: lidija.fustar(at)cirus.dhz.hr
Duration 1. Janury 2018. - 31. March 2020.
Partners City of Venice (CoV), Italy
National Research Council-Institute of Marine Sciences (CNR ISMAR), Italy
Agency for environmental protection and energy in Emilia-Romagna (ARPAE), Italy
Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO), Slovenia
Apulia Region, Department of Civil Protection (ARCP), Italy
Regional Council of Durres (RCD), Albania
Regional Union of Municipalities of Epirus (PED Epirus), Greece
Institute of Geosciences, Energy, Water and Environment (IGEWE), Albania
Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ), Croatia
Pridruženi članovi Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy
Durres Port Authority, Albania
National Civil Protection Department, Italy
Regional Civil protection Agency in Emilia Romagna, Italy
Regional Agency for Environmental Prevention and Protection of Veneto, Italy
General Directorate of Civil Emergencies, Albania
Slovenian Water Agency, Slovenia
Financing The total value of the project amounts to 1.405.787,45 Euros, the share of the DHMZ is 135.028,54 Euros and the co-financing is provided by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund-ERDF and Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance 2014-2020) in 85%, and Croatia government in a share of 15%.