Operational activities for the MARS crop-yield forecasting system
The Agricultural and Regional Information Systems (ARIS) Unit of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre requires support for certain operational activities within the MARS project which monitors agriculture with remote sensing equipment. A prior information notice has been published on the Official Journal, with an invitation to tender expected to follow in the fourth quarter of 1999. The activities would be linked to its crop-yield forecasting system and will be divided into four separate lots. The first concerns the real-time daily provision of meteorological data covering the EU Member States, Central and Eastern European Countries (including the western border of Russia), the Maghreb, and Turkey, and quality checking of the data. The second requires the operating of a crop growth monitoring system (CGMS) including meteorological data interpolation and agro-meteorological indicator calculation and the mapping of results. The third lot involves management of a processing chain for low resolution satellite data. This covers NOAA-AVHRR (including data purchasing) and spot vegetation as well as the production of vegetation indicator and mapping outputs. Finally the fourth lot covers the provision of agro-meteorological products for additional areas not covered by the first lot. The optional areas will be defined in the tender, and could cover part of Russia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Data should be provided from meteorological models' output and low resolution satellite data. The tools to be used are similar to those described above. Tenders may cover one or more lots, and the Commission reserves the right not to award all lots. The work is scheduled in three contractual phases: 2000-2001, 2002 and 2003. For further information please contact: European Commission Joint Research Centre Space Applications Institute Agriculture and Regional Information Systems (ARIS) Unit Mr J. Meyer-Roux TP 262 I-21020 Ispra (VA) Fax +39-0332-789029