Objective To define suitable forest fire presuppression planningand suppression strategies in order to optimize resourceutilization and minimize fire effects.Wildland fires are responsible for most damages and environmentalimpair of forest ecosystems in the Mediterranean region of theEuropean Community. As a consequence, the current firemanagement policy is to fight fires aggressively in all cases.A modern fire management approach concerns ways to convertwildfires from deliberate to controllable, their behaviour fromunknown to predictable and their effects from disastrous toaffordable or even acceptable.In order to control wildfire effects and reduce losses throughmanagement techniques, fire managers must implement preventivetreatments at the planning stage and employ appropriate controlstrategies during the fire. The evaluation of the effectivenessof different management measures, under different geographicconditions, requires a thorough understanding of theenvironmental (weather conditions, topographic relations,vegetation coverage) and human (preventive and suppressive)factors as well as their interactions. To accomplish suchmanagement tasks we have to know the cause of fire effects andthe relevant management issues, too. International knowledgeacquisition in the above issues will be realised from top expertresearch organisations in frame of the PROMETHEUS project.Forest fire characteristics (fire intensity, residence time,energy release...) can be the link between presuppressionmeasures, suppression techniques and post fire management.PROMETHEUS aims to define the rules that dominate the influenceof interrelated fire management issues. Prevention ofcatastrophic effects and regulation of presuppression andsuppression measures according to the level of acceptance ofwildfire impact shall be the research baseline of the project.For the implementation of PROMETHEUS experimental plots will beestablished in Greece and Italy for monitoring wildfire impact tothe soil , vegetation and forest ecology. Impact of fire to thesoil will be studied by setting experimental fires in Italy andcollecting data from past wildfires in Greece. Field andlaboratory work will be combined for the comprehension of postfire natural regeneration and definition of the parametersaffecting the resilience of Mediterranean pine forests.Knowledge accumulated during the project will be collected andformalised using induction methods. The project aims toimplement a Knowledge Based System (KBS) for supporting firemanagement decisions according to expected effects of the fire,using GIS interface and expert systems technology. Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligenceexpert systemsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems Programme(s) FP3-ENV 1C - Specific research and technological development programme (EEC) in the field of the environment, 1990-1994 Topic(s) 040103 - Wildfires Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator ALGOSYSTEMS SA EU contribution No data Address 4,Sygrou Avenue 206 17672 ATHENS Greece See on map Total cost No data Participants (6) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Associaçao para o Desenvolvimento da Aerodinâmica Industrial Portugal EU contribution No data Address 12,Caminho da Malavada 12 3030 Coimbra See on map Total cost No data ENTENTE INTERDÉPARTEMENTALE EN VUE DE LA PROTECTION DE LA FORÊT CONTRE L'INCENDIE France EU contribution No data Address Domaine de Valabre 13120 GARDANNE See on map Total cost No data NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS Greece EU contribution No data Address Panepistimiopolis 15784 ATHENS See on map Total cost No data NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF ITALY Italy EU contribution No data Address Via Corridoni 78 56127 PISA See on map Total cost No data National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Greece EU contribution No data Address Panepistimioupolis 15784 Athens See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF TORINO Italy EU contribution No data Address Via Leonardo da Vinci 44 10095 GRUGLIASCO See on map Total cost No data