News for Aratos Disaster Control

1st of May 2011:Initiation of fire season in Greece, Aratos Technologies S.A. again in the forefront

       The fire season has started for another year in Greece. Aratos Technologies S.A. monitors the entire greek terrain by using satellite data and images since 2007. And this year, we are going to send sms and e-mails to the responsible authorities for any fire incident may take place in Greece. Aratos Technologies S.A. has developed a unique system for disaster management, Aratos Disaster Control. It has shown that it can be a very useful tool for detecting wildfires by using real time satellite data.


25th of November 2010:Aratos Disaster Control European Portal is ready for use

       Aratos Technologies S.A. has finished the implementation of a new version of Aratos Disaster Control, the Integrated Disaster Management System,for the region of Europe. The European Portal of Aratos Disaster Control will offer unique satellite images of all European Countries, data of detected fires, earthquakes, landslides, thunderstorms, floods etc and various other data (such as european road network, elevation data, land use/cover, rivers and lakes, vegetation management). Aratos Disaster Control European Portal is ready for use. In order to use it please fill the Application Form.


18th of October 2010:Aratos Disaster Control European Portal will be released at 1st of November 2010

       Aratos Technologies S.A. has started the implementation of a new version of Aratos Disaster Control, the Integrated Disaster Management System,for the region of Europe. The European Portal of Aratos Disaster Control will offer unique satellite images of all European Countries, data of detected fires, earthquakes, landslides, thunderstorms, floods etc and various other data (such as european road network, elevation data, land use/cover, rivers and lakes, vegetation management). Aratos Disaster Control European Portal will be released to the public at 1st of November 2010.

18th of August 2010:Fires hit Greece for another summer

       For another summer continuous fires occur in Greece, causing catastrophic damage to agricultural, forest and residential areas. Some examples are the fires at Samos, Kithira and East Attica. In such cases, the earlier the fire is detected, the better it is. The Crisis Management System developed by Aratos Technologies S.A., Aratos Disaster Control, detected the majority of the fires which occurred this summer in Greece and sent early warnings. Moreover, our company continues to send "Rapid Damage Assessment" for every detected fire, free of charge, in sympathy with the fire-stricken areas.

19th of July 2010:Aratos Technologies S.A. suuports municipalities against fires

       Aratos Technologies S.A. continues to support the greek municipalities against fires, as it did last year. Aratos Disaster Control continues to detect possible fires and send warnings in order to great disasters be avoided. Moreover, Rapid Damage Assessment for each fire is sent, for free, with valuable information for the burnt area. An example is depicted in the next image:

16th of July 2010:Update of Earthquakes' layer at Aratos Disaster Control.

       Aratos Technologies S.A. updates continuously its product for Civil Protection, Aratos Disaster Control. Our last update regards the layer of "earthquakes". With this update, the users of Aratos Disaster Control, are reliably and immediately informed about the seismic activity of the area of their interest.

28th of June 2010:Installation of Aratos Disaster Control in the prefecture of Arcadia.

       Today, at 28th of June 2010, Aratos Technologies S.A. signed the contract with the Prefecture of Arcadia for the acquisition of Aratos Disaster Control. Moreover, the installation of the system was accomplished successfully.

3rd of May 2010:First fire for 2010 in Greece, 3 days after the beginning of the Forest Fire Period.

       Forest Fire Period has just began(1st of May until 31st of October) and the first fire occurs in Greece. The fire took place in a forest area near town Athikia, of the Prefecture of Korinthia. The area is one of the most beautiful areas of Greece, with dense forests and is one of the few that were spared by the fires of recent years. Aratos Disaster Control detected the fire, exactly the time it occured and sent sms and e-mails with the appropriate information. Example of an sms follows:

Aratos Technologies S.A.
www.aratos.net
Detected Fires
Lat:37.842 Lon:22.927 Date:2010/05/03 Time:13:15 Nearest Town:Athikia

Image of the system:
      

19th of April 2010:European Union helps fight forest fires in Italy and France

       As forest fires rage across much of southern Europe, Italy and France have requested assistance through the European Civil Protection Mechanism to fight fires in Corsica and Sardinia. The European reserve of fire fighting aircraft has been used in Corsica and is currently in use in Sardinia to help national forces tackle the fires. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "The European reserve of forest fire fighting aircraft, which we established with the support of the European Parliament, is a great example of European added value in responding to natural disasters like forest fires. It is important to make sure we have the right tools at our disposal to react to any type of emergency situation. Solidarity among Member States remains at the heart of our cooperation in disasters." Forest fires are raging in many areas of Southern Europe. Spain, Italy, France and Greece are all affected. At least seven lives have been lost and thousands of hectares have been burnt. The hot and dry weather conditions combined with high winds are hampering efforts to control the fires in Italy, Spain, Greece and France. In response to the requests for assistance from France and Italy, the European reserve of fire-fighting planes, consisting of two planes, has been used in Corsica and Sardinia to reinforce national means stretched by the ferocity of the fires. Established only this summer as a pilot project, the reserve capacity is designed to strengthen Europe's response to major forest fires.
European Forest Fire Tactical Reserve
In 2008, the European Parliament earmarked 3.5 million euro for a pilot project to step up cooperation between Member States on combating forest fires. As a result of the pilot project, two Canadair CL-215 fire-fighting aircraft - the European Forest Fire Tactical Reserve - are available this summer (from 1 July - 30 September) to assist Member States facing major forest fires, if and when other Member States are unable to provide the required assistance. The pilot project is run by France and the two planes are stationed in Corsica. The pilot project is a test for new arrangements in European civil protection.
The Community Mechanism for Civil Protection
The Community Mechanism aims to facilitate reinforced cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions. It ensures the coordination of assistance intervention in order to provide prompt support and to assist a country (inside and outside the European Union) in need of help. The main objective is to provide the best possible response when a major emergency situation arises. Mechanism activities are coordinated by the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), which is run by the European Commission and located in DG Environment, Civil Protection Unit. 30 states participate in the Community Mechanism. Through the Mechanism, participating states make available their civil protection resources to disaster-stricken countries all over the world in a coordinated way. Since its creation, the Mechanism has been activated for a number of disasters both within and outside the EU, including the 2004 tsunami in South East Asia, Hurricane Katrina in the US in 2005 and the devastating forest fires in Greece and other European countries in 2007.       

8th of April 2010:Why Aratos Disaster Control is the best solution for Fire Management?

       Aratos Disaster Control is the best solution for Fire Management. This is because Aratos Disaster Control (ADC) has the following advantages:

  • In case of fire, the system offers total attendance while on addtional is independent of human intervention (vandalism, stealing etc.) and other indicental or consequential damage (burning, damaging camera/sensor etc.).
  • It has zero maintenance cost and does not require replacement of equipment or training and constant presence of staff (guards, maintenace)
  • The total cost ammounts to 1/5 of the cost for small regions and to 1/20 for bigger ones compared with alternatives (cameras, sensors etc.).
  • It provides the possibility of direct capture of fire accurately by using Geographic Information System (GIS) at crisis centers.
  • It acts at the stages of Prevention, Crisis and Assessment.
  • It does not require special education for the users or new specialized staff.
  • The system's architecture is open, allowing for operation and interoperability with other existing systems.
  • Updating with new services is done without additional charge and with user friendly way, even remotely, without the participation of the end user.
  • The cost of the protection, update and maintenance of the extremely complicated satellite receiving station and the procedures of treatment of the station affect our company and not the users.
      

26th of March 2010:Press release - March 2010

10th of Februaqry 2010: Aratos Technologies S.A. stands in the estimated risk of flooding in Bulgaria and Evros

       Aratos Technologies S.A. offers its sytem of Management Disasters, Aratos Disaster Control, free of charge for ten days at the regions of eastern Macedonia and Thrace in order to help them with the estimated risk of flooding in these areas. These areas are in danger of flooding due to river overflowing and snow melting. Aratos Disaster Control offers them monitoring of their areas.       

5th of Februaqry 2010: New English release of Aratos Disaster Control System

       You can now be informed in English with the new English release of Aratos Disaster Control System. Please visit our website       

31st of January 2010: Publication of Aratos Technologies SA in EO Magazine

       EO Magazine has published an article for Aratos Technologies S.A. and our products. EO Magazine is powered by EARSC(The European Association of Remote Companies). You can see the article here       

15th of January 2010: New Aratos Disaster Control v2.0 is here!!

       Aratos Technologies S.A. presents the new version of Aratos Disaster Control.The natural disaster management system of our company, updated, more streamlined, with improved speed of response and design which impresses. The new version of Aratos Disaster control becomes even more user-friendly, with more immediate information and new embedded applications based on your suggestions, that make the difference!       

10th of January 2010: Participation of Aratos Technologies S.A. in Seoca Project

       Aratos Technologies S.A. participates in an other project funded by the European Union, Seoca (GEO capability building initiative in Central Asia). This project aims to bring together the countries of Central Asia and to incorporate the respective organizations taking part in project activities of the GEO(Group on Earth Observation).       

29th of November 2010: A dynamic presence of Aratos Tecnologies S.A. at the Polis 2009 exhibition

       Aratos Technologies S.A. participated in Polis 2009 exhibition: the 7th International Exhibition of Local Authorities, public-social sectors and private companies, that took place in Thessaloniki 26 to 29 November. Aratos Technologies S.A. had the opportunity to inform Local Authorities immediately and validly for its systems       

27th of November 2010: Aratos Technologies S.A. member of EARSC

       Aratos Technologies S.A. became member of the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC).       

24th of November 2010:Aratos Technologies participates in Polis 2009

       Yesterday, 26th of November, just started Polis 2009 exhibition: the 7th International Exhibition of Local Authorities, public-social sectors and private companies, that takes place in Thessaloniki and it will be carried out until 29/11. Aratos Technologies with its participation, aspires and hopes to inform immediately and validly for the systems that concern the Local Authorities.       

Press Release 17/11/2009 :s Polis 2009

       Visit us at the kiosk 8 - stand 17 from 26 to 29 November 2009 in Polis 2009 exhibition. Aratos Technologies S.A. will participate in Polis 2009, the 7th International Exhibition of Local Authorities, public-social sectors and private companies, which takes place in the International Exhibition Center of Thessaloniki. The exhibition is about modern services and products which aim at a better quality of life of the citizens.       

1st of November 2010:Aratos Technologies S.A. reseller of Cartosat-2 for the region of Greece.

       Aratos Technologies S.A. is reseller of Cartosat-2 satellite images for the region of Greece thanks to its cooperation with Antrix Corporation Limited , the Indian Department of Space.       

30th of October 2010:Participation of Aratos Technoloiges S.A. in UN-SPIDER Workshop

       Aratos Technologies S.A. had participated in this year's UN-SPIDER Workshop which took place from 21 to 23 October and focused on the ways in which concepts could be implemented as projects and actual applications. Climate change and desertification received particular attention during the workshop seeing that they pose special challenges to the disaster management community. Some considerable weight was also placed on the use of space applications in the health sector.       

27th of October 2010:New commercial agreement for Aratos Technologies S.A.

       Aratos Technologies S.A. is now resellers in Greece of the Antrix Corporation Limited, the Indian Department of Space, and its satellite images.