The FORFAIT project sets out to develop a Decision Support System (DSS) in order
to assist planners, regulators and industries in optimising the forest fire
risks management. This system consists of three different kinds of applications:

• planning of fire prevention actions;

• coordination of personnel training
activities;

• simulation of critical stages.

FORFAIT is based on the integration of various information sources, such as
satellite downlink, meteorological data, state-of-the-art predictive models, or
involved professionals expertise and knowledge. Any decision process will be
aided by a support system based on fuzzy logic to suggest the most appropriate
course of action; also a probabilistic framework, which will take account of
uncertainty in the parameters, will help.

Project goals:

• To help protection of national resources as well as improvements in safety in
case of forest fires.

• To integrate both established and new technologies, including electronic data
gathering, in order to design and build a Decision Support System to be used
as a tool in planning, educational, regulatory and business contexts.

The project lifetime, which spans a period of 30 months, consists of four key
phases:

• Specification: Production of software development specifications, software and
hardware requirements, and functional elements of FORFAIT design.

• Implementation: Implementation of a pilot version via website, with feedback
from interested groups.

• Application: Application of FORFAIT to real world trial sites followed by a
peer review.

• Dissemination: Dissemination and exploitation of system.

FORFAIT project has been developed under the CEC IST programme, involving six
European companies, including Planetek Italia, and bringing together partners
with specialist skills in areas such as:

• Risk Management and Assessment;

• Logic Programming (Fuzzy logic);

• Earth Observation and Satellite Image Processing;

• Fire Propagation Modelling;

• Geographical Information Systems;

• Forest Fire Expertise and Knowledge.

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