The DORIS consortium presented its project's final results at a meeting in the REA headquarters today. It has developed a mapping system offering unprecedented capabilities for detecting and monitoring ground deformations to, among other things, avoid mine accidents, forecast movements of glaciers, or alert emergency services in case of life-threatening landslides.
During the meeting the partners involved in the project presented DORIS's technical achievements.
The DORIS research team
"The results were twofold. We obtained maps which illustrate almost 20 year-long slope processes in 11 sites in Europe. It improved our understanding of landslide phenomena, and opened new doors for research into climate change. Also, by using high-resolution satellites for monitoring land sloping in urban areas, we can now better predict slope failures to minimize losses," commented Fausto Guzzetti from the National Research Council (Italy), the project's coordinator.
The participants received feedback from the DORIS system's operational users, such as scientists, civil protection authorities, environmental agencies, and mining and transportation companies. DORIS was, for example, used by the Italian National Civil Protection Department to address landslide emergencies in southern Italy, and helped to reduce the damage.
The project received almost € 3.4 million in EU funds. During its life time, the partners conducted field tests in eight locations in Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain and Switzerland, where they studied various ground deformations caused by mining, high levels of precipitation, river and ground water, and steep slopes.