Data quality assessment of Copernicus Climate Change Service health domain data for the development of disaster risk reduction plans

Abstract

Bulgaria, located in the Balkans, is subject to a number of natural disasters including floods, earthquakes, landslides, forest fires, strong winds, droughts, heavy snowfall and extreme temperatures. In addition to natural disasters, the country is at risk for man-made events like industrial and nuclear accidents, transport accidents, and infectious diseases. Disaster planning and prevention is a complex process that requires multiple data sources. At the same time, spatial data are often not available on-line, so the country's GIS specialists may find existing spatial data to be a great challenge. This research analyses the application of the health sector data provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service to support the development, implementation and evaluation of disaster risk management plans in Bulgaria. The climate data visualizations provided by the service enable scientists and other stakeholders to view climate change data in a format that is simple to use, visually understandable, and usable for decision makers in government, business, and non-governmental organizations. Many of these visualizations are interdisciplinary and may be critical for gathering and applying information needed to develop disaster risk reduction plans.