Interbalkan Environment Center (i-BEC) was founded

in 2007 and serves as an international CLUSTER of

new technologies and innovation linking together

the public and private sectors for sustainable

management of natural resources and protection of

the environment

Monitoring capacities, science and service skills

i-BEC coordinates and supports Earth Observation related research

activities with the aim of continuously providing timely and accurate

information, forecasts and projections, thanks to ground-based

instruments, satellite imagery, telemetry, in-situ measurements, lab

analyses, UAVs, URVs and remote sensing

I-BEC’s operational actions include: Integration and management of environmental data

(telemetry, remote sensing and reference) in a shared infrastructure. Scaling applications both

geographically (e.g. new regional units, additional groups of producers, etc.) and

thematically (e.g. development of new crops, utilization of by-products and waste treatment).

Meeting requirements of locally focused needs of public and private sectors, (formation of

Clusters) that adhere to international standards (GEO)

i-BEC provides EO data and services in areas such as Management of Raw Data concerning

pollution control from human activities and environmental protection of coastal and rural

areas, Early Warning Systems for Critical Incidents and Dangerous Phenomena and Early

Warning and Decision Support Systems for water supply and irrigation management practices,

as well as Site-Specific Farm Management in the context of Precision agriculture

i-BEC also provides ground-truth validation campaigns for EO data

Participating organization of GEO and is a member of GEOs’ High Level

Working Group (HLWG)

Is the only organization in the Balkans that is a Full Member of Eurisy

Associate Member of the Network of European Regions Using Space

Technologies (NEREUS)

Member of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) of FAO

Organizes a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) called

«INEU-Innovative Europe»

Member of the Hellenic Space Technologies and Applications Cluster (si-

Cluster-Corallia)

Member of the Center for Security Studies (ΚΕΜΕΑ)

Works with the «Watershed Research Institute» in the United States,

Develops actions with other countries of the Black-Sea Region, Europe and

the United States in co-funded projects

Establishing in collaboration with Tel Aviv University, soil image

Spectroscopy Libraries

Constitutes a focal point of Monitoring forest fire for Balkan countries

(UNISDR) and a member of the GOFC/GOLD Fire Monitoring and Mapping

Team

International - National Initiatives and Networks

Important Collaborations in the field of Space Technology

Since May 2014 the i-BEC Greece has been a member of the Space Technology and Applications Cluster (si-

Cluster). si-Cluster is a growing, led by the industrial and innovative Greek cluster, with great potential, able to

compete with rapidly growing technology and space applications worldwide. It consists of 20 industrial members,

including large companies and SMEs, academic institutions and research centers. The industrial base is rapidly

expanding, and collaboration with all stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem, including universities, research

institutes, European, regional and central intergovernmental applications and other stakeholders involved in this

demanding technology

On 16.04.2014, i-BEC and the Center for Security Studies (KEMEA) signed a memorandum of cooperation, which

agreed to collaborate on the creation of a national formation of entities operating in Science and Technology

development in the field of Homeland Security

i-BEC’s Activities and Priorities

Earth and Space Observation with ground-based instruments, satellite imagery, telemetry, in-situ

measurements, lab analyses, UAVs, URVs and remote sensing

Research Development and Information Technology. Interdisciplinary approach with

contributions from Greek and International academic and research communities to solve

complex problems requiring environmental monitoring and management

Collection and Management of field, lab and remote sensing data. Pioneering multilevel

monitoring system combining geo-referenced reliable data, in situ data, analytical data from its

Certified Chemical Lab, satellite remote sensing data, unmanned aerial and water robotic

vehicle data and telemetric data from the largest operational and reliable telemetric network in

Southern Europe

Development of digital online decision support systems and early warning systems

Development of operational models for managing natural resources

Earth Observation Infrastructure A modern constantly expanding Telemetric Network for the monitoring of environmental parameters and providing

ground truth validation campaign support. 150 Telemetry Energy Independent Stations with Multiparameter

Measuring Sensors and a Remote Telemetry Unit (RTU) for local storage and broadcasting the stations data to the i-

BEC Control Center via GPRS and UHF

A state of the art Meteorological station network of 50 meteorological, 74 telemetric /water quality, and 47 soil

profilers and a Remote Telemetry Unit (RTU) for local storage and broadcasting the stations data to the i-BEC

Control Center via GPRS and UHF

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Hexacopter and Helicopter) for environmental monitoring with combined capacity of

a Multispectral & Thermal Camera for crop and vegetation monitoring and a SPECIM's PFD-CL-65-V10E

hyperspectral push-broom type line scan camera with a spectral range of ~400nm-1000nm with 1312 active

spatial pixels & 768 spectral ones. The UAVs performs mapping tasks associated with quantitative and qualitative

characteristics of soil and water bodies, across all types of terrains

Unmanned Robotic Vehicles (2 Airboats) for environmental monitoring in coastal areas and inland water systems is

done by URVs deployment, ideal for hard to reach places where the reception data is difficult

Spectroradiometers for Geological and Environmental Remote Sensing. Three field portable spectroradiometers

PSR-3500 with a spectral range of 350-2500nm covers the whole UV/VIS/NIR spectrum. It is lightweight and

compact powered by rechargeable Li-ion batteries

Digital soil mapping in order to capture zones of different management needs is performed with the soil scanner

equipment (Veris-tech). Data achievement and mapping analysis is performed in real time during scanning of the

field, since Veris MSP3 is providing highly accurate results for Decision Support Systems

Yield Monitoring (Trimble) system provides an easy way to accurately view, map, and record crop yield and

moisture data in real-time as a modern day combine harvester operates

Fertilization Automation (Yara) with passive Nitrogen Sensor contains four spectroradiometers, mounted on the cab

of a tractor. Provides on-the-go nitrogen need measurements. Since N sensor is connected with Amazone ZA-M

spreader, spatially differentiated fertilization is applied

i-BEC’s EO data & services

i-BEC transfers Earth and Space Observation data to services, with ground-based instruments,

satellite imagery, telemetry, in-situ measurements, lab analyses, UAVs, URVs and remote

sensing

Management of raw data concerning the pollution control from human activities and the environmental

protection of coastal and rural areas.

Field Team: Data collection, monitoring, equipment installation & maintenance (for validation)

Unmanned Robotic Vehicles Moni tor ing by Unmanned aer ial Vehicle UAV

Monitoring of water bodies by remotely operated vehicles ROVs (airboats)

Telemetric Data and Spectroradiometers:

Creation of Spectral libraries: For specific features of interest and surface reflection validatio

Early Warning System for Critical Incidents and Dangerous Phenomena

Remote Sensing and GIS

Fire Risk Index Greece: This index is estimated from satellite images and meteorological data. It is

produced on a daily basis for the whole country during May-October and is made available via the

internet. The end product is used by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection to issue alerts for fire

danger

Burned area mapping: Post fire evaluation using automated DSS with object and pixel oriented

classification.

Soil erosion risk assessment: Soil erosion factors were modeled using rainfall data from

meteorological stations, soil texture, vegetation cover from MODIS satellite images, and a digital

elevation model [RIVERALERT project]

Soil Mapping: Advanced soil classification mapping which leads to nutrient status using GIS tools.

Maps were produced by using advanced spatial interpolation techniques derived from digitized soil

samples

Early Warning and Decision Support System for water supply and irrigation

Water quality parameters in selected water bodies: Satellite images from sensors ΜΟDIS

(Terra/Aqua) and MERIS (ENVISAT) acquired in the visible and infrared wavelengths were used for

mapping surface water quality parameters of Thermaikos Gulf (chlorophyll-a, total suspended

matter, surface temperature) every 8 days

Mapping aquacultures: Several satellite images were evaluated for use in mapping pole and long-

line mussel farms in the Thermaikos Gulf. The results showed the location, extent and density of farms

in relation to the protected wetland

Land cover mapping and change detection: Satellite images with concurrent field surveys are

used to identify and map land cover, using various image classification methods. Comparison of

results for two years revealed changes in agricultural activities and other environmental pressures

and impacts on the ecosystems

Mapping marine and terrestrial habitats: Within this LIFE+ project, very high resolution satellite

images were enhanced, then used in tandem with echo-sounder scanning to map the location

and extents of marine habitats, focusing on Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows in Natura sites

Mapping coastal habitats: Various satellite images at high resolution were used to update the old

habitat maps, employing image classification, computer assisted photo-interpretation and other

digital image processing techniques for several coastal Greek wetlands. The results showed the

location of coastal habitats, their changes over time and were used to compute landscape metrics

Agricultural inputs spatiotemporal management & Expert systems for the evaluation and update of

good agricultural practices

Earth observation services for precision agriculture: Providing geospatial data for monitoring and

management of inputs on agricultural fields using satellite images, UAVs, soil scanner technology,

image spectroscopy, N-sensors and telemetric data for Mapping crop yield & soil variability,

Monitoring water use & irrigation requirements, Forecasting crop diseases, Mapping weed & insect

infestations

Interbalkan Environment Center 18 Loutron Str., P.C. 57200,

Lagadas, Greece Tel.& fax: +30 2394023485

e-mail: info@i-bec.org

www.i-bec.org