Belarus, Russia improving drought and wildfire forecasting methods

Belarusian and Russian hydrometeorologists are busy developing software tools to forecast droughts and wildfires, First Deputy Head of the Belarusian Hydrometeorological Center Maria Germenchuk said at the expert and media seminar, Sci-Tech and Industrial Integration: Union State Standards and Models, on 29 October, BelTA has learned.

“We are closely working with our Russian counterparts in the use of satellite information. We are considering the development of software tools for drought and wildfire forecasting,” Maria Germenchuk said.

In her words, Russia succeeds in remote sensing methods and satellite technologies. “Earlier we cooperated with Russia in testing satellite images, their decoding. Today we have expanded our cooperation designing new technologies together,” the specialist noted.

The Union State Committee for Hydrometeorology and Natural Pollution Monitoring had been set up before the Union State Treaty was signed. For the time of its operation the committee implemented three programs in hydrometeorology and environmental monitoring.

Minsk is hosting the expert and media seminar, Sci-Tech and Industrial Integration: Union State Standards and Models. Its participants discuss cooperation between scientists of Belarus and Russia in the implementation of the Union State sci-tech programs, cooperation between the hydrometeorological services of the two countries, the role of the university science in the sci-tech and industrial integration of the Union State.