Objectives

User perspective: In order to address and understand the needs of those involved, a detailed user needs assessment is be carried out by means of a literature survey and personal interviews, on form of a questionnaire. The contacts have been arranged through the project participants and EuroGeoSurveys Office and include European scale environmental authorities, as well as national and local agencies and mining companies. These are consulted to determine their exact needs in terms of environmental information systems related to mining areas.

Socio economic problems : With respect a first User Need Survey performed in 2000, a second survey is on going in 2001 .The socio-economic importance of mining and its effects on the environment is reviewed extensively by key participants. A report provides a synopsis of the environmental and socio-economic imapct of mining.

A review of the European regulatory framework enables the ultimate development of tools and methods useful in fulfilling these regulations.

Technical parameters: Finally, a "state of the art" review of existing tools, methods and models using GIS and remote sensing techniques in environmental impact and monitoring studies is performed. In this aspect, the economics of the possible contribution of Earth Observation data to the assessment of environmental problems will be a specific point of focus.

The results of the user needs analysis together with the legislation analysis will form the basis for the concept design of the data collection carried out over the test sites.