May this Christmas be a family and peaceful time that will make way for a fresh and bright New Year. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

From 8th to 12th of October Crisis Information Center (CIK) team from the Space Research Center of PAS participated in the exercise of emergency services and crisis management services "Skansen Sanok 2018". The main theme of the event was the improvement of cooperation between the entities of the National Fire and Rescue System and other services and institutions in the area of operational activities related to the response to threats occurring in museum and historic objects. CIK carried out the tasks of the Mobile Center for Analyzing and Preparing Satellite Data (MCS).

Every summer a wave of wildfires strikes Europe, destroying hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest, causing tragic losses of life as the fires spread into populated areas and significant economic setbacks for the most affected regions. While Southern Europe suffers the most with these disasters, other parts of Europe cannot take their safety for granted, as the enormous forest fires that hit northern Sweden in the summer of 2018 demonstrate.

Intensive rainfall in the period of 18-19 July 2018 contributed to water level rising and local flooding in the southern Małopolska region. Indirect effects of precipitation can be observed on Sentinel-2 satellite images.

On 3-4 September 2018, the Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw will host the third edition of the event "Innovation for Crisis Management" (I4CM).

On May 28-29, 2018, the CIK SRC PAS team participated in the exercise of the emergency services and crisis management entities under the code name "Przeworsk Station" organized by the Department of Security and Crisis Management of the Podkarpackie Voivodship Office in Rzeszów. The purpose of the exercises was to improve the organization of activities during the liquidation of the consequences of mass communication disaster.

In today's entry from the "Geoinformation Guide" series, we present the Copernicus Open Access Hub browser designed to download free and open satellite images from the Sentinel mission.

Today's publication of the “Geoinformation Guide” will introduce us to the secrets of satellite imagery. We will learn how to open satellite images and create color compositions. We will also learn what information is hidden in the filenames of satellite imagery.

February and March were characterized by large fluctuations in air temperature ranging from -13 °C to 10 °C. Alternating warming and cooling contributed to the long-term persistence of ice cover in water basins, which can be observed on Sentinel-2 satellite images.

On April 24-27, in the Main School of Fire Service in Warsaw, a general rehearsal of the forthcoming first Trial of the DRIVER + Project took place.

On 4 - 6 April in the Main School of Fire Service in Warsaw the integration of selected solutions for participation in the first Trial of the DRIVER + Project took place.

On 26 February - 02 March 2018, a working meeting of the DRIVER + project partners took place at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Józefów.

In October 2017, a new project under the Operational Program of Digital Poland – "Operating system for the sharing and promotion of digital satellite information about the environment - Sat4Envi" – was launched.

CIK, Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences wishes you all - Merry Christmas, peaceful time with your relatives and fulfillment of your most secret dreams in the upcoming New Year!