Determination of a hazard compensations based on land administration data

Abstract

During the summer period, fire hazards represent an especially real threat not only for vegetation and animals, but also for material resources and human lives. In the Republic of Croatia, the most affected areas are those in the coastal region, which are characterised by a very dry environment and strong winds that are conducive to the rapid spread of wildfire. Although the prevention of wildfire is an utmost imperative, many countries are still missing a good and reliable fire management system for both fire monitoring and prevention and post-disaster management. The aim of this paper is to show the utilisation of open source GIS, web-based technologies, and open data in the case of natural disasters, and to define the concept of advanced national system of compensation determination. Such a system could be utilised to identify land parcels for which compensations for damage and losses after fire devastation have to be determined and could be used by compensation agencies, insurance companies, or state administration. The island of Hvar, which has suffered from fire hazards, was used as a case study for a quick and relevant calculation of the compensation based on land administration data. Sentinel satellite images and official digital orthophoto maps (DOMs) of the affected area before and after the fire devastation were obtained and analysed together with the data on cadastral parcels and land owners. Research was conducted by using both sets of imagery data, showing that Sentinel satellite images are more than adequate for fulfilling the task of the determination of hazard compensation.