The Global Resource Information Database (GRID) is a worldwide network of 15 environmental data centres managed by the Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Based in Geneva’s International Environment House, GRID-Europe has a scientific and administrative partnership with University of Geneva (UNIGE).
GRID-Europe specialised in handling and analysing spatial and statistical data on environmental and natural resource issues through computerised Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remotely-sensed imagery. Over the years, GRID-Europe has compiled an archive of global and European geospatial and tabular databases, and makes them accessible to the global community through Internet-based applications.
Grid-Europe has expertise in Geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and modelling to provide: better insights to decision-makers, sustainable use of natural resources, analysis of emerging environmental problems and threats. Recent applications in this domain include:
- Lake Balaton Integrated Vulnerability Assessment, Early Warning and Adaptation Strategies project1.
- IMOS: Evolution of the Mesopotamian marshlands ecosystem.
The group specialised also in the integration, dissemination and communication of geographic information visually on the World Wide. GRID-Europe is responsible for the complete design, data gathering and formatting, and on-line interface of several data portals and map servers such as:
- FP6 METAFUNCTIONS project, is pooling expertise in bioinformatics, computer science, geographical information systems and marine sciences to develop a data-mining system that correlates genetic patterns in genomes with contextual environmental data.
- The GEO Data Portal, the authoritative source for data sets used by UNEP and its partners in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) report.
- FP7 ACQWA project data warehouse and spatial direct interface.