GIS-based modelling to identify regions of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia affected by residues of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident

Within the framework of the EC-financed RESTORE project (EC DGXII Nuclear Fission Safety Programme), a GIS-based Environmental Decision Support System (EDSS) will be developed to help local authorities identify vulnerable collective units (e.g. settlements, collective farms) having population groups with critical radiocaesium doses. The EDSS will include methods for modelling the spatial and temporal variation of radiocaesium in alluvial and peaty soils through flooding, radiocaesium transfer from different soil types to food products, and the collection and intake of food products by the human population. The spatial models will be written in PCRaster, a raster GIS and dynamic modelling toolkit that includes geostatistical analysis, conditional simulation, and topological modelling. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.