Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)
BRGM is France’s leading public institution in the Earth Science field for the sustainable management of natural resources (including mineral resources) and surface and subsurface risks. The various roles of BRGM can be described as follows: technological research and development and innovation; support for public policies and citizen information; international cooperation and development aid; safety and monitoring of former mining sites.
The Mineral Resources Division (coordinator of the project) activity covers the whole spectrum of the management of mineral resources, from fundamental research (e.g. ore forming processes, metallogenic syntheses, predictive mapping, etc.), including exploration, expertise, development of geological and mining infrastructures, management of after mine problems, to raw material economy.
The Environmental and Process Division will be involved in the project too. For a better management of water, polluted sites and soils, and waste, this division draws up methodological guides and technical standards, develops decision-aid tools, develops "clean technologies" for treating soil, water and waste, and offers professional training to those responsible for managing polluted sites in France.
Status:
Public institution with industrial and commercial interests (EPIC). Under the joint supervision of the ministries responsible for Research, for Industry and for Environment. Staff: 1008 (more than 75 specialities), 2007 turnover: €112.60 million
Role in the project:
BRGM will be the coordinator of the project. It will actively participate in WP3 and WP4. It will in particular provide expertise in Remote Sensing and GIS-based integrated approach of environmental assessment. It will develop tools for modeling the evolution over time of the interaction between social and environmental dynamics over a given mining area. BRGM will also be research partner in WP1 and WP5
Relevant Experience:
BRGM is coordinating six FP7 projects and participant in eight. It coordinates in particular the GEOSS dedicated projects AEGOS and EUROGEOSS. It coordinated fourteen FP6 projects (including BioMinE, BIOSHALE and EO-LANDEG) and participated in twenty seven FP6 projects (including HOLIWAST). The coordinator was the Coordinator of the FP5 MINEO project (Monitoring and assessing the environmental Impact of mining in Europe using advanced Earth Observation Techniques) and of the FP6 EO-LANDEG
(Earth Observation initiative in a former homeland of South Africa in support of EU activities in land degradation and integrated catchment management) Specific Support Action.
Key persons involved:
Mr. Stéphane Cheverel
Stéphane Cheverel Diploma of engineer in Mineral Resources and Industrial Minerals, University of Orleans, France. Post-graduate certificate in Analysis and Management of Geological Risks, University of Geneva, Switzerland. 26 years of experience in remote sensing applied to Earth Sciences, with particular focus on land use planning and development of applications of remote sensing and geographic information systems to environmental impacts of mining activities, mostly in South Africa and Europe. Coordinated the EU FP5 project MINEO (Assessing an Monitoring the Environmental Impact of Mining in Europe using advanced Earth Observation Techniques, contract IST-1999-10337) and the FP6 Specific Support Action EO-LANDEG (Earth Observation Initiative in former homeland of South Africa in support to EU activities on land degradation and integrated catchment management). Currently active in several projects using hyperspectral techniques in Czech Republic (application of spectroradiometry to the environmental impact of the Sokolov lignite mine), Jordan (mineral prospecting), New Caledonia (regolith mapping). Member of the under construction national “hyperspectral group” initiated by the French Space Agency (CNES).
Ms. Anne Bourguignon
Anne Bourguignon is a geochemist with 12 years of experience in remote sensing with particular focus on land use and environmental concerns. She worked in methodological developments in processing of hyperspectral imagery (EU FP5 project MINEO) and in the application of very high resolution remote sensing tools (BRGM RTD project in S. Africa). She coordinated a multidisciplinary project of the NATO Science for Peace Programme (2001-2004). A. Bourguignon obtained a PhD in 1988 from the University of Lyon I (France). She is currently working on application of spectroradiometry to the environmental impact of the Sokolov lignite mine (Czech Republic). She is also involved in the BioCrust project, funded by ANR (VMCS 2008), and works on measurements of the spectral responses of biological soil crusts and use of remote sensing in order to understand how BSCs will respond to global changes and human pressures in the Sahelian context.
Mrs Claudie Carnec
After receiving an M.Sc. in fundamental physics, Claudie Carnec specialised in radar remote sensing. She received the doctoral degree in physics from University of Paris VII with a thesis on differential radar interferometry. Her main research interest concerns image processing applied to synthetic aperture radar, and particularly the derivation of surface movement information through interferometry.
She is now Research and Development project leader on radar and interferometry applications. Principal investigator of pilot projects from ESA and NASA, Mrs Carnec participates in radar applications in Natural Risks problematic with industrial partnerships and international research collaborations. Member of the scientific committees CNES/ TOSCA (Terre - Océan - Surfaces Continentales - Atmosphère) and CNES/ORFEO, she is also evaluator of ERS Announcement of Opportunity for the European Space Agency. Since 2005, she spent part of her time between BRGM where she is in charge of research and development of geophysical and remote sensing projects, and French ministry of Research as the French representative
of GMES European program.
Mr. Fenintsoa Andriamasinoro
Mr. Fenintsoa Andriamasinoro is currently a research scientist at the French Geological Survey (BRGM). His general research interests are in agent-based systems modeling and simulation, applied to mineral resources management, and at a territory scale. His first application in BRGM was on developing models to understand and to prospect the social and economical impact of artisanal mining activities to population in Madagascar and Burkina Faso.
Currently, he is developing a computer framework called [email protected] (Integrated System applied to Territory and Environment Management) to better simulate such a system by allowing the user to monitor the dynamic of the spatial evolution of the modeled application. The first application of [email protected] is the analysis of the aggregate resources flow situation in Seine- Normandie region (France): the current and the future trend of that situation within the next 20 years.
Mr. Fenintsoa Andriamasinoro holds a Ph-D in Computer Science (2003) from the Applied Mathematics and Computer Science Research Institute (IREMIA) of the University of Reunion Island, a MS-degree in Computer Sciences (1999) and a Master Degree in Computer- Engineering (1998) from the National Computer School of Madagascar.
Dr François Blanchard
Dr François Blanchard has over 28 years experience in Environment and associated fields (energy, chemistry, hydrogeology, etc.). He has worked, in the BRGM group as a consultant on agriculture, industrial and mining projects, and he specialises in EIA, environmental audits, environmental protection and management of water resources. He has been responsible for environmental studies in Europe, Africa, Middle East, South America and Asia for both the public and private sectors including a broad spectrum of multilateral development Agencies.
François spent five years in the Normandy industrial and mining Group, holding the position of Manager Environment and Community for the Europe and Africa time zone, working on all the environmental aspects of new mining projects and existing plants and mines, and he implemented the Environmental Management System in all the mines of the Group. Since 2002 he is back in BRGM and he is now the head of the polluted sites and soils Unit with management of a team in charge of developing the French methodology regarding polluted sites and soils, training of the administration, expertise on mining and post mining studies in France and overseas.
Frédérique Mojon Lumier
Frédérique Mojon Lumier BA Hons in Applied Languages Studies (London). Over 15 years experience as Translator and Personal Assistant in French Headquarters of multi-national companies, in an NGO and national companies. For the past 3 years, has worked as a project assistant in charge of the administrative and financial reporting for several EU FP6 and FP7 projects (BIOMINE, Bioshale, Footprint, AEGOS), all coordinated by BRGM.
