Projecte SIGMA: el sistema d'informació mediambiental d'Andorra

(ENG) Andorra is a country of considerable physical complexity and has suffered in a relatively short space of time a sharp population increase with the consequent repercussions and pressures on the natural environment. The need to publicize the biological fact of the country has become one of the main priorities of the Biodiversity Centre in the Andorran Research Institute (Centre de Biodiversitat de l'Institut d'Estudis Andorrans). As a result, a way in which to assure an in-depth and technically sound understanding of the environmental reality of the country has been explored through cartography. The result of this research is a work method that fits in to the multidiscipline philosophy of the Andorran Research Centre and has the clear aim of presenting, from different points of view or themes, the reality of Andorra. The aim of carrying out this idea has led to the creation of a project called SIGMA. This name evokes one of the letters of the Greek alphabet and in this case stands for "Sistema d'Informació Geogràfica Mediambiental d'Andorra" (Environmental and Geographical Information System of Andorra). The SIGMA method has been created and designed by the Biodiversity Centre and has economic support from UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). On the technical side, support will be provided by the Ecological and Forestry Research Centre in the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF) de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). The supporting pillar of this project is the compilation, format standardization and the subsequent restoration of environmental data and cartographic bases at present dispersed amongst Andorra's various institutions, entities and companies. The maps will then be processed and transformed into a MiraMon GIS format (Geographical Information System), which will allow us to consult supporting computerized information and to situate the work as it is being carried out. Under the general concept of environment, the SIGMA project will present a ramified structure according to the map themes. Some of the main branches would be: basic cartography, physical environment, flora and fauna, land organization, hydrography, climatology, contamination, population etc.