GfK GeoMarketing is releasing the updated and expanded  worldwide digital CRESTA map edition for reinsurance companies. 

This new map edition reflects the significant zone changes and expansions implemented by the CRESTA organization in recent years. GfK GeoMarketing has been the official supplier of the digital CRESTA maps since 2001.

The CRESTA Map Edition illustrates the worldwide natural disaster risk zones as determined by the Catastrophe Risk Evaluation and Standardizing Target Accumulations Organization (CRESTA). The reinsurance companies Münchener Rück and Swiss Re determined the boundaries of the worldwide 2009 CRESTA Zones on the basis of maps supplied by GfK GeoMarketing.

The CRESTA maps aggregate country-specific regions into unified and detailed CRESTA Zones illustrating areas of increased natural disaster risk. The CRESTA maps are regarded as the industry standard by international insurance and reinsurance companies.

The CRESTA Map Edition depicts the zones and subzones for all continents, all of which are labeled with their official numeric identifiers. The maps are constructed on the basis of geographic coordinates (WGS 84) and feature consistent layers that fit seamlessly with those of neighboring countries.

CRESTA increasingly relies on GfK GeoMarketing's detailed worldwide postcode and municipality boundary maps for the definition of its natural disaster zones. As a result, the boundaries of the zones have undergone significant changes and refinements in recent years. One new addition to the CRESTA Map Edition 2009 is the very detailed CRESTA Zones map depicting more than 21,600 zones (compared to only 5,316 in the 2006 edition).

New and more detailed CRESTA Zones have been created on the basis of GfK GeoMarketing's detailed municipality and postcode maps. Countries particularly affected include: Australia and New Zealand (2,635 and 1,052 zones respectively), China (2,472 zones), Japan (1,957 zones), Greece (1,188 zones), Italy (4,818 zones) and Mexico (2,425 zones).

"The CRESTA Map Edition 2009 is a response to the significant demand for precise and reliable maps and data sources by reinsurance companies," explains Doris Steffen, coordinator for GfK GeoMarketing's map projects. "In these times of increased climate change, the need is growing for a precise cartographic basis that can be used to determine areas prone to natural disasters and their associated damages. Our maps thus give reinsurance companies a firm foundation for drawing up their insurance policies."

Applications
Digital maps serve as the foundation for the geographic analysis of data and are used in conjunction with mapping software applications. The branch-specific CRESTA maps support reinsurance companies in the detailed analysis and identification of regions with elevated risks of damages resulting from natural disasters such as storms, floods and earthquakes.

GfK GeoMarketing offers digital maps illustrating postcodes and administrative regions such as municipalities for more than 240 countries worldwide. GfK GeoMarketing's regularly updated and expanded maps comprise the world's largest collection of digital administrative and postcode maps.

In producing its maps, GfK GeoMarketing places the highest value on boundary-crossing precision, gapless coverage and cartographic quality. GfK GeoMarketing's worldwide maps support internationally active companies in their expansion planning and worldwide sales activities, such as controlling.

Data formats
GfK GeoMarketing's digital maps are available in the following data formats: *.lay (RegioGraph - GfK GeoMarketing's mapping software solution), *.tab/*.mid/*.mif (MapInfo Professional), *.shp (ESRI ArcGIS) and *.gdb (GeoDatabase). The vector-based maps allow for infinite zoom. Many of the country editions obtained in the RegioGraph data format include additional Tele Atlas street maps. This additional data means that natural boundaries such as rivers and mountains can be taken into account when planning sales or service territories with RegioGraph. The data also make it possible to calculate drive-time zones around specific locations.

More information can be found at www.gfk-geomarketing.com/maps.