FRIESA is a multidisciplinary project involving a meteorological/climatologic team from IPMA and a team from the Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA) specialist in the epidemiological research.
As human health is greatly vulnerable to climatic changes (World Health Organization, WHO), it becomes very important to know the potential risk associated with adverse meteorological conditions for human health.

In Portugal, available in summer months, a system for monitoring and surveillance of heat waves with potential impact on mortality is in place since 1999 – ÍCARO Project- developed by the Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) in partnership with Instituto de Meteorologia (presently Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera - IPMA). The results of this system are disseminated by the Department of Epidemiology at INSA to several participating entities including IPMA, and the entities with responsibility for intervention on the Health Portuguese population, namely the General Directorate of Health (Direção-Geral da Saúde - DGS) and the Serviço Nacional de Proteção Civil (SNPC).

However, mortality in Portugal, as in most countries of the Northern Hemisphere, is higher in the colder months of the year than in summer ones.
The main challenge of the Project is the implementation of a system similar to the ÍCARO system for monitoring and surveillance, estimating and analysing the risk analysis of cold waves with potential impact on mortality. Once implemented, the system will provide decision makers with the appropriate means of action in these hazard events associated with the effects of cold on the population.