A Fire Danger Index for the early detection of areas vulnerable to wildfires in the Eastern Mediterranean region

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(2020) 5:32

TOPICAL COLLECTION

A Fire Danger Index for the early detection of areas vulnerable to wildfires in the Eastern Mediterranean region Panteleimon Xofis1   · Georgios Tsiourlis2 · Pavlos Konstantinidis2 Received: 13 January 2020 / Accepted: 3 June 2020 © The Author(s) 2020

Abstract Wildfires continue to be a major factor of disturbance to Mediterranean ecosystems, and are often associated with significant losses of properties and human lives. Fast fire detection and suppression within the first few minutes after ignition are crucial to successfully managing wildfires and preventing their potentially catastrophic consequences. In this study, remote-sensing methods and data were integrated wih fire behavior simulation and field data to develop a Fire Danger Index (FDI) that can be used to detect the areas most vulnerable to wildfires. This FDI will be integrated into an automatic fire detection system that utilizes optical and thermal land cameras and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The FDI was calculated for a nature reserve in Southern Greece based on fire behavior, pyric history, and anthropogenic influence. Fire behavior was estimated using the FlamMap fire simulation model, while the fuel types to include in the model were determined using state-of-the-art remote-sensing methods and field data. The pyric history was represented by point data on fire occurrences over a period of 40 years. The anthropogenic influence was estimated based on an inverse relationship of this influence with the Euclidean distance from roads and settlements. The calculated FDI demonstrated that a large part of the reserve, including its most ecologically important ecosystems, is highly vulnerable to wildfires. Integrating the FDI into the automatic fire detection system is expected to significantly improve its detection accuracy. Keywords  Forest fires · Fire Danger Index · Remote sensing · Fire detection

Introduction Fire is an important ecological factor that has affected the structure and distribution of numerous plant communities across the globe. Prior to human activities, the main ignition sources were lightning, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Fire has since become a very important human tool that has been widely used and misused to improve living conditions (Naveh 1990). Both the frequency and intensity of fires have increased dramatically under the influence of anthropogenic Communicated by Dimitra Vagiona, Lead Guest Editor. * Panteleimon Xofis [email protected] 1



Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, International Hellenic University, 1st km Drama‑Mikrohori, 66100 Drama, Greece



ELGO‑DEMETER, Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Demeter” (formerly the National Agricultural Research Foundation, NAGREF), Forest Research Institute, 57006, Vassilika, Thessaloniki, Greece

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activities, resulting in major impacts on natural ecosystems and Mediterranean flora. This change in fire characteristics has shifted the equilibrium between fire and ecosystem function, transforming fire from a natural ecologica