Visibility Evaluation and Suitability Analysis of Fire Lookout Towers in Mediterranean Region, Southwest Anatolia/Türkiye
The effectiveness of fire towers in combating forest fires relies on their appropriate observation angles, enabling a swift and efficient response to fire incidents. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of 49 fire towers located within the Antalya Forestry Regional Directorate,...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Fire |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/8/305 |
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| author | Ufuk Cosgun Mücahit Coşkun Ferhat Toprak Damla Yıldız Sevda Coşkun Enes Taşoğlu Ahmet Öztürk |
| author_facet | Ufuk Cosgun Mücahit Coşkun Ferhat Toprak Damla Yıldız Sevda Coşkun Enes Taşoğlu Ahmet Öztürk |
| author_sort | Ufuk Cosgun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The effectiveness of fire towers in combating forest fires relies on their appropriate observation angles, enabling a swift and efficient response to fire incidents. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of 49 fire towers located within the Antalya Forestry Regional Directorate, situated in the Mediterranean basin—a region prone to frequent forest fires. The assessment encompasses the visibility of the entire study area, including forested regions, as well as the visibility of 2504 forest fires recorded by the towers between 2008 and 2021. Furthermore, the evaluation considers the objectives based on Forest Management Directorates and conducts a location suitability analysis for the six towers with the lowest visibility. We utilized the Viewshed Tool in the ArcGIS application and employed the Best–Worst approach. Two scenarios were devised, considering smoke height at 0 m or 100 m, to determine the visibility of fire lookout towers. In Scenario I, assuming a smoke height of 100 m, only three towers exhibited visibility above 70%. However, in Scenario II, assuming a smoke height of 0 m, no towers achieved visibility above 70%. Scenario I indicated that only two towers possessed a view of more than 70% of the forested region, while Scenario II suggested that no towers met this criterion. For the visibility of forest fires, Scenario I identified seven towers capable of observing more than 70%, whereas Scenario II indicated that no towers possessed such capability. In the tower suitability analysis, the visibility rates varied from 41.18% to 1016.67%. Based on the evaluation results, the current visibility capacities of the 49 fire towers proved insufficient for effective preventive measures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:57:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-42f8214a3ca24b80bfd9ca49f696a65c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-6255 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:57:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fire |
| spelling | doaj.art-42f8214a3ca24b80bfd9ca49f696a65c2023-11-19T01:03:24ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552023-08-016830510.3390/fire6080305Visibility Evaluation and Suitability Analysis of Fire Lookout Towers in Mediterranean Region, Southwest Anatolia/TürkiyeUfuk Cosgun0Mücahit Coşkun1Ferhat Toprak2Damla Yıldız3Sevda Coşkun4Enes Taşoğlu5Ahmet Öztürk6Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, Balıklarkayasi Mevkii, Karabük University, Karabük 78050, TürkiyeGeography Department, Faculty of Letters, Demir Celik Campus, Karabük University, Karabük 78050, TürkiyeGeography Department, Faculty of Letters, Demir Celik Campus, Karabük University, Karabük 78050, TürkiyeForest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, Balıklarkayasi Mevkii, Karabük University, Karabük 78050, TürkiyeGeography Department, Faculty of Letters, Demir Celik Campus, Karabük University, Karabük 78050, TürkiyeGeography Department, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Central Campus, Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University, Nigde 51240, TürkiyeGeography Department, Faculty of Letters, Demir Celik Campus, Karabük University, Karabük 78050, TürkiyeThe effectiveness of fire towers in combating forest fires relies on their appropriate observation angles, enabling a swift and efficient response to fire incidents. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of 49 fire towers located within the Antalya Forestry Regional Directorate, situated in the Mediterranean basin—a region prone to frequent forest fires. The assessment encompasses the visibility of the entire study area, including forested regions, as well as the visibility of 2504 forest fires recorded by the towers between 2008 and 2021. Furthermore, the evaluation considers the objectives based on Forest Management Directorates and conducts a location suitability analysis for the six towers with the lowest visibility. We utilized the Viewshed Tool in the ArcGIS application and employed the Best–Worst approach. Two scenarios were devised, considering smoke height at 0 m or 100 m, to determine the visibility of fire lookout towers. In Scenario I, assuming a smoke height of 100 m, only three towers exhibited visibility above 70%. However, in Scenario II, assuming a smoke height of 0 m, no towers achieved visibility above 70%. Scenario I indicated that only two towers possessed a view of more than 70% of the forested region, while Scenario II suggested that no towers met this criterion. For the visibility of forest fires, Scenario I identified seven towers capable of observing more than 70%, whereas Scenario II indicated that no towers possessed such capability. In the tower suitability analysis, the visibility rates varied from 41.18% to 1016.67%. Based on the evaluation results, the current visibility capacities of the 49 fire towers proved insufficient for effective preventive measures.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/8/305fire lookout towerssuitability analysisvisibility capacityfire inventoriesmediterranean regionGIS |
| spellingShingle | Ufuk Cosgun Mücahit Coşkun Ferhat Toprak Damla Yıldız Sevda Coşkun Enes Taşoğlu Ahmet Öztürk Visibility Evaluation and Suitability Analysis of Fire Lookout Towers in Mediterranean Region, Southwest Anatolia/Türkiye Fire fire lookout towers suitability analysis visibility capacity fire inventories mediterranean region GIS |
| title | Visibility Evaluation and Suitability Analysis of Fire Lookout Towers in Mediterranean Region, Southwest Anatolia/Türkiye |
| title_full | Visibility Evaluation and Suitability Analysis of Fire Lookout Towers in Mediterranean Region, Southwest Anatolia/Türkiye |
| title_fullStr | Visibility Evaluation and Suitability Analysis of Fire Lookout Towers in Mediterranean Region, Southwest Anatolia/Türkiye |
| title_full_unstemmed | Visibility Evaluation and Suitability Analysis of Fire Lookout Towers in Mediterranean Region, Southwest Anatolia/Türkiye |
| title_short | Visibility Evaluation and Suitability Analysis of Fire Lookout Towers in Mediterranean Region, Southwest Anatolia/Türkiye |
| title_sort | visibility evaluation and suitability analysis of fire lookout towers in mediterranean region southwest anatolia turkiye |
| topic | fire lookout towers suitability analysis visibility capacity fire inventories mediterranean region GIS |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/8/305 |
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