Visualizing When, Where, and How Fires Happen in U.S. Parks and Protected Areas
Fire management in protected areas faces mounting obstacles as climate change alters disturbance regimes, resources are diverted to fighting wildfires, and more people live along the boundaries of parks. Evidence-based prescribed fire management and improved communication with stakeholders is vital...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-05-01
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| Series: | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/9/5/333 |
| _version_ | 1827716524053364736 |
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| author | Nicole C. Inglis Jelena Vukomanovic |
| author_facet | Nicole C. Inglis Jelena Vukomanovic |
| author_sort | Nicole C. Inglis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fire management in protected areas faces mounting obstacles as climate change alters disturbance regimes, resources are diverted to fighting wildfires, and more people live along the boundaries of parks. Evidence-based prescribed fire management and improved communication with stakeholders is vital to reducing fire risk while maintaining public trust. Numerous national fire databases document when and where natural, prescribed, and human-caused fires have occurred on public lands in the United States. However, these databases are incongruous and non-standardized, making it difficult to visualize spatiotemporal patterns of fire and engage stakeholders in decision-making. We created interactive decision analytics (“VISTAFiRe”) that transform fire history data into clear visualizations of the spatial and temporal dimensions of fire and its management. We demonstrate the utility of our approach using Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park as examples of protected areas experiencing fire regime change between 1980 and 2017. Our open source visualizations may be applied to any data from the National Park Service Wildland Fire Events Geodatabase, with flexibility to communicate shifts in fire regimes over time, such as the type of ignition, duration and magnitude, and changes in seasonal occurrence. Application of the tool to Everglades and Big Cypress revealed that natural wildfires are occurring earlier in the wildfire season, while human-caused and prescribed wildfires are becoming less and more common, respectively. These new avenues of stakeholder communication are allowing the National Park Service to devise research plans to prepare for environmental change, guide resource allocation, and support decision-making in a clear and timely manner. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:42:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8169d6bf187042df8c2fa72420c30544 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2220-9964 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:42:53Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-8169d6bf187042df8c2fa72420c305442023-11-20T01:03:48ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642020-05-019533310.3390/ijgi9050333Visualizing When, Where, and How Fires Happen in U.S. Parks and Protected AreasNicole C. Inglis0Jelena Vukomanovic1Center for Geospatial Analytics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USACenter for Geospatial Analytics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USAFire management in protected areas faces mounting obstacles as climate change alters disturbance regimes, resources are diverted to fighting wildfires, and more people live along the boundaries of parks. Evidence-based prescribed fire management and improved communication with stakeholders is vital to reducing fire risk while maintaining public trust. Numerous national fire databases document when and where natural, prescribed, and human-caused fires have occurred on public lands in the United States. However, these databases are incongruous and non-standardized, making it difficult to visualize spatiotemporal patterns of fire and engage stakeholders in decision-making. We created interactive decision analytics (“VISTAFiRe”) that transform fire history data into clear visualizations of the spatial and temporal dimensions of fire and its management. We demonstrate the utility of our approach using Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park as examples of protected areas experiencing fire regime change between 1980 and 2017. Our open source visualizations may be applied to any data from the National Park Service Wildland Fire Events Geodatabase, with flexibility to communicate shifts in fire regimes over time, such as the type of ignition, duration and magnitude, and changes in seasonal occurrence. Application of the tool to Everglades and Big Cypress revealed that natural wildfires are occurring earlier in the wildfire season, while human-caused and prescribed wildfires are becoming less and more common, respectively. These new avenues of stakeholder communication are allowing the National Park Service to devise research plans to prepare for environmental change, guide resource allocation, and support decision-making in a clear and timely manner.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/9/5/333decision analyticswildfirefire managementvisualizationopen science |
| spellingShingle | Nicole C. Inglis Jelena Vukomanovic Visualizing When, Where, and How Fires Happen in U.S. Parks and Protected Areas ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information decision analytics wildfire fire management visualization open science |
| title | Visualizing When, Where, and How Fires Happen in U.S. Parks and Protected Areas |
| title_full | Visualizing When, Where, and How Fires Happen in U.S. Parks and Protected Areas |
| title_fullStr | Visualizing When, Where, and How Fires Happen in U.S. Parks and Protected Areas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Visualizing When, Where, and How Fires Happen in U.S. Parks and Protected Areas |
| title_short | Visualizing When, Where, and How Fires Happen in U.S. Parks and Protected Areas |
| title_sort | visualizing when where and how fires happen in u s parks and protected areas |
| topic | decision analytics wildfire fire management visualization open science |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/9/5/333 |
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