Evaluation of hydrological and erosive effects at the basin scale in relation to the severity of forest fires
This study aimed to assess the hydrological and erosive effects of different levels of the fire severity in the drainage basin of the Trionto River (Calabria, southern Italy), which was partially burned by intense fires during the summer 2017. The analysis focused on the identification of wildfire a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF)
2019-10-01
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| Series: | iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://iforest.sisef.org/contents/?id=ifor2878-012 |
| _version_ | 1811335076981506048 |
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| author | Coschignano G Nicolaci A Ferrari E Cruscomagno F Iovino F |
| author_facet | Coschignano G Nicolaci A Ferrari E Cruscomagno F Iovino F |
| author_sort | Coschignano G |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study aimed to assess the hydrological and erosive effects of different levels of the fire severity in the drainage basin of the Trionto River (Calabria, southern Italy), which was partially burned by intense fires during the summer 2017. The analysis focused on the identification of wildfire areas using a supervised classification of remote sensing images with the minimum distance algorithm. The level of severity of each fire was then discriminated based on a procedure proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and adapted to the study area. To evaluate how wildfire occurrence affects the hydrological behaviour at the basin scale, the SCS-Curve Number model was used to document pre- and post-fire conditions in relation with the level of fire severity. Finally, the influence on erosion was analysed for analogous conditions at the basin scale using the RUSLE equation. The effects on hydrological balance and soil loss were evaluated by comparing the pre-fire value with three different post-fire scenarios: (a) different levels of severity on the surface covered by the fire (real case); (b) maximum level of severity on the surface covered by the fire; (c) total loss of the canopy and formation of a hydrophobic layer on the surface soil. The results confirmed that the level of severity of the forest fires, combined with climatic factors, morphological conditions, and the pedological characteristics of the basin, significantly influence changes to the hydrology and rates of erosion. Moreover, these impacts proved to be mainly dependent on the consequent, often notable, heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of burned areas with different severity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:18:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8db1f205e88945c2b21a5148cf4a723d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1971-7458 1971-7458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:18:41Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry |
| spelling | doaj.art-8db1f205e88945c2b21a5148cf4a723d2022-12-22T02:38:04ZengItalian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF)iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry1971-74581971-74582019-10-0112142743410.3832/ifor2878-0122878Evaluation of hydrological and erosive effects at the basin scale in relation to the severity of forest firesCoschignano G0Nicolaci A1Ferrari E2Cruscomagno F3Iovino F4Department of Computer Engineering, Modeling, Electronics, and Systems Science - DIMES, University of Calabria, via P. Bucci 41C, I-87036 Rende, CS (Italy)Department of Computer Engineering, Modeling, Electronics, and Systems Science - DIMES, University of Calabria, via P. Bucci 41C, I-87036 Rende, CS (Italy)Department of Computer Engineering, Modeling, Electronics, and Systems Science - DIMES, University of Calabria, via P. Bucci 41C, I-87036 Rende, CS (Italy)Department of Computer Engineering, Modeling, Electronics, and Systems Science - DIMES, University of Calabria, via P. Bucci 41C, I-87036 Rende, CS (Italy)Department of Computer Engineering, Modeling, Electronics, and Systems Science - DIMES, University of Calabria, via P. Bucci 41C, I-87036 Rende, CS (Italy)This study aimed to assess the hydrological and erosive effects of different levels of the fire severity in the drainage basin of the Trionto River (Calabria, southern Italy), which was partially burned by intense fires during the summer 2017. The analysis focused on the identification of wildfire areas using a supervised classification of remote sensing images with the minimum distance algorithm. The level of severity of each fire was then discriminated based on a procedure proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and adapted to the study area. To evaluate how wildfire occurrence affects the hydrological behaviour at the basin scale, the SCS-Curve Number model was used to document pre- and post-fire conditions in relation with the level of fire severity. Finally, the influence on erosion was analysed for analogous conditions at the basin scale using the RUSLE equation. The effects on hydrological balance and soil loss were evaluated by comparing the pre-fire value with three different post-fire scenarios: (a) different levels of severity on the surface covered by the fire (real case); (b) maximum level of severity on the surface covered by the fire; (c) total loss of the canopy and formation of a hydrophobic layer on the surface soil. The results confirmed that the level of severity of the forest fires, combined with climatic factors, morphological conditions, and the pedological characteristics of the basin, significantly influence changes to the hydrology and rates of erosion. Moreover, these impacts proved to be mainly dependent on the consequent, often notable, heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of burned areas with different severity.https://iforest.sisef.org/contents/?id=ifor2878-012Forest Fire SeverityHydrological ImpactsSoil Loss EstimationRemote Sensing |
| spellingShingle | Coschignano G Nicolaci A Ferrari E Cruscomagno F Iovino F Evaluation of hydrological and erosive effects at the basin scale in relation to the severity of forest fires iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry Forest Fire Severity Hydrological Impacts Soil Loss Estimation Remote Sensing |
| title | Evaluation of hydrological and erosive effects at the basin scale in relation to the severity of forest fires |
| title_full | Evaluation of hydrological and erosive effects at the basin scale in relation to the severity of forest fires |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of hydrological and erosive effects at the basin scale in relation to the severity of forest fires |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of hydrological and erosive effects at the basin scale in relation to the severity of forest fires |
| title_short | Evaluation of hydrological and erosive effects at the basin scale in relation to the severity of forest fires |
| title_sort | evaluation of hydrological and erosive effects at the basin scale in relation to the severity of forest fires |
| topic | Forest Fire Severity Hydrological Impacts Soil Loss Estimation Remote Sensing |
| url | https://iforest.sisef.org/contents/?id=ifor2878-012 |
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