Mapping South Florida Daily Fire Risk for Decision Support Using Fuel Type, Water Levels, and Burn History
Mapping fire risk in South Florida depends on spatially varying water levels, fuel characteristics, and topography. When surface water levels recede below the lowest topographic features (cypress strands, marshes, etc.), the ecosystem loses its natural, wetted fire breaks, and landscape-level fire r...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Fire |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/6/236 |
| _version_ | 1797594891247681536 |
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| author | Kate Jones Jelena Vukomanovic |
| author_facet | Kate Jones Jelena Vukomanovic |
| author_sort | Kate Jones |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mapping fire risk in South Florida depends on spatially varying water levels, fuel characteristics, and topography. When surface water levels recede below the lowest topographic features (cypress strands, marshes, etc.), the ecosystem loses its natural, wetted fire breaks, and landscape-level fire risk increases. We developed a geospatial method to generate daily, categorical fire risk maps; the maps visualize low-to-high risk areas using a newly developed 100 m DEM, modeled water levels, fuel types, and fire management units. We assigned fire risk by creating a water level distribution for each unique combination of fuel type and fire management unit; fire risk was then assigned for each pixel based on risk percentiles commonly used by fire management agencies. Assigning risk based on unique fuel types and management units helped avoid over- or under-assigning fire risk that may occur when applying landscape-level “average” risk relationships. Daily maps also incorporated (1) energy release component data to better estimate fuel moisture and (2) historical burn footprints to reduce risk in recently burned areas. Our data-driven approach generated at management-relevant spatial scales may enable more informed prescribed burn planning and may increase the efficiency of staff and resource allocation across the landscape on high-wildfire-risk days. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:29:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c404996f6c424ad682d18b3f5a4cb939 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-6255 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:29:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fire |
| spelling | doaj.art-c404996f6c424ad682d18b3f5a4cb9392023-11-18T10:22:13ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552023-06-016623610.3390/fire6060236Mapping South Florida Daily Fire Risk for Decision Support Using Fuel Type, Water Levels, and Burn HistoryKate Jones0Jelena Vukomanovic1Center for Geospatial Analytics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USACenter for Geospatial Analytics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USAMapping fire risk in South Florida depends on spatially varying water levels, fuel characteristics, and topography. When surface water levels recede below the lowest topographic features (cypress strands, marshes, etc.), the ecosystem loses its natural, wetted fire breaks, and landscape-level fire risk increases. We developed a geospatial method to generate daily, categorical fire risk maps; the maps visualize low-to-high risk areas using a newly developed 100 m DEM, modeled water levels, fuel types, and fire management units. We assigned fire risk by creating a water level distribution for each unique combination of fuel type and fire management unit; fire risk was then assigned for each pixel based on risk percentiles commonly used by fire management agencies. Assigning risk based on unique fuel types and management units helped avoid over- or under-assigning fire risk that may occur when applying landscape-level “average” risk relationships. Daily maps also incorporated (1) energy release component data to better estimate fuel moisture and (2) historical burn footprints to reduce risk in recently burned areas. Our data-driven approach generated at management-relevant spatial scales may enable more informed prescribed burn planning and may increase the efficiency of staff and resource allocation across the landscape on high-wildfire-risk days.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/6/236fire riskSouth Floridadecision supportEvergladesBig Cypresswildfire |
| spellingShingle | Kate Jones Jelena Vukomanovic Mapping South Florida Daily Fire Risk for Decision Support Using Fuel Type, Water Levels, and Burn History Fire fire risk South Florida decision support Everglades Big Cypress wildfire |
| title | Mapping South Florida Daily Fire Risk for Decision Support Using Fuel Type, Water Levels, and Burn History |
| title_full | Mapping South Florida Daily Fire Risk for Decision Support Using Fuel Type, Water Levels, and Burn History |
| title_fullStr | Mapping South Florida Daily Fire Risk for Decision Support Using Fuel Type, Water Levels, and Burn History |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping South Florida Daily Fire Risk for Decision Support Using Fuel Type, Water Levels, and Burn History |
| title_short | Mapping South Florida Daily Fire Risk for Decision Support Using Fuel Type, Water Levels, and Burn History |
| title_sort | mapping south florida daily fire risk for decision support using fuel type water levels and burn history |
| topic | fire risk South Florida decision support Everglades Big Cypress wildfire |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/6/236 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT katejones mappingsouthfloridadailyfireriskfordecisionsupportusingfueltypewaterlevelsandburnhistory AT jelenavukomanovic mappingsouthfloridadailyfireriskfordecisionsupportusingfueltypewaterlevelsandburnhistory |