A study of wildfire risk using environmental indicators

The frequently wildfire-prone Dadu Terrace is located on the outskirts of a densely populated city. According to the Taichung Fire Department’s 2013-2017 statistics, there are more than 400 wildfires a year. In particular, hundreds of wildfires occur each month during the dry season, and the mobilization of firefighters will increase the burden of social resources. Wildfire damage and smoke can also endanger protected objects nearby. Combined with the characteristics of agricultural farming, the seasonal variation of NDVI extracted from the satellite images can reflect the land cover category. Wildfires in the Dadu Terrace often accidentally caused by human interference, vegetation change over a short time can be as the factor of artificial interference for analyzing the time-based wildfire frequency. Results show that March to April is the peak period of wildfire occurrence, which consistent with the historic records of wildfire reporting. In addition to the temporal distribution of wildfire occurrence, this study also established a model for estimating the spatial distribution of wildfire risk at the mostly occurring period using the concepts of risk analysis. The model can effectively reflect the distribution of hotspots where wildfires occur, and can be the reference for the relevant authorities on the countermeasures of wildfire disaster prevention and control.

Keywords: Wildfire, Environmental indicators, Risk assessment