Spatio-temporal analysis of forest fires in Croatia

Although the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), provided by the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, offers three different methods for determining forest fire danger, the Canadian method is usually used and accepted in Croatia. The Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) estimates the forest fire danger level based on meteorological parameters (air temperature, humidity, wind speed and precipitation amount) related to 12 UTC for the given day at the meteorological station or to a grid point of a numerical weather prediction model.

Thanks to the EFFIS statistics portal, it is possible to see the extent to which Croatia has been at risk from forest fires in recent years based on the areas burned and the number of fires. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) provides a much more detailed overview of the burned areas. The combination of data from the Climate Change Service and the Emergency Management Service can provide a better overview of forest fires in Croatia. The forest fire danger levels are analyzed spatially between different regions such as the continental, mountainous and Adriatic parts of Croatia. In order to find an appropriate duration of the fire season, the forest fires within and outside the fire season are listed. The aim of the spatio-temporal analysis is to show the most endangered areas and the seasonal trend of forest fires in Croatia.