Every year during summer, natural and human-induced forest fires threaten the environment in the largely forested areas of the Himalayan region and the local population living near these forests. Nepal, with its multi...Every year during summer, natural and human-induced forest fires threaten the environment in the largely forested areas of the Himalayan region and the local population living near these forests. Nepal, with its multitude of forests, is one of the most forest fire-prone areas in the region. This study examines the possibility of averting forest fires, minimizing their frequency and the damage they cause, through advanced mapping of forest fire prone areas using a VHSR （very-high spatial resolution） satellite image of GeoEye-1, DEM （digital elevation data） created from topographic maps and additional data layers （e.g., precipitation, settlements）. The study was conducted in Kayer Khola, Chitwan district, Nepal. The classification of the satellite image has been performed using OBIA （object-based image analysis） techniques taking into account spectral, spatial and context information as well as hierarchical properties. The land cover classification result was thereafter combined with additional data in ArcGIS, where the input layers were reclassified and all classes of the input layers ranked according to their proneness to forest fires. Fire prone areas were delineated in five classes ranging from very high to very low. The study revealed that 82% of fires occur in forest areas. This case study in Kayer Khola shows that OBIA and GIS modeling techniques can be used to successfully identify forest fire-prone areas. The mapping of forest fire-prone areas will enable forest departments in countries of the Himalayan region to delineate forest fire prone areas, which can guide the forest departments set up appropriate fire-fighting infrastructure in these areas and thus help, minimize or avert forest fires.展开更多
文摘Every year during summer, natural and human-induced forest fires threaten the environment in the largely forested areas of the Himalayan region and the local population living near these forests. Nepal, with its multitude of forests, is one of the most forest fire-prone areas in the region. This study examines the possibility of averting forest fires, minimizing their frequency and the damage they cause, through advanced mapping of forest fire prone areas using a VHSR （very-high spatial resolution） satellite image of GeoEye-1, DEM （digital elevation data） created from topographic maps and additional data layers （e.g., precipitation, settlements）. The study was conducted in Kayer Khola, Chitwan district, Nepal. The classification of the satellite image has been performed using OBIA （object-based image analysis） techniques taking into account spectral, spatial and context information as well as hierarchical properties. The land cover classification result was thereafter combined with additional data in ArcGIS, where the input layers were reclassified and all classes of the input layers ranked according to their proneness to forest fires. Fire prone areas were delineated in five classes ranging from very high to very low. The study revealed that 82% of fires occur in forest areas. This case study in Kayer Khola shows that OBIA and GIS modeling techniques can be used to successfully identify forest fire-prone areas. The mapping of forest fire-prone areas will enable forest departments in countries of the Himalayan region to delineate forest fire prone areas, which can guide the forest departments set up appropriate fire-fighting infrastructure in these areas and thus help, minimize or avert forest fires.
