Fire-fighting Potential and Burnability of Forest Geosystems of Western Transbaikalia (on the Example of the Chikoy-Khilok Interfluve)

Abstract

In this work, on the basis of a landscape map and satellite images from the Landsat satellite, an assessment of the fire-fighting potential of forest geosystems in the territory of the Chikoy-Khilok interfluve (Western Transbaikalia) was carried out. The basis for assessing the fire-fighting potential of forest geosystems was the analysis of the level of water exchange between the components of geosystems, which characterizes the micro- and mesoclimatic features of landscapes. In order to assess the moisture exchange potential of forest geosystems, a joint analysis of index images reflecting the temperature and humidity of the vegetation cover of landscapes was carried out. These images are calculated based on the infrared channels of the Landsat 8 OLI and TIRS satellite images. Forest geosystems with a high potential for moisture exchange have low temperatures of vegetation cover and high fire resistance. The joint analysis of the index images and the landscape map made it possible to carry out an expert assessment of the fire resistance of various types of forest geosystems on a scale of 1 to 5 points. On the territory of the study, the lowest level of fire-fighting potential is distinguished by the geosystems of dry pine and birch-pine forests on plains and foothill heights composed of Quaternary deposits of light texture (sands, sandy loam). Based on the time series of space images of the Landsat, obtained in different years from 1977 to 2020, an analysis of the actual burning of forests has been carried out. This analysis confirmed the high degree of reliability of the assessment of the fire-fighting potential of the forests of the Chikoy-Khilok interfluve area.