USING OF TRANSPORTATION NETWORK MODEL TO ESTIMATE TRAVELLED TIME AND DISTANCE FOR GROUND ACCESS TO A FOREST FIRE

Abstract

Since regional forest protection services often have limited material resources, the emergency response to the emerging forest fires requires to choice an optimal maneuvering solution and a method to transfer available forces. One of the possible ways is to create a regional transport model for the case of forest fire based on the network of public roads and forest glades. Paper describes a method of calculation of travelling time and distance to a forest fire, research results for an experimental transport model, created by Network Analyst ArcGIS, to build the shortest routes from the fire stations to the forest fires. Spatially-distributed data on the fire trucks’ average speed for different types of roads and the elevation values were used in the model for the test area (Irkutsk region of Russia). In total 16251 routes were built and analyzed for 16 years (2002-2017). The model was validated using the data on forest fires detected by the MODIS-Aqua/Terra spectroradiometer within the ground and forest aviation zones of test region. A map showing the fire routes within one-, twoand threehours ground transport accessibility is created for the forest fire ground protection zone of the test region. The model’s work quality was validated for the forest fires detected within the ground zone. As a result, 98% (2661) of forest fires in the ground zone are accessible within three hours and less, that indirectly confirms the correctness of model. At the same time, the majority of forest fires are located within one(68%) and two(24%) hour’s availability. Finally, recommendations on using the transport model for the managerial decisions on the forest fire fighting on regional level were given.