Determination of Forest Fire Risk Using GIS: A Case Study in Nigde, Turkey

Abstract

− The main purpose of this study is to develop a statistical model to prepare forest fire risk map using GIS. In this study eight important factors were used to determining the forest fire risk such as land use/land cover type, slope, aspect, altitude, settlement, road, temperature and precipitation. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to evaluate the factors. Precipitation and temperature were the most important factors to determining the forest fire risk. The study area has approximately 10.72% low fire risk, 28.21% moderate fire risk, 43.50% high fire risk, 14.65% very high fire risk, and 2.92% extreme forest fire risk. 61.07% of the study area has a high, very high and extreme forest fire risk. In order to prevent forest fires, land cover/land use should be planned in a way that does not damage forests. Especially vehicle roads, expressways, etc. which are located near the forests, have a high fire risk. Therefore, these areas should be planned in a way that will not damage the forests. The climatic characteristics of the study area should be examined, the urban texture should not be in a way to prevent microclimatic factors such as wind and precipitation.