Fire Protection Research Foundation report: "A Collection of Geospatial Technological Approaches for Wildland and Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fire Events" (PDF, 2 MB)
Author: Minchao Yin, Fire Protection Research Foundation
Date of issue: December 2014
Introduction
Over the past decades, a series of devastating wildland fires have burned millions acres of forests, grasslands, and wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), causing injuries and fatalities of fire fighters, injuries and fatalities of civilians, loss of property and natural resources, and environmental damage. The successful application and popularization of geospatial technology in planning and responding to emergency events has gained great interest from the wildland and WUI fire management community.
Geospatial technology includes systems such as Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and Global Positioning System (GPS). This study focuses on identifying, evaluating, and analyzing current geospatial technological applications used to address wildland and WUI fire events, with a focus on presenting the characteristics of each technology for wildland and WUI fires of different scale and magnitude.
The goal of this project is to compile a collection of the latest geospatial technological approaches to clarify the methodology, application and utility of various geospatial techniques and data for wildland and WUI fire events. This report is intended to improve understanding and enhance decision-making for fire preparedness, mitigation, and rehabilitation in the wildland and WUI. The deliverables of this project collectively review the available baseline information, and identify the fundamental principles and key details involving current applications of geospatial technology to address wildland and WUI fire hazards. They provide a summary of core information regarding the features and specific use of different geospatial tools, with a primary focus on Graphic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies.