A GIS BASED STUDY TO RECOGNIZE FIRE COMPLEX ZONES IN UTTARAKHAND

Author's Name: Anam Ahsan, Amit Verma & Neha Verma
Subject Area: Life Sciences
Subject Environmental Science
Section Research Paper

Keyword:

Hotspot, MODIS, Topographic, Zone Mapping, Fire regimes


Abstract

In this study, the authors address the historic fire trends in Uttarakhand by means of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) active ?re datasets. The study targets to enumerate the fire activities from 2001-2017 which accounts total 23534 number of fire points. We evaluated different fire trends that is yearly fire trend, seasonal drifts, district wise trend and on varied topographical (elevation, slope and aspect) parameters. MODIS active fire counts data from 2001–2017 discovered an average of 1384 fire numbers per year with maximum during the year 2016. The yearly trend of fire counts predicts the cyclicity of four years from 2001-2017. Starting from the year 2001-2017the study finds that month of April records maximum fire incidences 7370 followed by month of May with5597 incidences. Maximum number of fire incidences were recorded in the Garhwal district. The consequence of the hotspot analysis advocates that the critical hotspots counts 10415 majorly spread over the lower terai arc landscape. The lower attribute values of slope and elevation encounters the maximum hotspots while the upper topographic values record the cold spots.The results of the hotspots and the historic fire trends will be useful to manage the fire regimes in Uttarakhand. Nearly 49% area of the study area was predicted to be under fire sensitive zone which constitutes maximum number of hotspots.Consequence of the study suggest that dry climatic conditions, lower slopes and lower elevation regions encounters maximum number of hotspots. Thus, the key aim of the study is to use GIS ground to prepare a fire cluster map for Uttarakhand.

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