Starting in September 2009, the Alpine Space Interreg-project Alp-FFIRS (Alpine Forest Fire waRni... more Starting in September 2009, the Alpine Space Interreg-project Alp-FFIRS (Alpine Forest Fire waRning System) was launched with the aim of monitoring and reducing forest fire hazard in the Alpine environment through prevention and mitigation actions. In the framework of the project, a harmonised forest fire data base was build making for the first time possible characterizing the forest fire regime in the Alpine region and to highlight the main differences with respect to fires in the Mediterranean area. For the whole Alpine Space, basic statistics are applied in order to quantify the link between fire frequency and burned area at a global scale. A more detailed analysis has been carried out for some European Alpine regions, depending basically on the amount of features and spatial attributes available. In this way spatial and temporal variability of the Alpine fire regime is identified. The analysis of the forest fire data confirms the presence of a mixed fire regime with a winter season displaying mostly quick spreading human-induced surface fires at low altitudes with a concentration in March-April and a summer season with a peak of lightning-induced fires in July-August. Annual fire frequency differs from region to region and especially from the northern to the southern slope of the Alps. Nevertheless, a general increase in lightning-induced fires during the mid-summer may be detected. Among fires of known cause, most events and burnt areas may be linked to negligence and premeditated human actions. Depending on the region and the season up to 30% of the fires are induced by lightning, especially on the southern slopes of the Alps. The main differences in respect to the Mediterranean fire regime are therefore, the existence of a peak in fire frequency and burned areas in spring and a consistent portion of light-induced fires in the high summer season.
Starting in September 2009, the Alpine Space Interreg-project Alp-FFIRS (Alpine Forest Fire waRni... more Starting in September 2009, the Alpine Space Interreg-project Alp-FFIRS (Alpine Forest Fire waRning System) was launched with the aim of monitoring and reducing forest fire hazard in the Alpine environment through prevention and mitigation actions. In the framework of the project, a harmonised forest fire data base was build making for the first time possible characterizing the forest fire regime in the Alpine region and to highlight the main differences with respect to fires in the Mediterranean area. For the whole Alpine Space, basic statistics are applied in order to quantify the link between fire frequency and burned area at a global scale. A more detailed analysis has been carried out for some European Alpine regions, depending basically on the amount of features and spatial attributes available. In this way spatial and temporal variability of the Alpine fire regime is identified. The analysis of the forest fire data confirms the presence of a mixed fire regime with a winter season displaying mostly quick spreading human-induced surface fires at low altitudes with a concentration in March-April and a summer season with a peak of lightning-induced fires in July-August. Annual fire frequency differs from region to region and especially from the northern to the southern slope of the Alps. Nevertheless, a general increase in lightning-induced fires during the mid-summer may be detected. Among fires of known cause, most events and burnt areas may be linked to negligence and premeditated human actions. Depending on the region and the season up to 30% of the fires are induced by lightning, especially on the southern slopes of the Alps. The main differences in respect to the Mediterranean fire regime are therefore, the existence of a peak in fire frequency and burned areas in spring and a consistent portion of light-induced fires in the high summer season.
Uploads
Papers by Nadia Di Narda