Mapping wildland-urban interfaces at large scales integrating housing density and vegetation aggregation for fire prevention in the South of France
Resource information
Date of publication
december 2010
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
AGRIS:US201301728188
Pages
732-741
Every year, more than 50,000 wildland fires affect about 500,000 ha of vegetation in southern European countries, particularly in wildland-urban interfaces (WUI). This paper presents a method to characterize and map WUIs at large scales and over large areas for wildland fire prevention in the South of France. Based on the combination of four types of building configuration and three classes of vegetation structure, 12 interface types were classified. Through spatial analysis, fire ignition density and burned area ratio were linked with the different types of WUI. Among WUI types, isolated WUIs with the lowest housing density represent the highest level of fire risk.