University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) - Research portal
Gewählte Master / Diploma Thesis:
Matous Horejsi
(2019):
Characterisation of the ignition factors of forest fires in Styria.
Master / Diploma Thesis - Institut für Waldbau (WALDBAU),
BOKU-Universität für Bodenkultur,
pp 83.
UB BOKU
obvsg
FullText
- Abstract:
- Austria is dominated by mountains and mostly alpine environments, which implies a highly diverse environment in terms of climate, vegetation and fauna. This results in a wide variety of sites with different levels of susceptibility and predisposition to forest fire. Several research initiatives have been launched in Austria to study fire danger rating, fire behavior modeling and fire management. The Austrian Forest Fire Research Initiative (AFFRI) identified forest fire “hot spots” depending on vegetation, climate and socio-economic conditions. Styria is one of the provinces of Austria with a high abundance of forest fire events. 20% of all forest fires in Austria occurring during the last 50 years have been in Styria, which makes proper fire management important. The objectives of this thesis are to analyze the behavior and the ignition factors of forest fires from the years 1957 – 2016. A digital elevation model, a forest map with forest inventory data and a set of climatic data containing information about precipitation, temperature and wind speed were used to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of forest fires and provide a characterization of the fire events according to seasonality, cause of ignition, size of burned area and impact of vegetation. To characterize the ignition factors of wildfires, 3 pilot areas were selected in 3 different eco-climatic zones. In each of these regions 3 different groups of forest fires will be chosen. The first group represents wildfires caused by natural agents, the second and third group show artificial forest fires based on diverse conditions of ignitions (high or low human activity). The pilot areas helped to understand the influence of different factors on forest fire ignition, behavior and occurrence. The probability of lightening causing forest fires is mainly influenced by topography, especially elevation and steepness and secondly by forest stand data, representing the share of coniferous tree species and canopy closure.
- Beurteilende(r): Vacik Harald