Mapping wildland-urban interfaces at large scales integrating housing density and vegetation aggregation for fire prevention in the South of France.
Every year, more than 50,000 wildland fires affect about 500,000ha 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.
Lampin-Maillet
Corinne
C
Cemagref, UR EMAX, Aix-en-Provence, France. corinne.lampin@cemagref.fr
Jappiot
Marielle
M
Long
Marlène
M
Bouillon
Christophe
C
Morge
Denis
D
Ferrier
Jean-Paul
JP
D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D005390:Fires / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006798:Housing / Q000145:classification; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification; D011156:Population Density; D012939:Social Planning; D013383:Suburban Population / Q000145:classification; D055814:Wilderness