1. Fuel type map of Europe: JRC approach
and current development
Andrea Camia, EC Joint Research Centre
Forest Fires 2012
New Forest, UK 22-24 May 2012
2. Outline
• Background (EFFIS)
• Wildland fuels
• Fuel mapping
• Method and current development of the Fuel
Map of Europe
• Conclusions
4. Input Models, data Output
integration, analysis
Wind speed
Burned area vs Monthly Severity Rating in EUMed
Fire Danger Forecast
(June to October 1985-2005)
Fine Fuel Moisture Duff Moisture Drought Code
500,000
Code (FFMC) Code (DMC) (DC)
450,000 y = 2199.1e0.4099x
R2 = 0.7551
M o n th ly b u r n e d a r e a (h a )
400,000
Remote 350,000
300,000
BUILD UP 250,000
INITIAL SPREAD
sensing INDEX (ISI) INDEX (BUI) 200,000
150,000
Active Fire Detection
100,000
50,000
-
FIRE WEATHER INDEX 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
(FWI) MSR
Weather Fire Monitoring
forecast
Av burned area (m2)
Pre-fire Stage
fire Damage Assessment
Post-fire
Stage
Bv biomass (g m-2)
Geo-datasets Fire Emissions
CO2 = ∑Av × Bv × C × Ev
C burning efficiency (g g-1) v
Post-fire Soil Erosion
Regional estimates
Data Databases
Data of CO2 emissions
Data
Evemission coefficient for CO2
EU Fire Database
WEB mapping interface
(http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu)
6. EFFIS on-going developments
Following the European Parliament Resolution of Sept. 2006 for the
further development of the European Forest Fire Information System
(EFFIS)
1. EFFIS rapid damage assessment (RDA) and damage
assessment (DA) further development of the existing
system;
2. Development of a fuel map of Europe
3. Forest fire causes determination and harmonization
4. Economic and social impacts of forest fires
5. Estimation of forest fire emissions and smoke dispersion
modeling 3 million EUR and duration of 40 months
Budget of
9. Fuel Mapping challenges
Fuel classification
Fuel recognition
Fuel mapping
• High variability in time and space
• High cost of direct fuel measurements
• Vertical stratification of fuels
• Stand history
• Fuel models
11. Approaches to fuel mapping
1. Field survey
2. Direct fuel mapping with remote sensing
3. Indirect fuel mapping with remote sensing
4. Biophysical modeling and environmental gradients
(Keane et al. 2001)
12. Fuel mapping context
• Scale
Continental, National, Regional, Local
• Application
Fire behavior, fire potential, fire emissions, carbon
budget, fuel management, fire effects, ecosystem
modeling…
• Users
fire managers, researchers, policy makers, systems
13. Fuel map of Europe
Basic requirements
Fuel classification scheme suited to the European
environments
Fuel classes to fit the coarse scale and the heterogeneity of
the European landscapes.
Tool to support different assessments to be made at EU scale,
through specific EFFIS modules:
• fire potential (fire danger and fire risk mapping),
• fire effects
• fire emissions
• biomass consumption.
Baseline for initiating a novel system of classification of fuel
complexes in Europe.
14. Land Use‐Land
Ecoregions Potential Vegetation
Cover Select
“Wildland
Fuels”
Potential
Wildland
Vegetation
Fuels Types (PVT)
FUEL Level 1
Classification rules
Method and main FUEL Level 2
(Fuel Complexes)
Actual vegetation:
conflicts & validation
data processing
Fire
flow for the Fuel Parameters
Map of Europe FUEL Level 3
(Fuel Types)
15. Step 1 (Fuel Level 1):
To define the basic set of vegetation land‐cover types by ecoregion
FL1a FL1b
Ecoregions
12 Environmental Zones ( Land Use‐Land Cover
(Metzger et al. 2005) CORINE 2000 (250 m) (EEA, 2002)
+
+
3 Biogeographical Regions
Map of Europe MGC‐MERIS (250 m) (Switzerland) (ESA, 2006)
(Turkey, Cypruss)
(Roekaerts 2002)
Vegetation land‐cover types
FUEL LEVEL 1
16. Environmental Stratification of Europe
(Metzger et al. 2005)
15 Eco‐regions
Biogeographical Regions Map of Europe
(Roekaerts et al. 2002)
17. FL1b MAP
Output of FL1: Wildland fire spatial domain and main fuel categories
Pastures/ grasslands,
sparsely vegetated areas,
moors & heaths,
sclerophyllous vegt.,
transitional woodlands,
forests (broadleaved,
coniferous, mixed),
agroforestry areas,
marshes, peatbogs.
18. Step 2 (Fuel Level 2):
To define Fuel Complexes (FC) by Potential Vegetation Types (PVT)
combining FL1 Wildland fuels with BOHN (2000/2003)
COUNCIL MAP (1987)
detailed information on Potential (Anatolian Peninsula, Cyprus)
Vegetation Types RIVAS‐MARTINEZ (1987) MAP
(Canary Islands, Spain)
Reclassification criteria:
FL1 ‐ Physignomy
Wildland Fuels (WF) ‐ Structure:vertical strata
by Ecoregion ‐ Species composition
101 Potential
Wildland Vegetation
Fuels Types (PVT)
Overlay
CLASSIFICATION RULES:
Expert opinion, CLC,
Bohn’s substitute
FUEL Level 2 communities
Extended FC list
32. Mixed forest fuel types
35 Mixed mediterranean evergreen broadleaved with conifers forest
36 Mixed thermophylous broadleaved with conifers forest
37 Mixed mesophytic broadleaved with conifers forest
38 Mixed beech with conifers forest
33. Aquatic vegetation fuel types
39 Riparian vegetation
40 Coastal and inland halophytic vegetation and dunes
41 Aquatic Marshes
Agro-forestry areas fuel types
42 Agro‐forestry areas
Peat bogs fuel types
1 Peat bogs
2 Wooded peatbogs
34.
35.
36. Initial foreseen usage of the fuel map
in EFFIS
• Improve fire danger assessment
• Feed the new EFFIS fire emission and atmospheric
dispersion module
• Input into long term fire risk map of Europe
• Study on climate change impact on forest fires
37. Conclusions
Fuel mapping is a challenging exercise, highly dependent
upon the context and objectives
The Fuel Map of Europe has been developed with a method
adapted to the coarse scale and the intended use of the
product
The Fuel Types identified can constitute a baseline for future
applications. Work is still on going to assess quantitative
properties of fuel types
Fuel maps developed at finer scales may consider the
reference fuel classification scheme but should follow
methodologies focused on the local application