Wildfire Hazardous Fuel Reduction in Fry Fire District, Cochise County, AZ
Presentation Time: Mon, 08/09/2021 - 18:30
Keywords: Fry Fire District, Cochise County, Hazardous Fuel Reduction, NDVI, NBR
Wildfire in the Southwestern United States is an escalating problem for residents and managers to contend with, particularly for those living and working in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Fuel management mitigates the cost of wildfire suppression and protects people and assets. In the Fry Fire District, grants from the Arizona State Department of Forestry and Fire enable collaboration between the district and private landowners in fuel reduction with mechanical thinning and controlled burns. In this study, GIS tools were used to analyze multiple seasonal images from Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance data. The acquired images were corrected for cloud cover and cloud shadow. The change in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (dNDVI) and change in Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) were then calculated to assess density and recovery. The analysis process was automated using Modelbuilder in ArcGIS Pro to aid managers in any area process results faster and facilitate assessment of various landscapes. Managing fuels, particularly in the WUI, can help mitigate the extremity, intensity, suppression cost, and loss of life and property resulting from wildfires.
