7th Workshop on Forest Fire Management - EARSeL, European ...

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I - PRE-FIRE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
need accurate knowledge/information concerning the description and the
spatial distribution of the fuels. Since the description of all fuel properties
is a very complex and difficult task, a classification system is usually used
by fire managers, where all the physical attributes of fuels are grouped in
different classes, known as fuel types, according to their fire behavior.
Specifically a fuel type is defined as “an identifiable association of fuel elements
of distinctive species, form, size arrangement and continuity that
will exhibit characteristic fire behavior under defined burning conditions”
(Merrill and Alexander, 1987).
Remote sensing and GIS constitute an important and useful tool in mapping
fuel types. Several studies have tried to accurately map fuels using
satellite imagery with different spatial and spectral characteristics
(Giakoumakis et al., 2002; Gitas et al., 2006; Lasaponara et al., 2007; Riaño
et al., 2002). The aim of this study was a) to develop an object based classification
model for fuel type mapping in Chalkidiki and b) to evaluate the
transferability of the developed model in Attica.
2 - Study Area
Two study areas were selected for this research. The first one (Figure 1a),
the Perfecture of Chalkidiki, is about 2.920 km 2 and it is located in
Northern Greece. The climate is characterized as Mediterranean with short
periods of drought, hot summers and mild winters. Common forest species
are Pinus halepensis, Pinus nigra, Quercus conferta, Fagus moesiaca
Juniperus communis and Quercus coccifera.
The study area of the Perfecture of Attica (Figure 1b) is about 3.800 km 2
and it is located in Central Greece. The climate of the area is characterized
with dry period during hot summers and belongs in the semi dry
Mediterranean zone. The more extended forests in Attica are the forests of
Pinus halepensis. There are also, forests of the endemic Greek fir (Abies
cephallonice) and the area is composed by Quercetum ilicis, Crataegus
monogyna, Juniperus oxycedrus and many other endemic plants.
3 - Materials and methods
3.1 - Imagery and anchillary data
In total six SPOT5 satellite images, aquired on April and May 2007, were
the primary source of information. In addition, anchillary data were used:
1:5.000 B&W orthophotographs, vegetation maps and a 20m DTM of the
study areas.