Develop accurate computer models to determine wildfire risks and controlled-burn benefits! Although scientists now recognize that fire is essential to many ecosystems, the ecological and political issues of managing wildfire continue to be vexing. Mapping Wildfire Hazards and Risks offers multiple perspectives on using a Geographic Information System (GIS) for more effective wildfire management. This innovative technology is the ideal tool to organize and display all the information available, so authorities can make informed judgments based on all the facts. Because the authors are not merely theorizing but discussing the GIS they are actually building and using, Mapping Wildfire Hazards and Risks offers practical ideas and perspectives, including: specific information on the modeling approach and kinds of data utilized valuable discussions of the social and environmental factors included in the model techniques for predicting the effects of wildfire on neighborhoods, soil erosion, sedimentation, and air quality predictions of long-term ecosystem recovery given wildfires of different sizes and intensities maps, charts, tables, and formulas to make the process of building a GIS understandable and accessible Mapping Wildfire Hazards and Risks is a compilation of the ideas of federal and state agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations on how to rank and prioritize forested watershed areas that are in need of prescribed fire. This book provides the essential information for deciding how to set priorities for wildfire management that might reduce risks or lower future damages.

More than 90% of wildfires are caused by human activity, but other causes include lighting, drought, wind and changing weather conditions, underground coal fires, and even volcanic activity. Wildfire Hazards, Risks, and Disasters, one of nine volumes in the Elsevier Hazards and Disasters series, provides a close and detailed examination of wildfires and measures for more thorough and accurate monitoring, prediction, preparedness, and prevention. It takes a geo-scientific and environmental approach to the topic while also discussing the impacts of human-induced causes such as deforestation, debris burning and arson—underscoring the multi-disciplinary nature of the topic. It presents several international case studies that discuss the historical, social, cultural and ecological aspects of wildfire risk management in countries with a long history of dealing with this hazard (e.g., USA, Australia) and in countries (e.g., Taiwan) where wildfire hazards represent a new and growing threat to the social and ecological landscape. - Puts the contributions of environmental scientists, social scientists, climatologists, and geoscientists at your fingertips - Arms you with the latest research on causality, social and societal impacts, economic impacts, and the multi-dimensional nature of wildfire mitigation, preparedness, and recovery - Features a broad range of tables, figures, diagrams, illustrations, and photographs to aid in the retention of key concepts - Discusses steps for prevention and mitigation of wildfires, one of the most expensive and complex geo-hazards in the world.

This is the first English-language atlas to systematically introduce the environment, hazard, vulnerability and risk mapping for 11 natural disasters, i.e. earthquake, volcano, landslide, flood, storm surge, sand-dust storm, tropical cyclone, heat wave, cold wave, drought and wildfire, and risk mapping for multi-hazard disaster in the world. The above 11 hazards are assessed and mapped at grid unit, comparable-geographic unit and national unit, and the multi-hazard is assessed and mapped at grid unit and national unit. The expected annual mortality and/or affected population risks and expected annual economic loss and/or affected property risk of 11 hazards and multi-hazard of the world at national level are unprecedentedly derived and ranked. The atlas can be a good reference for researchers and students in the field of natural disaster risk management and risk governance, and enterpriser and risk manager as well to understand the global natural disaster risk. Prof. Peijun Shi works at Beijing Normal University, China; Prof. Roger Kasperson works at Clark University, USA.

Globally, fire regimes are being altered by changing climatic conditions and land use changes. This has the potential to drive species extinctions and cause ecosystem state changes, with a range of consequences for ecosystem services. Accurate prediction of the risk of forest fires over short timescales (weeks or months) is required for land managers to target suppression resources in order to protect people, property, and infrastructure, as well as fire-sensitive ecosystems. Over longer timescales, prediction of changes in forest fire regimes is required to model the effect of wildfires on the terrestrial carbon cycle and subsequent feedbacks into the climate system. This was the motivation to publish this book, which is focused on quantifying and modelling the risk factors of forest fires. More specifically, the chapters in this book address four topics: (i) the use of fire danger metrics and other approaches to understand variation in wildfire activity; (ii) understanding changes in the flammability of live fuel; (iii) modeling dead fuel moisture content; and (iv) estimations of emission factors. The book will be of broad relevance to scientists and managers working with fire in different forest ecosystems globally.

This report describes a new set of standard fire behavior fuel models for use with Rothermels surface fire spread model and the relationship of the new set to the original set of 13 fire behavior fuel models. To assist with transition to using the new fuel models, a fuel model selection guide, fuel model crosswalk, and set of fuel model photos are provided.

The continuing encroachment of human settlements into fire-prone areas and extreme fire seasons in recent years make it urgent that we better understand both the physical and human dimensions of managing the risk from wildfire. Wildfire Risk follows from our awareness that increasing public knowledge about wildfire hazard does not necessarily lead to appropriate risk reduction behavior. Drawing heavily upon health and risk communication, and risk modeling, the authors advance our understanding of how individuals and communities respond to wildfire hazard. They present results of original research on the social, economic, and psychological factors in responses to risk, discuss how outreach and education can influence behavior, and consider differences among ethnic/racial groups and between genders with regard to values, views, and attitudes about wildfire risk. They explore the role of public participation in risk assessment and mitigation, as well as in planning for evacuation and recovery after fire. Wildfire Risk concludes with a dedicated section on risk-modeling, with perspectives from decision sciences, geography, operations research, psychology, experimental economics, and other social sciences.

This paper presents a brief survey of the research literature on wildfire behavior and effects and assembles formulae and graphical computation aids based on selected theoretical and empirical models. The uses of mathematical fire behavior models are discussed, and the general capabilities and limitations of currently available models are outlined.