Post-fire conditions monitoring and assessment
Looking for solutions for the assessment of post-fire conditions in the field for prevention of further damages as well as the assessment of fire causes and consequences to inform recovery efforts and funding initiatives.
Problem
The post-fire raises difficulties for the various stakeholders since they need to determine the cause of the fire, the affected areas and the degree of damages so that recovery activities can be initiated and funding and financial compensation can be estimated and attributed. At the same time, the danger is still present now due to the conditions created by the fire for the occurrence of floods, with the soil and debris unrestricted that can be taken with the water to cause more damage or degrade the conditions of the land.
All these concerns are time-sensitive and are highly dependent on quickly sourced and sharable information from the field to determine the course of action.
Why the Problem exists?
The aftermath of fire has been lacking due attention because of to multiple circumstances such as absent or limited planning for sustainable landscapes, insurance solutions, funding for recovery activities. Another factor are legal, regulatory or operational constraints to financial support availability and dispersal and missing or limited resources to address the recovery process (personnel, technology, etc). A lack of uniformity of procedures and methodologies as well as of coordination and integration between entities exacerbates these.
Looking for solutions that completely or partially solve the following:
- Fire causes assessment and reporting.
- Fire damages assessment and reporting.
- Burned areas mapping and characterisation.
- Post-fire ground coverage condition assessment.
- Runoff and flood modelling and forecasting.
- Erosion and flood protection of burned areas.
Requirements
- Cross-entity accessibility and transparency.
- Cross-entity data sharing and synchronisation.
Limitation(s)
- Multi-stakeholder integration.
- Coordination mechanisms at a local level.
- Regulatory frameworks constraints.
Fire Management Phase(s)
Adaptation & Restoration
Living Labs
Bulgaria Living Lab; Catalonia-Spain Living Lab; Greece Living Lab; Galicia-Spain Living Lab; Chile Living Lab.
Voice of the Living Lab(s)
“A system built by all departments for monitoring and reporting the funds spent on recovery and support after forest fires and by ownership; Introducing a system to track what happens with fire investigations and what the results are“.
“Rainfall modelling prediction models in terms of quantity and especially intensity do not have the necessary accuracy to be able to predict the increased runoff that occurs in areas affected by high severity fire. Better prediction of high intensity events could help to implement a runoff warning system in areas affected by high severity fires. There is no evidence of a runoff and flood forecasting system in Galicia and Spain for areas where forest fires have occurred, which would prevent possible damage to the inhabitants of these areas“.
“Restoration is not incorporated into fire management, nor is there an understanding of the territory as a whole, mainly due to a lack of knowledge and scientific information that allows understanding how ecosystems work before, during and after fires“.
“Use of technology (such as satellite images, UAVs, etc.) to map burned areas, fire intensity and ecological effects (combined with pre-fire conditions); Long-term monitoring of burned areas; Post-fire timber, log and branch barriers parallel to the contours, small wooden dams in ravines, and small concrete dams for erosion and flood protection in burned areas“.
“At present, there is no known remote sensor that can perform an analysis of fire severity on the ground, and field assessments are required, which is more resource-intensive and time-consuming. The severity of fire on the ground determines the risk of post-fire runoff and erosion. Its rapid and accurate assessment is essential to mitigate this risk“.