Implementation and spatialisation of the Canadian Fire Weather Index in the Veneto Region

Abstract

Fire danger rating systems are essential tools for fire management activities, allowing optimal allocation of resources both before and during the fire danger periods. Veneto Region's Forest Service is testing the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System to assess fire intensity, accounting for the effect of wind and the moisture content of inflammable material. The following steps were taken to apply the FWI system: (a) selection of the smallest number (ideally 10 - 15) of weather stations to obtain input data. Principal Components Analysis was carried out on 62 time-series of 30 years (1960-1990), including mean monthly temperature (minimum and maximum) and rainfall. The results highlighted two principal directions of climatic variability that were interpolated by the co-kriging method, allowing to delineate 11 relatively homogeneous areas in the Veneto Region. One station representative of each area was chosen to provide daily data for computing the daily fire danger index by the Regional Rating Service; (b) automation of the FWI system. A SAS v.9.1® application runs the calculations and generates a regional map of daily fire danger for the Forest Service personnel. Graphics and tabular data are also available via intranet.

Keywords

• Fire
• Index
• Principal Component Analysis
• Climate
• Italy