A fire weather index as a basis for an early warning system in Spain
A. Mestre A C and M. I. Manta B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Agencia Estatal de Meteorología, C/ Leonardo Prieto Castro, 8, Ciudad Universitaria, E-28071 Madrid, Spain.
B Forest Management Department, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina Avenida de la Universidad s/n, Apartado 12-056, Lima, Peru.
C Corresponding author. Email: amestreb@aemet.es
International Journal of Wildland Fire 23(4) 510-519 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF13003
Submitted: 10 January 2013 Accepted: 15 December 2013 Published: 9 April 2014
Abstract
This research focuses on the evaluation of the economic value that can be achieved by the use of decision threshold values for the Canadian Fire Weather Index for the projection of different specific wildfire events, as a basis for wildfire prevention activities. The study was done in two testing areas in Spain, corresponding to La Coruña and Alicante provinces. The applied methodology makes use of a simple binary decision model, which has been widely applied for the verification of quantitative meteorological forecasts. Meteorological and wildfire data from a 10-year period (1997–2006) were used. The results show that use of the Fire Weather Index results in potential economic savings, especially in the case of La Coruña. Therefore, the use of the Canadian Fire Weather Index as a basis to develop an early warning system for wildfire is recommended in the two provinces under study.
Additional keywords: economical value, wildfire prevention.
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