Forest fire vulnerability map using remote sensing data, GIS and AHP analysis (Case study: Zarivar Lake surrounding area)

Fire has an important role in destruction and negative side effects on forest ecosystem. The main aim of this study was to determine the main factors influencing the fire on set in Zarivar Lake forest area using remote sensing data, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis. Vegetation density map derived from SPOT-HRG image data with 71.38% accuracy and 0.695 Kappa coefficients. The results of AHP analysis on destructive fire factors indicated that temperature and human-made factors had maximum influence on fire occurrence in the study area. Based on AHP analysis, final vulnerability map of study area was produced in Arc Map environment with 5 vulnerability areas. The results indicated that 78.03% of burned areas in 2009 and 2010 occurred in very high, high and moderate vulnerability area of final fire vulnerability map. So, this map can be used in forest management of Zarivar Lake area in dry season.