Analysis of the potential fire hazardscenarios using GIS and RS: A case studyof Lordegan forests

Forest fire has many side effects on forest and land function. Among them are loss of biodiversity, reduction of economicvalue of forests and climate change in large scale. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in forest firespotentials. To achieve this goal, the required digital layers and data were obtained from the relevant websites and organizationsas well s through field surveys in the area of the study. After preparing the data by assuming the occurred fire, thelayers were entered in a fuzzy process using Analytical Network Process (ANP) and Ordered Weighted Average (OWA)method. For this purpose, Zagros fire forests (Lordegan city) were examined using Landsat and MODIS images and consideringthe factors affecting fire (topographical factors, human, climate and vegetation). In ANP procedure, the largestweighs were assigned to the distance of residential areas from roads, GVMI index and maximum daily air temperaturefactors in their magnitude order. OWA method was also used to create the hazard prediction model. Based on the results,the fire hazard map was prepared in four classifications: very low, low, medium, and high. An accuracy assessment wasalso performed using the relative operating characteristics. Of the six scenarios applied, the low-risk scenario and a smallcompensation amount of ROC = 0.702 were evaluated as the best model to predict the risk of forest fires. Due the highaccuracy and precision of the model obtained, it can be used to contain the fires that will occur in the future.