Spatiotemporal Analysis of Wildfire Hazards in Lorestan Province applying MODIS Products

The risk of fires in natural areas is one of the most important climatic hazards in Lorestan Province. The current study aims to analyze the temporal series trend of wildfire events in natural areas and to reveal the spatial-temporal pattern of wildfire related to the type of land cover. In this regard, the data of MODIS fire product as well as land cover and vegetation product of MODIS during the 2000-2020 were used. Cross-tabulation matrix analysis and spatial correlation matrix were used to reveal the relationship between wildfire events and land cover. The findings showed that more than 70% of the total frequency of wildfire in natural resources (wildfire code 2) in Lorestan Province is related to June and then July. The results of cross-tabulation matrix analysis revealed that 3 uses of rangelands with medium canopy, low density forest lands and rainfed agricultural lands accounted for 0.75 of wildfires. More than 70% of the annual frequency of fire events in the two forest land cover classes was in June and July (June and July), which is significantly correlated with the density of vegetation in these classes two months ago (April and May). While the frequency of fires in rainfed agricultural lands was generally concentrated in August and September, it did not show a significant correlation with vegetation of any month. Practically, it can be said that the presence of vegetation density during April and May in the forest floors is one of the most important factors related to wildfire in following two months, June and July. Therefore, focusing on management over a 62-day period, from May 15 to July 16, 55% of fire incidents can be controlled in the area of ​​pastures and forest floors.