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Copernicus data for novel high-resolution wildfire danger services in mountain regions (CONFIRM)
In recent years, the Alps and other mountain regions in Europe have been increasingly affected by forest fires. Forest fires pose a major threat to the protective function of mountain forests and the provision of ecosystem services for the economy, tourism and society. The current forecasting tools for estimating the danger of forest fires often have a too coarse resolution, are based exclusively on weather information and do not take into account the actual surface moisture and vegetation conditions of forests. The CONFIRM project aims to integrate high-resolution Copernicus Sentinel 1 and 2 observational data of surface moisture and vegetation conditions with LiDAR data, predictions of current weather conditions, socio-economic information, topographic data and a forest fire database to develop a novel, high-resolution and satellite-based integrated forest fire hazard system (IFDS) for Austria and neighbouring regions. The aim is to use novel remote sensing methods and state-of-the-art machine learning methods to develop daily analyses and forecasts of the ignitability and propagation risk of forest fires according to the requirements of meteorologists, fire brigades, forest specialists and infrastructure providers.
Funding
FFG, Austrian Space Applications Programme, opens an external URL in a new window (ASAP)
Project duration
December 2019 – May 2022
CLIMERS role
Project management
System design and implementation
Machine learning to predict the probability of fire occurrence in Austria
Demonstration of fire danger forecasts
Partners
TU Wien, Research Group Climate and Environmental Remote Sensing
TU Wien, Research Group Photogrammetry
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Institute of Silviculture, opens an external URL in a new window
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Institute of Geomatics, opens an external URL in a new window
Zentralanstalt für Meteorology and Geodynamik , opens an external URL in a new window(ZAMG)
Landesforstdirektion, Amt der Steiermärkischen Landesregierung , opens an external URL in a new window(LFD)
Abteilung Waldschutz, Amt der Tiroler Landesregierung, opens an external URL in a new window (WST)
Austrian Fire Brigade Association, opens an external URL in a new window (ÖBFV)
Berufsfeuerwehr Graz, opens an external URL in a new window (BFG)
Berufsfeuerwehr Innsbruck, opens an external URL in a new window (BFI)
CLIMERS staff involved
Wouter Dorigo
Moritz Matthias Bruggisser
Markus Hollaus
Stefan Schlaffer
Ruxandra-Maria Zotta
Project URL
https://confirm.project.tuwien.ac.at, opens an external URL in a new window