Optimized Hot Spot and Directional Distribution Analyses Characterize the Spatiotemporal Variation of Large Wildfires in Washington,USA,1970-2020

• 作者: Kevin Zerbe Chris Polit Stacey McClain Tim Cook
• 来源期刊: 国际灾害风险科学学报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2022,（1）
• 所属期刊栏目: ARTICLES
• 页码范围: 139-150
• 页数: 12页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

Spatiotemporal analysis of fire activity is vital for determining why wildfires occur where they do,assessing wildfire risks,and developing locally relevant wildfire risk reduction strategies.Using various spatial statistical methods,we determined hot spots of large wildfires(＞100 acres)in Washington,the United States,and mapped spatiotemporal variations in large wildfire activity from 1970 to 2020.Our results found that all hot spots are located east of the crest of the Cascade Range.Our spatiotemporal analysis found that the geographic area wherein most of the state's acres burned has shrunk con-siderably since 1970 and has become concentrated over the north-central portion of the state over time.This concen-tration of large wildfire activity in north-central Washing-ton was previously unquantified and may provide important information for hazard mitigation efforts in that area.Our results highlight the advantages of using spatial statistical methods that could aid the development of natural hazard mitigation plans and risk reduction strategies by charac-terizing previous hazard occurrences spatially and spatiotemporally.