Forest fire risk assessment in Southern Croatia (2019-05-17)

<br/> Activation date: 2019-05-17 <br/> Event type: Forest fire, wild fire <br/> <br/> Activation reason: <br/> The scope of the service request was to carry out a pre‐disaster Forest Fire Risk assessment in two areas near Split and Dubrovnik in Croatia. Apart from the General Reference context the following Risk and Recovery products were generated:Forest Fire exposure and risk, as well as vulnerability of people and assetsRisk - specific mitigation measures suggestionsCritical information for the development and management of first response infrastructuresAssets &amp; Population Exposure &amp; VulnerabilityThe assessment of the forest fire&nbsp;hazard&nbsp;accounts for fire intensity and surface properties. The generation of a forest fire index layer was based on specific assumptions and accounts for anaglyph, aspect &amp; height zones, vegetation cover, climatological conditions and historical forest fires records. Forest fires hazard maps show the hazard levels in forest and semi natural areas, as well as some heterogeneous agricultural areas. The urban environment and arable land areas are excluded from the forest fire hazard assessment.To illustrate the&nbsp;exposure&nbsp;of assets and population, transportation network, POIs, LULC, and population (low &amp; high season), information was overlaid on to the forest fire hazard layer, while the assessment of the exposed elements&nbsp;vulnerability&nbsp;accounts for specific criteria that characterize fire vulnerability through distinguishing urban from non-urban areas.Transportation Network Vulnerability to DisruptionVulnerability of disruption&nbsp;accounts for the following parameters:Road capacity, inferred by the respective taxonomy (primary, secondary, etc.)Proximity to populated placesPopulation (residents), distinguishing two seasons (High-touristic &amp; Low)The accentuated relief imposes the development of the road network along and near the coastline and results in high disruption vulnerability.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Population, Assets &amp; Transportation Network at RiskForest fire risk estimation depends on the type of biomass fuel and the proximity of population and assets to the most hazardous areas in terms of forest fire activity. Transport network risk is estimated as the combined effect of hazard and vulnerability to disruption.The first aid areas and appropriate mitigation measures information, aim to provide elaborated proposals for efficiently addressing civil protection and response efforts.&nbsp; <br/> <br/>