scholarly journals FIREcast system – previsional fire danger index computation system for alpine regions

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Corgnati ◽  
M. Gabella ◽  
G. Perona
Keyword(s):  
Fire Danger ◽  
Alpine Regions

CONFIRM – Copernicus Data for Novel High-Resolution Wildfire Danger Services in Mountain Regions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruxandra-Maria Zotta ◽  
Clement Atzberger ◽  
Jörg Degenhart ◽  
Markus Hollaus ◽  
Markus Immitzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Training Dataset ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Space Applications ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Alpine Regions

<p><span>Wildfires are becoming an increasing threat to human health, infrastructure, forestry, agriculture and biodiversity. In Alpine regions, fires are often at the start of cascading risks including avalanches, mudslides or rock fall due to the loss of forest and vegetation layers. Additionally, wildfires are expected to occur more frequently in the future as a result of a warming climate, which is estimated to affect alpine regions in particular.</span></p><p><span>Fire danger forecasts, such as the commonly used Fire Weather indices, indicate the danger of forest fires based on numerical weather forecasts. Such indices are typically available at coarse spatial resolutions and, hence, have limited use in mountainous regions with their highly variable weather and other environmental conditions. Stakeholders, such as fire departments and forest managers, require more detailed forecasts in order to make robust decisions and efficiently plan their resources. The CONFIRM project, which started in December 2019 with funding from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) under the Austrian Space Applications Programme (ASAP), addresses this gap by using high-resolution earth observation data provided by the European Copernicus programme to develop a pre-operational fire danger forecast system.</span></p><p><span>Data from both optical and microwave sensors aboard satellites are known to be sensitive to changes in soil and vegetation water content. Exploiting this sensitivity, satellite data with high temporal and spatial resolutions from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions will be used to estimate fuel moisture state. The estimates will be integrated with airborne Laser-scanning (LiDAR) data, high-resolution weather forecasts, socioeconomic and topographic data to develop a novel, high-resolution integrated forest fire danger system (IFDS) for Austria. The project team will apply its expertise in forest management, remote sensing, fire science and machine learning to estimate fire danger using the Austrian fire database, an extensive record of historic fire events, as a training dataset. Key stakeholders from national weather services (ZAMG, DWD), fire brigades, state forest administrations and infrastructure providers (Austrian Railways ÖBB) are continuously involved in the project to develop the IFDS according to their requirements. They will evaluate the prototype of the system during the fire season of 2021. </span></p>

Contemporary architectural production in the Alpine area through the lens of regionality

ARCHALP ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 11-13
Author(s):  
Antonio De Rossi ◽  
Roberto Dini ◽  
Stefano Girodo
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Central Core ◽  
Scientific Committee ◽  
Wide Angle ◽  
Scientific Validity ◽  
Architectural Production ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Alpine Area ◽  
Building Culture ◽  
Alpine Space

Given that this is the inaugural edition, we thought that the first issue of the international journal «ArchAlp» needed to be characterized by a wide angle view, taking shape as sort of veritable tour d’horizon of the alpine space. Thinking with the scientific committee of the journal, it seemed to us that a reflection on the characteristics of contemporary architectural production in the European Alpine area, starting from regionally-based analyses and interpretations, could be very important. A description of the state of the art, which in order to have scientific validity must be based on comparative interpretations, has the aim of restoring continuity and differences in the “building culture” among the various Alpine regions. From here the idea of building the central core around a series of local monographs.

Evoluzione della copertura vegetale in aree alpestri del Canton Ticino nel periodo 1971–2001 | Evolution of Vegetation Cover in the Alpine Regions of Canton Tessin: 1971–2001

2004 ◽  
Vol 155 (7) ◽  
pp. 284-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietro Stanga ◽  
Niklaus Zbinden
Keyword(s):  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Aerial Photos ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Subsequent Decrease ◽  
Site Fertility ◽  
Strong Expansion ◽  
Evolution Of Vegetation

The retrospective study based on aerial photos (1971–2001) of the Canton Tessin made it possible to measure and analyze the evolution of the vegetation of eleven Alpine zones. The analysis shows a strong expansion of the arborescent vegetation and, at the same time, a decrease in other forms of ground cover (bush, shrub, meadow and unproductive spaces). Analysis of the data gives rise to the conjecture that the strong evolutionary dynamism evidenced by the areas under investigation is a result of the vast clearings carried out in past centuries to create pastures. Following the subsequent decrease in human pressure, nature today is attempting to rebalance the level of the biomass. These processes manifest themselves in different ways and with various intensity, depending on the interaction of numerous factors (e.g. climatic conditions, site fertility, initial conditions, evolution of anthropological pressure, etc.).

scholarly journals Relicts from Glacial Times: The Ground Beetle Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz, 1823 (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the Austrian Alps

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Paill ◽  
Stephan Koblmüller ◽  
Thomas Friess ◽  
Barbara-Amina Gereben-Krenn ◽  
Christian Mairhuber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Austrian Alps ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Limited Dispersal

The last ice age considerably influenced distribution patterns of extant species of plants and animals, with some of them now inhabiting disjunct areas in the subarctic/arctic and alpine regions. This arctic-alpine distribution is characteristic for many cold-adapted species with a limited dispersal ability and can be found in many invertebrate taxa, including ground beetles. The ground beetle Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz, 1823 of the subgenus Bothriopterus was previously known to have a holarctic-circumpolar distribution, in Europe reaching its southern borders in Wales and southern Scandinavia. Here, we report the first findings of this species from the Austrian Ötztal Alps, representing also the southernmost edge of its currently known distribution, confirmed by the comparison of morphological characters to other Bothriopterus species and DNA barcoding data. Molecular data revealed a separation of the Austrian and Finish specimens with limited to no gene flow at all. Furthermore, we present the first data on habitat preference and seasonality of P. adstrictus in the Austrian Alps.

Equilibrium moisture content of dead fine fuels of selected central European tree species

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schunk ◽  
Clemens Leutner ◽  
Michael Leuchner ◽  
Clemens Wastl ◽  
Annette Menzel
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Equilibrium Moisture Content ◽  
Input Parameter ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Pedunculate Oak ◽  
Salt Solutions ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
Climate Chamber ◽  
Central European ◽  
Fine Fuels

Fine fuel moisture content is a key parameter in fire danger and behaviour applications. For modelling purposes, equilibrium moisture content (EMC) curves are an important input parameter. This paper provides EMC data for central European fuels and adds methodological considerations that can be used to improve existing test procedures. Litter samples of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) were subjected to three different experiments using conditioning in a climate chamber and above saturated salt solutions. Climate chamber conditioning yielded the best results and can generally be recommended, however saturated salt solutions are able to produce lower relative humidities, which are relevant to forest fire applications as they represent the highest fire danger. Results were within the range of published sorption isotherms for forest fine fuels. A fairly clear gradation was present with higher EMC values in leaf litters than in needle litters. These differences are in accord with values from the literature and suggest general differences in the sorption properties of leaves and needles, which may be caused by differing chemical and physical properties. The influence of temperature on EMC described in the literature could be confirmed.

scholarly journals Quantifying the influence of volcanic forcing on water isotopes and climate in polar and alpine regions using HadCM3

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Kirschner ◽  
Max Holloway ◽  
Louise Sime ◽  
Kira Rehfeld
Keyword(s):  
Water Isotopes ◽  
Alpine Regions ◽  
Volcanic Forcing
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