Forest fires are a major issue worldwide, and especially in Mediterranean ecosystems where the frequency, extension and severity of wildfire events have increased related to longer and more intense droughts. Open access remote sensing and climate datasets make it possible to describe in detail the precursory environmental conditions triggering major fire events under drought conditions. In this study, a probabilistic methodological approach is proposed and tested to evaluate extreme drought conditions prior to the occurrence of a wildfire in Central Chile, an area suffering an unprecedented prolonged drought. Using 21 years of monthly records of gridded climate and remotely sensed vegetation water status data, we detected that vegetation at the ground level, by means of fine and dead fuel moisture (FDFM), and canopy level, by means of the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) were extremely dry for a period of about 8 months prior to the fire event, showing records that fall into the 2.5% of the lowest values recorded in 21 years. These extremely dry conditions of the vegetation, consequence of low air humidity and precipitation, favored the ignition and horizontal and vertical propagation of this major wildfire. Post fire, we found high severity values for the native vegetation affected by the fire, with dNBR values >0.44 3 days after the fire and significant damage to the Mediterranean sclerophyllous and deciduous forest present in the burned area. The proposed probabilistic model is presented as an innovation and an alternative to evaluate not only anomalies of the meteorological and vegetation indices that promote the generation of extreme events, but also how unusual or extreme these conditions are. This is achieved by placing the abnormal values in the context of the reference historical frequency distribution of all available records, in this case, more than 20 years of remote sensing and climate data. This methodology can be widely applied by fire researchers to identify critical precursory fire conditions in different ecosystems and define environmental indicators of fire risk.
The wood-based housing market in Chile requires a complementary review that considers the competitive advantages of this material regarding its technical features and structural properties, to strengthen compliance with the Chilean General Urban Planning and Construction Ordinance (OGUC, in Spanish) and the Sustainable Building Codes. The purpose of this research was to develop an Integrated Sustainability and Safety Indicator (IISS, in Spanish), which integrates regulatory, social, territorial, and environmental aspects, considering (1) presentation, (2) sustainability, and (3) safety variables for wooden houses. For this, information was collected from 230 wood construction companies located between the regions of Valparaíso and Los Ríos, in Central Chile, where product presentation and safety were highlighted as inputs to calculate the IISS. This integration resulted in a classification of useful technical indicators to promote wood use as a construction option that prevails over or complements other building options.
Se propone un modelo de cuantificación para definir la calidad hídrica en un ecosistema acuático en la ecorregión mediterránea de Chile. Este permite la superposición de información tanto cuantitativa (parámetros fisicoquímicos y biológicos) como cualitativa (usos del suelo). Dicha información se traduce a índices de calidad hídrica como elementos que componen unidades de análisis en un entorno de sistemas de información geográfica. Se utilizaron las siguientes variables: Conductividad eléctrica, pH, Solidos disueltos totales, Temperatura superficial del agua Índice biótico Diatómico General e Índice biótico de familias para macroinvertebrados bentónicos, los cuales estructuraron seis mapas temáticos, mientras que la información de usos del suelo cumple la función de caracterizar las zonas adyacentes al borde del humedal. El resultado final es la visualización cartográfica mediante métodos geoestadísticos (interpolación por Kriging ordinario y Distancia inversa ponderada), de la calidad hídrica combinada del humedal, acorde a la normativa chilena encontrada para este aspecto. El mapa resultante está definido por valores y/o clases de calidad hídrica, las cuales pueden ser interpretables y flexibles en cuanto a sus valores de corte o valores límite. En general, esta proposición provee de una valiosa herramienta visual que facilita el entendimiento de la planificación de los humedales, el potencial manejo de sus zonas adyacentes y un procedimiento metodológico para el monitoreo y evaluación de la calidad hídrica, la cual puede ser aplicable a otros humedales.
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