Investigating feedbacks in human–landscape systems: Lessons following a wildfire in Colorado, USA

Chin, Anne; An, Li; Florsheim, Joan L.; Laurencio, Laura R.; Marston, Richard A.; Solverson, Anna P.; Simon, Gregory L.; Stinson, Emily; Wohl, Ellen

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.07.030

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire occurred in Pike National Forest, northwest of Colorado Springs, Colorado in El Paso County [43]. This study utilized data collected as part of a larger investigation of the response of mountain streams following the Waldo Canyon Fire, described in Chin et al [44]; Kinoshita et al [45]; and Chin et al [5]. The test presented here focused on a channel reach in the downstream portion of the Williams watershed ( Figure 2), with a drainage area of 4.87 km 2 .…”

Section: Background For Test Case Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

A Workflow to Estimate Topographic and Volumetric Changes and Errors in Channel Sedimentation after Disturbance

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) methods, such as ground-based Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), have enabled collection of high-resolution point clouds of elevation data to calculate changes in fluvial systems after disturbance, but are often accompanied by uncertainty and errors. This paper reviews and compares TLS analysis methods and develops a workflow to estimate topographic and volumetric changes in channel sedimentation after disturbance. Four analytic methods to estimate topographic and volumetric changes were compared by quantifying the uncertainty in TLS-derived products: Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of difference (DOD), Cloud to Cloud (C2C), Cloud to Mesh (C2M), and Multiple Model to Model Cloud Comparison (M3C2). Mean errors across surfaces within each dataset contributed to a propagation error of 0.015–0.016 m and 0.017–0.018 m for the point clouds and derived DEMs, respectively. The estimated error of the total volumetric change implied increased errors in the conversion of point clouds into a surface by C2M and DOD; whereas C2C and M3C2 were generally simpler, efficient, and accurate techniques for evaluating topographic changes. The comparison of methods to analyze TLS data will contribute to applications of remote sensing of hydro-geomorphic processes in stream channels after disturbance. The workflow presented also aids in estimating uncertainties inherent in data collection and analytic methods for topographic and volumetric change analysis.

show abstract

Section: Background For Test Case Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

A Workflow to Estimate Topographic and Volumetric Changes and Errors in Channel Sedimentation after Disturbance

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Yet, the Waldo Canyon Fire was among the most expensive fires in Colorado, primarily because it caused damages to homes in close proximity (~8 km) to the major city of Colorado Springs and other communities. Dry conditions and erratic winds exceeding 100 km/h caused the fire to spread across a topographic ridge toward the Mountain Shadow neighborhood in the northeast portion of Colorado Springs (Chin et al, 2016). The fire destroyed 346 homes and killed an elderly cou-ple.…”

Section: The 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire Of Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to its diverse and significant costs-in firefighting, damages from homes, loss of businesses, as well as costs in restoring utilities and mitigating post-fire effects-the Waldo Canyon Fire was the most expensive fire in the history of the state at the time (Wineke, 2012). More details of the case of the Waldo Canyon Fire are found in Chin et al (2016) and Kinoshita et al (2016).…”

Section: The 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire Of Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Initially, we selected an additional study reach in the main channel of Camp Creek with slightly larger drainage area (matched with the larger reference channel). Construction of a tall fence to contain debris near the mouth of Camp Creek by the landowners (Chin et al, 2016), however, disturbed this study reach, and thus it is not included in this paper (Table 1).…”

Section: Establishing Study Reaches For Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although sediment concentrations often return toward pre-fire levels within several years (Beaty, 1994), fire-related sediment can remain in the fluvial system for hundreds of years (Moody and Martin, 2001b;Moody, 2017). The increased quantities of sediment supply into and through mountain watersheds, coupled with greater runoff and potential for flash flooding, pose primary risks for human communities downstream (Chin et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Interacting geomorphic and ecological response of step-pool streams after wildfire

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Detailed study of the response of step-pool mountain channels to wildfire is rare despite increasing vulnerability of these systems. This paper reports the initial biogeomorphic response of step-pool streams to storms following the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire, Colorado, USA. Field surveys, benthic macroinvertebrate sampling, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) terrestrial laser scanning through 2014 generated a substantial data set comparing changes within seven channels burned by a range of severity with three unburned reference reaches. Results showed that wildfire increased the susceptibility of step-pool channels to destabilize according to the severity of burn. Whereas the step-pool morphology (step height H, step length L, and H/L) remained relatively unchanged in unburned and low-severity burned channels—even through an extreme rainfall event with recurrence intervals up to 500–1000 years—study sites affected by high burn severity altered significantly following the first comparatively minor storms. Study channels burned by moderate severity exhibited variable responses ranging from minor to substantial morphological changes, suggesting that additional factors, including slope, local topography, and proximity to other highly disturbed sites may play explanatory roles. The ecological response corroborated the geomorphic findings, with data for benthic macroinvertebrates varying according to burn severity along with the changing post-fire step-pool morphology. Ordination analysis enabled data synthesis and showed that precipitation intensity (r = 0.59) and the severity of burn (r = 0.60) together influenced the interacting morphologic and ecological responses after the Waldo Canyon Fire. Variations in H (r = 0.72), L (r = 0.56), and thalweg elevation (r = 0.75) correlated the most with the types of benthic macroinvertebrates present. Following the Waldo Canyon Fire, the highest rainfall intensities coincidentally occurred over study sites in high-severity burn areas. Although disentangling the effects of rainfall intensity and burn severity proved difficult given this scenario, the interacting and complementary roles of burn severity and rainfall intensity likely led to the greatest morphologic and ecological impacts at those sites. Findings offer insights for the post-fire management of step-pool streams that characterize frequently burned mountain areas. As wildfires grow in frequency and magnitude under warming regimes, management becomes increasingly important for anticipating future changes in burned river landscapes, mitigating potential floods and hazards, and promoting sustainable river ecosystems.

show abstract

Planform adjustments of sub-Himalayan Mahananda-Balason River over five decades in response to anthropogenic interventions

Mitra,

Mondal,

Datta

et al. 2023

Arab J Geosci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Investigating feedbacks in human–landscape systems: Lessons following a wildfire in Colorado, USA

Cited by 18 publications

References 45 publications

A Workflow to Estimate Topographic and Volumetric Changes and Errors in Channel Sedimentation after Disturbance

A Workflow to Estimate Topographic and Volumetric Changes and Errors in Channel Sedimentation after Disturbance

Interacting geomorphic and ecological response of step-pool streams after wildfire

Planform adjustments of sub-Himalayan Mahananda-Balason River over five decades in response to anthropogenic interventions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About