Publication Date

2024

Document Type

Dataset

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Faculty

School of Science

School or Research Centre

Conservation & Biodiversity Research Centre / Centre for People, Place and Planet (CPPP)

Funders

Edith Cowan University

Description

Increases in consecutive days that meteorological, climatic and biophysical variables combine to influence fire is projecting an increase in fire size and intensity. This prompts investigation into the severity of recent fires to gain a better understanding of the factors that influence fire severity. Using a highly accurate spectral index, a geospatial analysis was undertaken to identify key variables that control the variability in fire severity of the 2021 Wooroloo Bushfire. Random Forest regression and General Additive Model (GAM) were utilised to determine variable importance in modelling fire severity and to create parsimonious models. Elevation and the Soil Dryness Index (SDI) were the two most influential factors in explaining the variability of the fire. Whilst a good variable importance was achieved, the parsimonious Random Forest and GAM models performed poorly, managing to explain 14% of variance (RF) and 17% of deviance (GAM). This work supports reports that the Wooroloo Bushfire was severe, unpredictable, and difficult to control. Further testing into fire behaviour variable interaction and the influence of fire on fire severity should be conducted to determine important variables in modelling fire severity.

Additional Information

The data sheet provided contains the random point location extracted numerical data from a variety of environmental, meteorological and fire-related dataset. Together with this data set is the statistical analysis files used to implement the Random Forest Regression, Generalised Additive Models, and Principal Component Analysis in R.

DOI

10.25958/12kx-e775

Research Activity Title

Masters by Research Chapter 4 - Important Factors Contributing to the Burn Severity of the 2021 Wooroloo Bushfire

Research Activity Description

This work was conducted as part of a data chapter for a Masters by Research degree.

Methodology

Geographical information systems - random point location data extraction from a variety of spatial data sets.

Start of data collection time period

2022

End of data collection time period

2023

File Format(s)

Microsoft Excel, R Script

File Size

376 kb

Viewing Instructions

Access to R and Microsoft Excel

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Contact

j.mckercher@ecu.edu.au

Available for download on Sunday, December 01, 2024

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