Fire Mapping for the Albuquerque Bosque's Restoration Project

Native Communities Development Corporation

Automated Mapping of Wildland Fuel Types


Step 1: Semiautomated delineation of a "com- munity assessment unit"	Step 2: Establishment of risk assessment zones	Step 3: Geospatial overlay and inventory of the identified threats and values

Step 4: Geospatial overlay and intersect with hazardous vege- tative fuel types	Step 5: Identical process is performed for each community assessment unit.	Step 6: The resultant score categorizes each community assessment unit.

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

By William Whatley

Contact: William Whatley; E-mail
Software: ArcGIS Desktop and ERDAS IMAGINE
Hardware: Dell PC
Printer: HP
Data Source(s): DigitalGlobe QuickBird satellite imagery (Copyright 2005, DigitalGlobe, Inc.)

Automated Mapping of Wildland Fuel Types

Using QuickBird satellite imagery, Native Communities Development Corporation (NCDC) was able to identify and map the vertical vegetative fuels structure for the entire project area.

Static Wildfire Risk Assessment of Delineated Communities

Using QuickBird satellite imagery, NCDC was able to identify and map buildings, streets, and critical infrastructure for the stretch of the Rio Grande that bisects Albuquerque, New Mexico. Neighborhoods were delineated, and a buffer zone was established around each neighborhood. Each neighborhood was assigned a base score of zero. Mapped features representing both hazards and values were then overlaid and an inventory was performed. Hazard scoring used negative numbers, and value scoring used positive numbers. Final total scores were ranked as a comparative static representation of the risk faced by each neighborhood.

Cartography Maps

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