MODELAGEM GEOTECNOLÓGICA DE PREDIÇÃO, PREVENÇÃO, DETECÇÃO E COMBATE A INCÊNDIOS FLORESTAIS

Abstract

Forest fires are the main environmental, economic and social threats to Conservation Units. Considering their destructive power, understanding patterns of occurrence and defining coping techniques are essential for efficient risk management. Thus, the present research aimed to develop a model for predicting, preventing, detecting and fighting forest fires in the Caparaó National Park and its buffer zone using geotechnological tools. Thus, geotechnological tools were used to delimit the areas at greatest risk of forest fires, priority areas for firebreak construction, optimal locations for monitoring towers and water reservoirs for refueling combat vehicles and aircraft. The variables used were: land use and occupation; normalized difference vegetation index; altitude; slope; relief orientation; proximity to roads, to consolidated areas and to water courses; precipitation; air temperature; Land surface temperature; relative humidity; wind speed; and water deficit. The techniques used were: fuzzy logic; euclidean distance; and network analysis. To support the risk modeling, a collection of combustible material was carried out to determine the burning intensity of the land use and occupation classes, which pointed to pasture, thicket and planted forests as the ones with the highest risk of fires. In addition, 76.70% of the study area is covered by the very low, low and moderate fire risk classes and the high and very high risk classes were concentrated in the buffer zone. The firebreak construction priority classes were delimited to protect the Park's natural resources and the consolidated areas in the Buffer Zone, resulting in 4,409.38 hectares under the high and very high priority classes. The scenarios with 45 and 48 monitoring towers were considered the most advantageous, given that they allowed a visualization above 70% and a similar cost per hectare visualized. The best result regarding water reservoirs was from aircraft, which lacked a total of 42 reservoirs to meet all the demand. With these results, it was possible to conclude that although Parque do Caparaó does not present critical fire risks, there is a need for measures to prevent the spread of flames during eventual occurrences, especially in the vicinity of the buffer zone. Thus, the priority areas for the construction of firebreaks were mostly located in the buffer zone. The relief variations in the area limit the view of the towers, making the ideal number somewhat high, compared to surveys in less inclined areas. The implementation of water reservoirs to support firefighting by land vehicles was not able to meet all demand points, thus making the distribution of reservoirs for combating with aircraft the most efficient option. Finally, it was concluded that all the methodologies presented provide subsidies for improving the fight against forest fires, being viable, applicable, replicable and adjustable to other areas.