Open AccessFIRE OCCURRENCE PATTERNS AT LANDSCAPE LEVEL: BEYOND POSITIONAL ACCURACY OF IGNITION POINTS WITH KERNEL DENSITY ESTIMATION METHODS
Author(s) -
KOUTSIAS NIKOS,
KALABOKIDIS KOSTAS D.,
ALLGÖWER BRITTA
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
natural resource modeling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.28
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1939-7445
pISSN - 0890-8575
DOI - 10.1111/j.1939-7445.2004.tb00141.x
Subject(s) - kernel density estimation , grid , kernel (algebra) , generalization , position (finance) , geographic coordinate system , point (geometry) , estimation , computer science , window (computing) , statistics , mathematics , geography , geodesy , geometry , management , finance , combinatorics , estimator , economics , operating system , mathematical analysis
. Based on kernel density estimation methods, this paper introduces an alternative approach of fire occurrence modeling that addresses the inherent positional inaccuracies of recorded wildland fire ignition points. These observations, recorded in longitude and latitude using only degrees and first minutes, contain positional inaccuracies of about ± 700 to ± 925 meters in x and y axes. Kernel density estimation was applied to these historical fire observations recorded between 1985 and 1995 in Halkidiki peninsula, Greece, as well as, to simulated inaccurate points into which positional inaccuracies of the same magnitude were randomly introduced. Substantial differences were observed when a regular grid of quadrants was superimposed over the two point distributions. Although, at higher grid resolution these mismatches were minimized, the problem of generalization appeared. Contrar‐ily, the concept of “moving window” assisted to retain high grid resolution and minimize the effect of inaccurate point observations. In addition, the kernel approach, which considers also the relative position of points within the “moving window,” produced more realistic estimates.