Reference Map One
Reference Map Two
Reference Map Three
Theme Map
Summary:
It was the final project of this class. So I tried my best to combine all skills I learned this quarter to create those maps. Finally, I created 3 reference map and 1 thematic map.
The first one is a 2D reference map by land use. It's clear to know from this map that, luckily, the fire didn't damage and spread to highly used area, which means highly populated and highly developed. The second reference map is a 3D Fire Spread and Slope map. From this map, we can find out the relationship between the fire spread direction and slope of that area. The only information I got is that the fire destroyed area has relatively high slope than flat plain in the southwest, which is the location of the Los Angeles city. I guess it's because fire has been controlled moving forwards city area,which may cause catastrophic damage to Los Angeles, as well as the high density of wood in the north and east part from the starting point, which is easy to get on fire. The third 3D reference map I created is an aspect and fire spread map. It shows that the relationship between aspect of the mountain and direction of fire spread. I was surprised to find that the overall tendency of the fire spread is towards northeast and the aspect of that area is south west. At first it looks strange because from our view it should spread downward like water. However, it was upwards, which means towards a higher elevation--summit. And it was this discovery lead me to create my thematic map about the relationship between the location of summit and fire spread, which gives exciting results. I will explain that map later.
After creating three reference map, I started to summarize the data I got. The fire burned 160,557 acres and led to the destruction of 209 structures, including 89 homes (Station Fire). The station fire towards northwest at first and then northeast. It grew rapidly during the first few days (Aug.29th - Aug 31st) . Three days later, its speed suddenly decreased which means it was controlled after Sept. 1st. The fire took place in the northwest part of Los Angeles, and it seems the fire didn't affect city and residence as much as its apparent size increment, which enlarged several times comparing to the first day. However, from this spread and size I was really shocked by the power of nature. Human was so weak before disaster, although the U.S. got probably the most advanced equipment in the world. The process of repairing is extremely long, even takes generations to come.
The thematic map I created is about fire spread and summit. Because I guess there might be some association between the spread of fire and the location of summit. It's surprised to find that there seems to have tendency of fire spread towards summits. Basically, the place fire took place itself has high density of summit. After the fire got controlled in Sept. 1st, fire still moved slowly towards summit in the east. I guess part of the reason is that summit has high elevation and difficult to control the spread. Fire brigade may have difficulty in bringing equipment to the summits, thus diminish the rescue efficiency. Besides, there might be part of reason that summit has higher density of forest. Fire and forests go back to the prehistoric, they have been with with each other for millions of years.(Forest Fire Basics) So fire would spread out faster and easier, in turn makes the rescue more difficult. However, city prefers to be built on plain rather than on hill and summit, so it was still kind of lucky that the impact on human life would be less and minimize the loss.
From these interesting discoveries, I suggest some points below. Firstly, pay attention to location of summit because it has relatively high probability to be on fire, record them and create a "The Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone" . Secondly, it's plausible to predict the direction of fire spread towards summit since the relatively high density of forest. Thirdly, if, unfortunately, there's fire which can't be controlled in a short time, the best way to minimize loss is making it spread towards summit because of the low population density, which may be the last choice we have. Fourthly, measure and report the Forest Fire insurance Rank Forecast more frequently, and we can pay more attention on the forecast on summit because it's more likely to have forest fire. If it's red flag, then we should pay more attention on those area. "The National Weather Service in southern California is changing the criteria that triggers a red flag warning for fire danger." This will assist fire agencies in their allocating and moving resources in anticipation of increased fire activity.(Red Flag warning/fire weather watches in discussions and headlines) Fifthly, We should continue improving the equipment for fire brigade. Like the WDNR Fire Equipment Center. "Because of the unique nature of equipment needed to most effectively suppress forest fires in Wisconsin, the Center is able to produce the specialized equipment at a cost 20%-50% below what can be produced in the private sector. "(Forestry Equipment Research and Development Center) California government can also build our own laboratory or research center to discover proper equipment in mountain area. At last, I found a website can give every day's flag level, which is good for people living near mountain area to know everyday.
And it was also meaningful in the process of summarizing. From summarizing, I learned some new terms and got some new information. Such as Red Flag warning and fire equipment in mountain area. It's interesting to find those strange equipment which I have never seen before, even heard. So it's a gain both in academic performance as well as daily knowledge. Thank you for this project.
The Garage at the LeMay Center in Tomahawk
Bibliography
“Station Fire.” Incident Information System. 10 Nov. 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.
"The Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone."VHFHS Zone. Los Angeles Fire Department. 2007. 09 Dec. 2011
<http://lafd.org/brush/zone.htm>
"Forest Fire Basics". A Brief Forest Fire Summary.By Steve Nix, About.com Guide. n.d. 09 Dec. 2011 <http://forestry.about.com/cs/forestfire/a/good_bad_ugly.htm>
"The National Weather Service in southern California is changing the criteria that triggers a red flag warning for fire danger."New red flag warning criteria in California. April 17, 2010 by Bill Gabbert
09 Dec. 2011 <http://gacc.nifc.gov/oscc/predictive/weather/myfiles/Watches_and_Warnings_for_California.htm>
"Forestry Equipment Research and Development Center" WDNR. 11 May 2011 09 Dec. 2011
<http://dnr.wi.gov/forestry/fire/LeMay/>
"Forestry Equipment Research and Development Center" WDNR. 11 May 2011 09 Dec. 2011
<http://dnr.wi.gov/forestry/fire/LeMay/>
Data Source:
http://gis.ats.ucla.edu/Mapshare/ UCLA's Spatial Data Repository
http://seamless.usgs.gov/website/seamless/viewer.htm USGS Seamless Data Ware House
