Fire risk at the Ecologial Station of Taim, Rio Grande do Sul

The objective of this work was to map the areas susceptible to the occurrence of fires at the Taim Ecological Station, Rio Grande do Sul. In order to obtain the static and dynamic variables, Landsat 8 satellite images and Radar images were used to determine the topography of the study area. As dynamic variables were used the precipitation, temperature and land use and coverage, while static variables were hypsometry, slope and distance of roads. Each variable was stratified and numerically weighted as to its susceptibility to fire occurrence. The dynamic and static variables generated were integrated using a weighted equation resulting in fire risk for the study area. The central region of the Taim Ecological Station presented higher susceptibility to fires, encompassing the high risk class, totaling 4,219.56 ha (41.61%), while the peripheral regions had a very low risk of occurrence of fires, covering 5,419.35 ha (53.44%). The variables of greatest contribution to the occurrence of fires corresponded to the land use and land cover and the temperature, being the areas of greater risk in the central region and near the roads, in which they are occupied by the native field. Thus, these sites should have greater attention and resources to combat possible fires.