GIS-based methodology for prioritization of preparedness interventions on road transport under wildfire events
Erica Arango, María Nogal, Hélder S. Sousa, José C. Matos, Mark G. Stewart
Abstract
Climate change is causing an increase in wildfires’ occurrence and intensity, aggravated by the growing encroachment of communities into the natural environment, challenging our capacity to respond to wildfires throughout the world. Under wildfire events, road transport infrastructure becomes crucial for the evacuation of people and accessibility to an emergency by first responders. Nevertheless, resilience management of transportation infrastructure affected by wildfires is poorly considered, despite its relevant role and high exposure to wildfires. Therefore, this study proposes a new methodology to estimate the priority level for wildfire preparation by combining exposure and criticality of road transportation infrastructure to wildfire hazards with consideration of different wildfire categories. The analysis is conducted at the system level considering interdependencies and redundancies among infrastructure components and using a geographic information system (GIS) to automate the modelling process and visualization of results. The proposed methodology is applied to a case study in the Leiria region of Portugal, showing its usefulness when prioritizing economic resources and deciding on areas that require preparation. This approach can serve as a resilience-based tool for decision-making to support effective adaptation strategies to improve wildfire resilience.