[gis_info] Visualizing the Surge in Large Wildfire Activity in the Western United States

[Eric Pimpler]

The 2017 wildfire season shattered records and cost the U.S. Forest Service
an unprecedented
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wildfires/cost-of-fighting-u-s-wildfires-topped-2-billion-in-2017-idUSKCN1BQ01F>$2
billion.  From the Oregon wildfires to late season fires in Montana, and
the highly unusual timing of the California fires in December, it was a
busy year in the Western United States.  While 2017 was a particularly
notable wildfire season, this trend is nothing new and research suggests we
can expect this unfortunate trend to continue due to climate change and
other factors.  A recent study suggests that over the next two decades, as
many as 11 states are predicted to see the average annual area burned
increase by 500 percent.

Using the Federal Wildland Fire Occurrence Database, Geospatial Training
Services recently used ArcGIS Pro and the R programming language to better
visualize the change in wildfire activity from 1980 to 2016.  *Our analysis
was limited to the Western United States including California, Arizona, New
Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana,
and Wyoming*.  We were particularly interested in the surge of large
wildland fires, categorized as fires that burn greater than 1,000 acres.

Here, in visual form, is what we found.  All charts were produced with R
Studio using the ggplot2 library and all maps with ArcGIS Pro.  In the next
few months we’ll provide some interactive visualizations on this topic
created with Web App Builder/Story Maps and Shiny R Apps.

Read the entire article.
<http://geospatialtraining.com/visualizing-the-surge-in-large-wildfire-activity-in-the-western-united-states/>

http://geospatialtraining.com/visualizing-the-surge-in-large-wildfire-activity-in-the-western-united-states/


-- 
Eric Pimpler
President/Owner
Geospatial Training Services
215 W Bandera #114-104
Boerne, TX 78006
http://geospatialtraining.com
Twitter - @gistraining
eric at geospatialtraining.com
210-260-4992
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