The Question, Process, & Analysis
For this project, the environmental issue revolved around wild fires and prescribed fires. The general question was, "Is there a spatial relationship between drought and wildfires versus prescribed fires?" Drought is one of the major causes of wildfires and if areas with high levels of drought can be identified, wildfires can be predicted to occur in such areas. This issue focuses mainly on fires within the United States only; including Alaska and Hawaii.
The question was tested by gathering data on the most recent documented wildfires and prescribed fires in a single year throughout the US. In this case, that most recent data would be December 2012; it was than compared with drought during that same time. Both series of data were put into excel and than added to ArcGIS as layers in order to make a comparison.
Analyzing the map(s), the results that were extracted is that there is no direct comparison between the number of fires in each state in relation to the drought in such place. For example, looking at natural fires, the state of Texas has a large number of fires occurring, however, drought within in the county of Texas is widely ranged. The result that was predicted was that if Texas has a very bad drought, than it's numbers of fires will be much higher than the rest. The theory for this not going as planned can be explained in two different explanations;
The question was tested by gathering data on the most recent documented wildfires and prescribed fires in a single year throughout the US. In this case, that most recent data would be December 2012; it was than compared with drought during that same time. Both series of data were put into excel and than added to ArcGIS as layers in order to make a comparison.
Analyzing the map(s), the results that were extracted is that there is no direct comparison between the number of fires in each state in relation to the drought in such place. For example, looking at natural fires, the state of Texas has a large number of fires occurring, however, drought within in the county of Texas is widely ranged. The result that was predicted was that if Texas has a very bad drought, than it's numbers of fires will be much higher than the rest. The theory for this not going as planned can be explained in two different explanations;
- Only one particular month was looked at within this project, if more time was available, other months can be looked at to see if a pattern or better result can be found. Drought is at it's peak during the summer, not during the cold winter of December. Summer droughts can possibly support the original hypothesis which was made.
- Error within the data could have led to false maps. Sure those websites are reliable, but the data is inputted by a human sitting behind a computer screen; humans all make mistakes. That is our way of life. Sure this is not likely to have happened, but it is still something that should be kept in mind.