Post-disaster mapping of forest fires in De Meinweg National Park, Germany-Netherlands border (2020-05-13)

Activation date: 2020-05-13

Event type: Forest fire, wild fire

Activation reason:

The CEMS Risk and Recovery Standard has been activated to assess the damage occurred as a consequence of the forest fire which took place between the 20th and 27th of April 2020 in the Meinweg National Park. The Area of Interest (AOI) is located at the border region between Herkenbosch (Netherland) and Niederkrüchten (Germany).The post-disaster damage assessment study consists of the delineation and grading of the wildfire (P07), detailed damage assessment of the tree cover (P08.1), impact assessment on the land use/land cover (P15), using an update of the LULC data (P03.2), and the assessment of the soil erosion risk in the affected area (P16). Three monthly monitorings have being performed, aiming at observing possible worsening of the forest’s health due to burnt trunks not visible in the first post-event satellite images.The results of this activation are briefly shown below and aim to support the Authorised User (AU) for planning recovery measures.  P03.2 – LULC: CLC @ 1:25000 (update)The input data set consisted of 55 polygons of CLC2018 for the Dutch part. In the German part of the AOI 145 polygons of CLC5 were taken as a reference.  The result of the update for the whole AOI is 629 polygons.P07– WILDFIRE DELINEATION AND GRADINGThe wildfire delineation product is based on change detection between two dates, that are prior and after the fire event; the Normalised Burn Ratio (NBR) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are calculated for each image and compared. These two indices represent the vegetation health state and have strong capabilities in extracting wildfires burned areas and impacts. The wildfire grading is computed using the wildfire delineation previously mapped and the dNBR layer.Total burnt area was 149.3 ha.P08.1 – DETAILED DAMAGE ASSESSMENT ANALYSES OVER AFFECTED AREAS (SCALE: 1:5,000)The product P08.1 depicts the after-event situation and illustrates the location of all affected forest areas within the wildfire delineation defined in the P07. The results of the trees damage assessment indicate that the consequences of the wildfire were not very extreme since only 35% of the isolated trees and 25% of tree cover were highly affected (for grading classes destroyed and severe damage). P15 – DETAILED IMPACT ASSESSMENT ANALYSES ON SELECTED ASPECT (SCALE: 1:5,000)The P15 product describes the impact of the wildfire event on the land use land cover. the most affected LULC is moors and heathland with 84.24 ha affected, of which 40.44 are moderately affected and 39.33 highly affected to destroyed. The forested areas are represented mainly in the high damage and destroyed wildfire grading classes. Contrary to the rest of the AOI, coniferous and broad-leaved forests affected areas have fairly similar areas.P16– POST DISASTER EROSION RISK ASSESSMENTThe P16- Post-disaster soil erosion risk assessment product aims to deliver information about the soil status assessment over the burnt area. Since the vegetation has burnt, soil chemical and physical properties have changed due to the high temperatures during the fires. A soil erodibility model-based approach was chosen, more precisely, the well-known Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE).The soil loss susceptibility is mostly very small, occupying 98% of the AOI.  WILDFIRE DAMAGE RECOVERY MONITORINGAfter the first post-event analysis, the area has been monitored a month later (i.e. on the 1st June 2020) and a second time on the 26th June 2020, aiming at providing further insights regarding the vegetation health. The study has been carried out through new P07-Wildfire delineation and grading product and associated P15-Impact assessment analyses on a selected aspect, based on Sentinel-2 images. The last monitoring will be carried out in August.P07- WILDFIRE DELINEATION AND GRADING  P15- IMPACT ASSESSMENT ANALYSES ON A SELECTED ASPECT