Using this online wildfire hazard map of Anchorage, property owners can assess their level of wildfire risk.
How hazardous is your neighborhood in terms of wildfire risk? Anchorage residents can look at a new online wildfire hazard map that reflects wildfire potential within the municipality. Jen Schmidt, ISER researcher and assistant professor of natural resources management and policy, developed the map as part of the Arctic Risks and Adaptations (AURA) project.
The map illustrates the potential for wildfire risk based on the ability of vegetation to carry a fire and throw embers. The underlying vegetation is from Landsat imagery (30m) from the NASA ABoVE program.
Users can zoom in to their neighborhood or community council to assess their level of risk.
The wildfire hazard map of Anchorage can be viewed by community council area.
“With hotter and drier summers, wildfires in Alaska will continue to be a concern for communities and individual property owners,” Schmidt said. “A lot of my work recently has focused on what we can do to mitigate the risk of wildfires. That includes assessing vegetation that provides fuel to an active fire. With this map, Anchorage residents can explore their level of risk in their own neighborhoods, and take steps to mitigate it when possible.”
Schmidt has developed exposure maps for Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Yukon, and there’s a similar map available for the entire state of Alaska.
Additional resources Schmidt has developed include “Lessons learned from the McKinley Wildfire,” a 2021 document that gives tips on what to do before, during and after a wildfire near your property.
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The AURA project, officially titled “Collaborative Research: Arctic Urban Risks and Adaptations (AURA): a co-production framework for addressing multiple changing environmental hazards” is part of the National Science Foundation’s Navigating the New Arctic Initiative. Grant number: 1927563.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2021, its budget is $8.5 billion. NSF funds research in all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.
