Spatial-Temporal of Fire Foci in the Metropolitan Region of Maceió

Abstract

This work evaluated the burnings and fires in the Maceió Metropolitan Region (MMR) via Fire Foci (FF) data available in BQueimadas for the period 1999 to 2019. The FF time series was submitted to descriptive and multivariate statistical analysis (Cluster Analysis - CA) together with the Vegetation Health Index (VHI) applied to the fire foci in the municipalities of MMR. Based on the hierarchical grouping, three homogeneous groups (G1, G2 and G3) of FF were identified and the municipality of Atalaia was not grouped (NA). Groups G1 (145.5 ± 7.77 FF) and G2 (28.5 ± 44 FF) presented similarities regarding the seasonality of the foci. While Group G3 (91 ± 7.07 FF), which includes the capital Maceió, presented irregular distribution spatially. All the variability of the FF is associated with the agricultural activities in the MMR. But also, the negligence of atheism of flammable material on the vegetation propitiates an increase of fires and burns, mainly in the sugarcane harvest.

Keywords:
fire foci; burned area; multivariate analysis; vegetation health index