Detailed Wildfire Vulnerability Assessment In Selected Wildland Urban Interface Residential Areas In The Region Of Attica, Greece

This work illustrates an integrated methodology for wildfire vulnerability assessment in selected Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas, leveraging Web Services, Remote Sensing, Google Earth Engine (GEE) and GIS techniques. The study generates and fuses physical vulnerability factors (fuel, canopy density, DEM derivatives, and remote sensing indices) and socio-economic elements (population age and density, building materials, land values, and Points of Interest). Thenceforth, fire vulnerability maps were created in a GIS environment incorporating data for the most intense fire period recorded in the past 38 years (1984-2021) in the Attica region. Key municipalities that were investigated include Markopoulo Mesogaias, Lavreotiki, Saronikos, Oropos, and Acharnon. As for the findings, they highlight the need for targeted mitigation and community resilience, aiding in identifying vulnerable regions and managing wildfires in Attica's WUI areas.