Remote sensing applied to the analysis of ecosystem impacts generated by the fires in the year 2020 in the province of Córdoba, Argentina, and identification of priority areas for restoration

Castillo H.; Baldassini P. · Investigaciones Geograficas (Spain) (2023) · DOI: 10.14198/ingeo.23754

Resumen

Fire is one of the most frequent destructive events across the world and the main cause of alterations in the functioning of ecosystems, shifting the patterns of matter and energy exchange with the atmosphere. The objectives of this paper are: 1) to identify the area affected by fires in the province of Cordoba, Argentina, between August and September 2020, 2) to analyze the impacts through four ecosystem variables: the aerial net primary productivity (ANPP), evapotranspiration (ET), albedo, and land surface temperature (LST), and 3) to identify priority areas for restoration through multicriteria analysis. We have used Sentinel-2 images and MODIS products through the Google Earth Engine platform. Fires affected 109,307 hectares, of which 40% exhibited a moderate to high severity. ET was the most affected variable, decreasing by up to 24.8% compared to the pre-fire average situation. The impact on LST and PPNA was found to be moderate, with extreme changes of 10.2% and 10.6%, respectively. We have identified four priority areas for restoration. The low priority areas represent 50% of the total burned area, while high priority areas represent just 7%. This paper provides highly useful information for implementing public policies aimed at guaranteeing the sustainability of these ecosystems.