Analysis of the Wildland–Anthropic Interface (WAI) Characteristics in Guilan Province, Northern Iran

Subject Areas :

Roghayeh Jahdi ^{1 *}

1 - Department of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

Received: 2025-04-26 Accepted : 2025-06-10 Published : 2025-06-22

Keywords: Land cover, Built-up structures, Wildfire risk, Dense wildlands.,

Abstract :

Wildland-Anthropic Interface (WAI) is the area where undeveloped wildland vegetation and built-up structures intermingle. Mapping WAI areas at fine scales is crucial for assessing wildfire exposure and defining appropriate fire risk mitigation strategies in these areas. This research aims to develop a method for mapping different WAI classes in Guilan province using geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS). OpenStreetMap (OSM) building shapefiles from 2022 were used to provide spatial data of buildings, including building location maps and anthropic building density, along with the percentage of area covered by anthropic blocks. Furthermore, a land cover map (in 18 initial classes) prepared based on the classification of Landsat satellite images (Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS L1TP) in 2021 was used, which was reclassified to a map of four main land cover classes (Rural, Forest, Non-Vegetated, and Water bodies) in the study area. In addition, areas with high wildfire risk (based on historical fires between 1992 and 2022) were identified by determining a 2-km buffer from dense and contiguous wildlands (with an area of >5 km2). These spatial data were integrated, and a 100-m raster map of WAI was obtained in four classes: Anthropic, Wildland-Anthropic (WA), Dispersed Anthropic (DA), and Non-Anthropic (NA). The total area and spatial distribution of WAI classes in Guilan province were obtained, and the differences between different municipalities were analyzed. The results showed that 6.6% of the province is covered as the anthropic class with moderate and high anthropic presence. 10.8% of the study area is classified as the WA class, of which 6% is distributed as WA-Interface and 4.8% as WA-Intermix. About 53% of the study area is classified as the DA class, which is distributed in Non-Vegetated, forest, and rural areas. In contrast, 29% of the study area is classified as the NA class (including Non-Vegetated, forest, rural, and water bodies). Characterizing WAI areas is crucial for land and wildfire policy and management, but it is usually determined by the spatial connections between residential development and natural vegetation, overlooking fire risk. This research introduces a novel methodological framework for defining WAI areas through fire risk assessment, which helps guide land management decisions and wildfire prevention strategies. This research suggests investigating the trends and magnitude of changes in WAI areas in the Hyrcanian regions of northern Iran and emphasizes the need to identify measures that can be taken to address the growth of WAI and mitigate the related wildfires risk.

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