Now, a University of Utah-led study has
The new study is the first attempt to map escape routes for wildland fire fighters from an aerial perspective. The researchers used Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology to analyze the terrain slope, ground surface roughness and vegetation density of a fire-prone region in central Utah, and assessed how each landscape condition impeded a person's ability to travel.
"Firefighters have a great sense for interactions between fire and landscape conditions. We hope to offer to them an extra tool using information collected on a broad scale," says lead author Michael Campbell, doctoral candidate in the U's Department of Geography.
Department of Geography professor and co-author, Philip Dennison, adds, "Finding the fastest way to get to a safety zone can be made a lot more difficult by factors like steep terrain, dense brush, and poor visibility due to smoke. This new technology is one of the ways we can provide an extra margin of safety for firefighters."
The findings were published online Sept. 26, 2017, in the International Journal of Wildland Fire.
