Los Angeles County Fire Risk Map

     Creating a fire risk map for the Station Fire in Los Angeles County involved several detailed steps. Fire perimeter data and the DEM was provided by the instructor for student convenience. Coordinates for the DEM was changed in order to make the slope model. The coordinates were changed to UTM zone 11 by selecting metric based system project coordinate system and NAD 1983. Therefore, the slope can successfully be created after the hillshade model. The slope was reclassified with appropriate values. The areas with flatter slopes have lower hazard points and areas with steeper slopes have higher hazard points. A steeper slope has a greater risk of catching fire. Additional data on land cover needed to be obtained from the FRAP website. I chose the fuel rank data. Adding the fuel rank data to the map was a simple step. The final component of the fire risk map was combining factors. The slope model and the fuel rank data had to be calculated using the raster calculator. The two were added together to make a summary map. The final product shows the areas at greatest risk in red, orange and yellow. The areas of lowest risk is shown in green. The final product fire risk score proves that the area within the Station Fire has high risk of catching fire because of steep slopes. The fire perimeters of various dates from August to September are included in the map for reference on how the fire grew over time.
     The most difficult problem I encountered during this lab assignment was assigning values for reclassification of the slope. It was difficult to determine the ranges for the classes. Also, I was unsure on how many perimeters I should include in the map. I included one from each date for clarity. I further provided an inset map to indicate where the fire is located in the Los Angeles County. Lastly, it turned out that I did not need to make a slope for my fuel risk layer. This was not required for the raster calculation to make the final product.