Integrating Multi-Source Spatial Data for Monitoring and Managing Land Cover Impacts of Open Rubbish Fires: case study of United States

The aim of this study is to analyse land cover change (LCC) using the integration of data from three databases: FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System), NLCD (National Land Cover Database) and NFIRS (National Fire Incident Reporting System). The main idea is to utilise data snapshots from these databases to identify and assess changes in land cover, without undertaking a comprehensive analysis of individual incidents. The research used data about open rubbish fires from 2015, the year just before NLCD 2016. Locations of fires from NFIRS were confirmed by FIRMS satellite observations and the impact, the LCC and tree density at these sites, was assessed using NLCD. In fire-affected areas, the most common LCC were shifts from shrubland to forest (29.9%), forest to herbaceous vegetation (29.7%), and herbaceous vegetation to shrubland (16.5%). While in the whole study area: i) herbaceous vegetation to shrubland (22.9%); ii) forest into herbaceous vegetation (19.8%); iii) shrubland into forest (17.0%); iv) shrubland into herbaceous vegetation (9.0%); v) forest into shrubland (6.1%); vi) herbaceous vegetation into cultivated areas (5.5%). The results demonstrate that processes of silviculture, as well as natural growing, can be distinguished, and that areas near open rubbish fires undergo different changes than those typical of the continental US. The proposed methodology is versatile and innovative, rendering it readily applicable in diverse geographical and temporal contexts. This approach allows for the efficient utilisation and enhancement of spatial data, which is vital for the monitoring and management of land cover change.