Integrating X-SAR images and anthropic factors for fire susceptibility assessment

In this paper we present an integrated approach to COSMO-SkyMed image analysis and classification exploiting integration of different data of the regions of interest, namely urban forestry areas, wide urban parks. The aim is to provide a methodology for exploiting complex data structures built upon multi resolution grids gathering together with optical and X-SAR images, also historical land exploitation and meteorological data, records of human habits, and several other information sources. Although these data are specifically gathered to built a fire susceptibility map, the method is quite general. Indeed, the contribution of the model and its novelty relies manly on the definition of a learning schema lifting different factors and aspects of the event to be identified (here fire causes), including physical, social and behavioral ones, to the design of a fire susceptibility map, of a specific urban forestry. The outcome is an integrated geospatial database providing an infrastructure that merges cartography, heterogeneous data and complex analysis, in so establishing a digital environment where users and tools are interactively connected in an efficient and flexible way. © 2011 IEEE