Logistics Chain in Container Receiving and Dispatch Processes at a Shipping Company

Introducción: Un mundo cada vez más acelerado trae consigo constantes cambios en los requerimientos de los clientes y las altas exigencias en los mercados. Es por esto que las empresas hoy en día deben preocuparse por su situación actual y estar a la vanguardia actualizando constantemente sus procesos. Actualmente, ser competitivos es más complejo, ya que las demandas del mercado se comportan de forma dinámica, exigiendo un menor costo, disminución del tiempo de la capacidad de respuesta y a su vez garantizar la calidad de sus productos y servicios. Objetivo: El objetivo de la investigación fue identificar los factores críticos que afectan la cadena logística de los procesos de recepción y despacho de contenedores en una empresa naviera. Metodología: La metodología aplicada fueron las herramientas operativas y de seguimiento del Lean Manufacturing. Las técnicas aplicadas para la recolección de los datos consistieron en la observación y la realización de encuestas a través de visitas de campo. Resultados: Los resultados exponen que entre los factores críticos se encuentran ausentismos, fallas mecánicas por no realizar mantenimiento preventivo, horas perdidas por mantenimientos preventivos o correctivos, falta de material para las reparaciones, incumplimiento de los proveedores en los insumos entre otros factores que afectan directamente la capacidad de la empresa; identificándose la etapa de mantenimiento de contenedores como la que presenta el cuello de botella que obstaculiza las metas de la empresa.Introduction: An increasingly accelerated world brings constant changes in customer requirements and high market demands. Therefore, companies today need to worry about their current situation and be at the forefront of markets by constantly updating their processes. Currently, being competitive is more complex, as market demands behave dynamically, demanding a lower cost, decrease in responsiveness time while ensuring the quality of your products and services. Objective: The objective of the research is to identify the critical factors that affect the logistics chain of container reception and dispatch processes at a Shipping Company. Methodology: The methodology applied were the operational and monitoring tools of Lean Manufacturing. The techniques applied for data collection consisted of observation and surveying through field visits. Results: Results expose that within the critical factors include absences, mechanical failures due to non-preventive maintenance, hours lost due to preventive or corrective maintenance, lack of material for repairments, non-compliance of suppliers in inputs among other factors that directly affect the company's capacity; identifying the maintenance stage of containers as the one with the bottleneck that hinders the company's goals

Cadena Logística en los Procesos de Recepción y Despacho de Contenedores en una empresa Naviera

Introduction: An increasingly accelerated world brings constant changes in customer requirements and high market demands. Therefore, companies today need to worry about their current situation and be at the forefront of markets by constantly updating their processes. Currently, being competitive is more complex, as market demands behave dynamically, demanding a lower cost, decrease in responsiveness time while ensuring the quality of your products and services. Objective: The objective of the research is to identify the critical factors that affect the logistics chain of container reception and dispatch processes at a Shipping Company. Methodology: The methodology applied were the operational and monitoring tools of Lean Manufacturing. The techniques applied for data collection consisted of observation and surveying through field visits. Results: Results expose that within the critical factors include absences, mechanical failures due to non-preventive maintenance, hours lost due to preventive or corrective maintenance, lack of material for repairments, non-compliance of suppliers in inputs among other factors that directly affect the company's capacity; identifying the maintenance stage of containers as the one with the bottleneck that hinders the company's goals.Introducción: Un mundo cada vez más acelerado trae consigo constantes cambios en los requerimientos de los clientes y las altas exigencias en los mercados. Es por esto que las empresas hoy en día deben preocuparse por su situación actual y estar a la vanguardia actualizando constantemente sus procesos. Actualmente, ser competitivos es más complejo, ya que las demandas del mercado se comportan de forma dinámica, exigiendo un menor costo, disminución del tiempo de la capacidad de respuesta y a su vez garantizar la calidad de sus productos y servicios. Objetivo: El objetivo de la investigación fue identificar los factores críticos que afectan la cadena logística de los procesos de recepción y despacho de contenedores en una empresa naviera. Metodología: La metodología aplicada fueron las herramientas operativas y de seguimiento del Lean Manufacturing. Las técnicas aplicadas para la recolección de los datos consistieron en la observación y la realización de encuestas a través de visitas de campo. Resultados: Los resultados exponen que entre los factores críticos se encuentran ausentismos, fallas mecánicas por no realizar mantenimiento preventivo, horas perdidas por mantenimientos preventivos o correctivos, falta de material para las reparaciones, incumplimiento de los proveedores en los insumos entre otros factores que afectan directamente la capacidad de la empresa; identificándose la etapa de mantenimiento de contenedores como la que presenta el cuello de botella que obstaculiza las metas de la empresa

Melhoria do processo de fabricação de pallets de madeira: um caso de estudo

Introduction: This article shows the results of the applied research project “Improved design of the manufacturing process of wooden pallets through tools for increasing productivity. Case: Wood industry”, conducted at the Fundación Universitaria Tecnológico Comfenalco Cartagena during 2014. The objective of the research was to create and apply improvement actions to the productive process of the company studied based on industrial engineering tools that would allow a better use of available resources. Methodology: Methods and methodologies were applied to increase productivity, such as the methods-time measurement and the 5S methodology, a guide to implement a cleaner production (cp) program and to calculate the yield of raw materials. Results: The production process was standardized and improved based on the methods-time measurement and 5S. A reasonable production standard was established for the company and its workers. A methodology to calculate wood yields was assessed. A proposal was prepared to implement a cp program, whose guidelines improved the operating practices. Conclusion: Not measuring a process is as serious as measuring it wrongly, since it can lead to the implementation of non-compliant or very lax standards, as well as to a work environment with low levels of productivity due to employee dissatisfaction with inadequate demands, or to the relaxation of employees. Therefore, work study today is highly valid and applicable.Introducción: el artículo muestra los resultados del proyecto de investigación aplicada sobre “Diseño de mejora al proceso de fabricación de estibas de madera a través de herramientas para el incremento de la productividad. Caso: sector maderero”, desarrollado en la Fundación Universitaria Tecnológico Comfenalco, Cartagena, Colombia (2014). Su objetivo fue generar y aplicar acciones de mejora al proceso productivo de la empresa estudiada a partir de herramientas propias de la ingeniería industrial que permitieran un mejor uso de recursos. Metodología: se aplicaron métodos y metodologías para el incremento de la productividad, como el estudio de métodos y tiempos y la metodología de 5S, una guía para implementar un programa de producción más limpia pml y para el cálculo de rendimiento de la materia prima. Resultados: se estandarizó y mejoró el proceso productivo a partir del estudio de métodos y 5S, se implantó un estándar razonable de producción para empresa y trabajadores, se evaluó una metodología para calcular rendimientos de la madera y se desarrolló una propuesta para implementar un programa de pml, cuyos lineamientos mejoraron las prácticas operativas. Conclusión: no medir un proceso es tan grave como medirlo erróneamente; esto puede conducir a implantar estándares incumplibles o muy laxos, así como a un clima laboral que genera bajos niveles de productividad debido a los niveles de satisfacción de los empleados por exigencias inadecuadas o al relajamiento de los empleados.Introdução: o artigo mostra os resultados do projeto de pesquisa aplicada sobre “Design de melhoria do processo de fabricação de pallets de madeira através de ferramentas para o aumento da produtividade. Caso: setor madeireiro”, desenvolvido na Fundação Universitária Tecnológico Comfenalco Cartagena durante 2014. O objetivo da pesquisa foi gerar e aplicar ações de melhoria ao processo produtivo da empresa estudada a partir de ferramentas próprias da engenharia industrial que permitiram uma melhor utilização dos recursos disponíveis. Metodologia: foram aplicados métodos e metodologias para o aumento da produtividade, tais como o estudo de métodos e tempos e a metodologia de 5S, um guia para implementar um programa de produção mais limpa pml e para o cálculo de rendimento da matéria-prima. Resultados: o processo produtivo foi padronizado e melhorado a partir do estudo de métodos e 5S. Foi implantado um padrão razoável de produção para empresa e trabalhadores. Foi avaliada uma metodologia para calcular rendimentos da madeira. Foi desenvolvida uma proposta para implementar um programa de pml, a partir de cujos alinhamentos as práticas operativas foram melhoradas. Conclusão: não medir um processo é tão grave quanto medi-lo erroneamente, já que pode levar a implantar padrões difíceis de cumprir ou muito frouxos, assim como um clima laboral que gera baixos níveis de produtividade pelos níveis de satisfação dos empregados por exigências inadequadas, ou ao relaxamento dos empregados, ambos conducentes à diminuição da produtividade — razão pela qual o estudo do trabalho tem atualmente uma alta validade e aplicação

Poderiam ser considerados portadores assintomáticos os doadores de sangue soropositivos para Trypanosoma cruzi? un estudo de validação no projeto CHICAMOCHA

Introducción: Identificar el deterioro clÍnico de individuos seropositivos para la enfermedad de Chagas requiere observar la evolución de personas con infección establecida por Trypanosoma cruzi (T.cruzi), libres de signos y sÍntomas de cardiomiopatÍa en una lÍnea de base. Objetivo: Realizar una comparación entre donantes de bancos de sangre de Bucaramanga con serologÍa positiva y negativa para T. cruzi. MetodologÍa: La muestra consistió en donantes elegibles con pruebas de tamización positivas para T. cruzi, pero negativas para otros agentes infecciosos tamizados por los bancos de sangre. Estos registros fueron apareados con una muestra aleatoria 1:4 de donantes con pruebas negativas a todas las pruebas de tamización. Los participantes fueron entrevistados para conocer aspectos sociodemográficos y de percepción de su estado de salud, se realizó examen fÍsico y se tomaron muestras de sangre para exámenes paraclÍnicos. Se reportaron las frecuencias y proporciones de los participantes. Se hicieron pruebas de hipótesis de no diferencias entre los dos grupos con la prueba Chi cuadrado, con un nivel alfa de significancia de 5%. Resultados: La muestra consistió en 2,132 donantes de sangre incluidos entre mayo de 2000 y marzo de 2004. Mediante prueba serológica se identificaron 488 (22.9%) seropositivos y 1644 (77.1%) seronegativos. Los seropositivos fueron mayores en edad, presentaron indicadores socioeconómicos menos favorables y menor afiliación a seguridad social con el régimen contributivo y tenÍan una mejor percepción de su salud en comparación con los seronegativos (p&lt;0.05). No se observaron diferencias estadÍsticamente significativas en cuanto a la percepción del funcionamiento de los tres sistemas evaluados (cardiovascular, urinario y gastrointestinal) en ambos grupos. Conclusiones: Los hallazgos del estudio permiten inferir que los donantes de sangre seropositivos para T. cruzi podrÍan considerarse como portadores asintomáticos, sin evidencia clÍnica de cardiomiopatÍa. [Villar JC, Herrera VM, Vega A, Moso F. &iquest;Puede considerarse portadores asintomáticos a los donantes de sangre seropositivos para Trypanosoma cruzi? Un estudio de validación en el proyecto CHICAMOCHA. MedUNAB 2015; 18 (1):34-41]Introduction: In order to identify the clinical deterioration of seropositive individuals for Chagas disease, it is necessary to observe the evolution of people infected by Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), who do not show signs and symptoms of cardiomyopathy on a baseline. Objective: To compare blood donors with positive and negative serology for Trypanosoma cruzi in the city of Bucaramanga. Methodology: The sample consisted of eligible donors with positive screening tests for T. cruzi, but negative for other infectious agents screened by blood banks. These records were matched with a random sample 1: 4 donors who showed negative results to all the screening tests. Participants were interviewed to know their socio-demographic aspects and to get a perception of their health status. Physical exams were performed and blood samples were taken for laboratory tests. Frequencies and proportions of participants were reported. Hypothesis testing of no differences between the two groups using the Chi square test was performed, showing a 5% level of alpha significance. Resultados: The sample included 2132 blood donors between May 2000 and March 2004. By using serological tests, it was identified that 488 (22.9%) were seropositive and 1644 (77.1%) were seronegative. Seropositive donors were older people who belonged to a low socio-economic level and had no health insurance. They also had a better perception of their health compared to seronegative donors (p &lt;0.05). The perception of how the three evaluated systems worked (cardiovascular, urinary and gastrointestinal) showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Conclusions: The study findings allow us to infer that seropositive blood donors for T. cruzi could be considered as asymptomatic carriers without clinical evidence of cardiomyopathy.[Villar-JC, Herrera VM, Vega A, Moso F. Can seropositive Blood Donors be Considered Asymptomatic Carries for Trypanosoma cruzi? A Validation Study in CHICAMOCHA Project. MedUNAB 2015; 18(1):34-41]Introdução:Para identificar o deterioro clínico dos indivíduos soropositivosparaadoençadeChagasénecessário acompanharaevoluçãodeindivíduoscominfecção estabelecida pelo Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), livres de sinais e sintomas de cardiomiopatia numa linha de base. Objetivo:Fazer uma comparação entre os doadores dos bancos de sangue de Bucaramanga com sorologia positiva e negativa para T. cruzi. Metodologia:Aamostra consistiu de doadores elegíveis com rastreamento positivo para T. cruzi, porém negativo para outros agentes infecciosos selecionados pelosbancosdesangue.Essesregistrosforam emparelhados com uma amostra aleatória de 1: 4 com testes negativos a todos os testes da triagem de doadores. Os participantes foram entrevistados para se conhecer aspectos sociodemográficos e perceber seus aspectos de saúde, foi realizado um exame físico e foram coletadas amostras de sangueparaexamesdelaboratório.Relataram-seas frequências e proporções de participantes. Foi feito um teste de hipóteses de não diferenças entre os dois grupos com o teste do chi-quadrado, com um nível alfa de significância de 5%. Resultados:Amostra consistiu em 2132 doadores de sangue incluídos entre maio de 2000 e março de 2004. Pela prova sorológica identificaram-se 488 (22.9%) soropositivos y 1644 (77.1%) soronegativos. Os Soropositivos foram maiores de 18 anos, tinham indicadores socioeconômicos menos favoráveis, menor inscrição no seguro social com o regime contributivo e melhor percepção da sua saúde em relação aos soronegativos (p <0,05). Estatisticamente não se observaram diferençassignificativasquantoàpercepçãodo funcionamento dos três sistemas avaliados (cardiovascular, gastrointestinaleurinário)emambososgrupos. Conclusões:resultados do estudo permitem concluir que os doadores soropositivos para T. cruzi no sangue poderiam ser vistos como portadores assintomáticos, sem evidência clínica de cardiomiopatia. [Villar JC, Herrera VM, Vega A, Moso F. Poderiam ser considerados portadores assintomáticos os doadores de sangue Soropositivos para Trypanosoma cruzi? UmestudodevalidaçãonoprojetoCHICAMOCHA. MedUNAB2015; 18 (1): 34-4

¿Puede considerarse portadores asintomáticos a los donantes de sangre seropositivos para Trypanosoma cruzi? Un estudio de validación en el proyecto CHICAMOCHA

Introduction: In order to identify the clinical deterioration of seropositive individuals for Chagas disease, it is necessary to observe the evolution of people infected by Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), who do not show signs and symptoms of cardiomyopathy on a baseline. Objective: To compare blood donors with positive and negative serology for Trypanosoma cruzi in the city of Bucaramanga. Methodology: The sample consisted of eligible donors with positive screening tests for T. cruzi, but negative for other infectious agents screened by blood banks. These records were matched with a random sample 1: 4 donors who showed negative results to all the screening tests. Participants were interviewed to know their socio-demographic aspects and to get a perception of their health status. Physical exams were performed and blood samples were taken for laboratory tests. Frequencies and proportions of participants were reported.&nbsp; Hypothesis testing of no differences between the two groups using the Chi square test was performed, showing a 5% level of alpha significance.&nbsp; Resultados: The sample included 2132 blood donors between May 2000 and March 2004. By using serological tests, it was identified that 488 (22.9%) were seropositive and 1644 (77.1%) were seronegative.&nbsp; Seropositive donors were older people who belonged to a low socio-economic level and had no health insurance.&nbsp; They also had a better perception of their health compared to seronegative donors (p &lt;0.05). The perception of how the three evaluated systems worked (cardiovascular, urinary and gastrointestinal) showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Conclusions: The study findings allow us to infer that seropositive blood donors for T. cruzi could be considered as asymptomatic carriers without clinical evidence of cardiomyopathy.[Villar-JC, Herrera VM, Vega A, Moso F. Can seropositive Blood Donors be Considered Asymptomatic Carries for Trypanosoma cruzi? A Validation Study in CHICAMOCHA Project. MedUNAB 2015; 18(1):34-41]Introducci&oacute;n: Identificar el deterioro cl&iacute;nico de individuos seropositivos para la enfermedad de Chagas requiere observar la evoluci&oacute;n de personas con infecci&oacute;n establecida por Trypanosoma cruzi (T.cruzi), libres de signos y s&iacute;ntomas de cardiomiopat&iacute;a en una l&iacute;nea de base. Objetivo: Realizar una comparaci&oacute;n entre donantes de bancos de sangre de Bucaramanga con serolog&iacute;a positiva y negativa para T. cruzi. Metodolog&iacute;a: La muestra consisti&oacute; en donantes elegibles con pruebas de tamizaci&oacute;n positivas para T. cruzi, pero negativas para otros agentes infecciosos tamizados por los bancos de sangre. Estos registros fueron apareados con una muestra aleatoria 1:4 de donantes con pruebas negativas a todas las pruebas de tamizaci&oacute;n. Los participantes fueron entrevistados para conocer aspectos sociodemogr&aacute;ficos y de percepci&oacute;n de su estado de salud, se realiz&oacute; examen f&iacute;sico y se tomaron muestras de sangre para ex&aacute;menes paracl&iacute;nicos. Se reportaron las frecuencias y proporciones de los participantes. Se hicieron pruebas de hip&oacute;tesis de no diferencias entre los dos grupos con la prueba Chi cuadrado, con un nivel alfa de significancia de 5%. Resultados: La muestra consisti&oacute; en 2,132 donantes de sangre incluidos entre mayo de 2000 y marzo de 2004. Mediante prueba serol&oacute;gica se identificaron 488 (22.9%) seropositivos y 1644 (77.1%) seronegativos. Los seropositivos fueron mayores en edad, presentaron indicadores socioecon&oacute;micos menos favorables y menor afiliaci&oacute;n a seguridad social con el r&eacute;gimen contributivo y ten&iacute;an una mejor percepci&oacute;n de su salud en comparaci&oacute;n con los seronegativos (p&lt;0.05). No se observaron diferencias estad&iacute;sticamente significativas en cuanto a la percepci&oacute;n del funcionamiento de los tres sistemas evaluados (cardiovascular, urinario y gastrointestinal) en ambos grupos. Conclusiones: Los hallazgos del estudio permiten inferir que los donantes de sangre seropositivos para T. cruzi podr&iacute;an considerarse como portadores asintom&aacute;ticos, sin evidencia cl&iacute;nica de cardiomiopat&iacute;a. [Villar JC, Herrera VM, Vega A, Moso F. &iquest;Puede considerarse portadores asintom&aacute;ticos a los donantes de sangre seropositivos para Trypanosoma cruzi? Un estudio de validaci&oacute;n en el proyecto CHICAMOCHA. MedUNAB 2015; 18 (1):34-41

Applications of artificial intelligence in dentistry: A comprehensive review

This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Sciences, Innovation and Universities under Projects RTI2018-101674-B-I00 and PGC2018-101904-A-100, University of Granada project A.TEP. 280.UGR18, I+D+I Junta de Andalucia 2020 project P20-00200, and Fapergs/Capes do Brasil grant 19/25510000928-3. Funding for open-access charge: Universidad de Granada/CBUAObjective: To perform a comprehensive review of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in dentistry, providing the community with a broad insight on the different advances that these technologies and tools have produced, paying special attention to the area of esthetic dentistry and color research. Materials and methods: The comprehensive review was conducted in MEDLINE/ PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, for papers published in English language in the last 20 years. Results: Out of 3871 eligible papers, 120 were included for final appraisal. Study methodologies included deep learning (DL; n = 76), fuzzy logic (FL; n = 12), and other ML techniques (n = 32), which were mainly applied to disease identification, image segmentation, image correction, and biomimetic color analysis and modeling. Conclusions: The insight provided by the present work has reported outstanding results in the design of high-performance decision support systems for the aforementioned areas. The future of digital dentistry goes through the design of integrated approaches providing personalized treatments to patients. In addition, esthetic dentistry can benefit from those advances by developing models allowing a complete characterization of tooth color, enhancing the accuracy of dental restorations. Clinical significance: The use of AI and ML has an increasing impact on the dental profession and is complementing the development of digital technologies and tools, with a wide application in treatment planning and esthetic dentistry procedures.Spanish Ministry of Sciences, Innovation and Universities RTI2018-101674-B-I00 PGC2018-101904-A-100University of Granada project A.TEP. 280.UGR18Junta de Andalucia P20-00200Fapergs/Capes do Brasil grant 19/25510000928-3Universidad de Granada/CBU

Control de seguridad y acceso vehicular, mediante visión artificial

Objetivo: Elaborar un software de seguridad y acceso vehicular mediante algoritmos de reconocimiento de caracteres con ayuda de visión artificial. Materiales y métodos: Maqueta a escala de la puerta de ingreso N° 03, a la UNJFSC, dos cámaras con resolución de 640x480 y 1080x720, Imagen Acquisition Tool de Matlab, Windows Server y MySQL. El tipo de investigación fue descriptivo, con un diseño experimental, a un nivel aplicativo. Para medir el grado de robustez del software, se puso a prueba los siguientes parámetros: Ángulo de inclinación de la cámara respecto a la matrícula y tamaño de los caracteres. Resultados: Respecto al reconocimiento de las placas vehiculares se obtuvo, en la detección del patrón un 94% de exactitud y en la lectura de los caracteres un 92%, en todas las pruebas realizadas. Además, si colocamos la cámara con un ángulo de 35° respecto a la matricula obtenemos una eficacia en la lectura de los caracteres del 88%, mientras que si la colocamos de manera frontal conseguimos el 95%. Conclusiones: La aplicación creada optimiza eficientemente el sistema de seguridad y control de acceso, pues disminuye aproximadamente en un 87% el tiempo de congestión vehicular al momento de ingresar a las instalaciones. Por lo tanto, puede ser aplicada a cualquier institución que presente los mismos problemas

Estudio de los costos de la no calidad en pymes en Colombia

El objetivo de este artículo es estudiar los costos de la no calidad en pymes (pequeñas y medianas empresas) en Colombia. Este es un ámbito para el cual laspymes tienen dificultades para identificar los costos. Por esto, es necesario hacer un seguimiento apropiado para tomar las decisiones adecuadas, obtener resultados económicos y comerciales que beneficiena la empresa, y así evitar o, al menos, disminuir este tipo de egresos. La metodología del estudio es documental, se llevó a cabo una detallada revisión bibliográfica para analizar los riesgos y las características vinculadas a los costos de la no calidad. Los materiales fueron datos en sitios web institucionales y confiables, con el fin dereducir laposibilidad de incurrir en plagio. Se priorizó la información cuantitativa y se tomaron los hallazgos de investigadores reconocidos para facilitar la interpretación. Con los datos recopilados, se efectuó el análisis y se proyectó un plan para disminuir losegresos.Losresultadospermiten identificar quela contabilidad de costosaumenta el control económico en una organización. Así mismo, le da la posibilidad a la empresa de establecer claramente la utilidad que se le ha dado a los recursos, y diferenciar los costos delacalidad y los de la no calidad

Modelling aboveground biomass and fuel load components at stand level in shrub communities in NW Spain

Shrub-dominated ecosystems cover large areas globally and play essential roles in ecological processes. Aboveground biomass expressed on an area basis (AGB) is central to many of the ecological processes and services provided by shrublands and is important as the main fuel source for wildfires. Hence, its accurate estimation in shrublands is crucial for ecologists and land managers. This is especially relevant in fire-prone regions such as NW Spain, where shrublands are an important part of the landscape, providing multiple services, but are severely impacted by wildfires. Although biomass models are available for numerous shrub species at the individual plant level, operational models based directly on easily measured shrub stand attributes are scarce. In this study, equations for estimating AGB and loads of different fuel components by size and condition (live and dead) from stand biometric variables were developed for the nine most prevalent shrub communities in NW Spain. Non-linear iterative seemingly unrelated regression was used to fit compatible systems of equations for estimating fuel loads, with shrub stand height and cover and litter depth as predictors for individual shrub communities and all data combined. In general, the goodness-of-fit statistics indicated that the estimates were reasonably accurate for all communities (grouped and ungrouped). The best results were obtained for AGB and total fuel load, including litter, whereas the poorest results were obtained for standing live and dead fine fuel load. Model performance was reduced when height was the only independent variable, although the reduction was small for most fuel categories, except litter load for which the variability was adequately explained by the litter depth. These results illustrate the feasibility of the stand level approach for constructing operational models of shrub fuel load that are accurate for most of fuel components, while also highlighting the ongoing challenges in live and dead fine fuel modelling. The equations developed represent an appreciable advance in shrubland biomass assessment in the region and areas with similar characteristics and may be instrumental in generating fuel maps, fire management improvement and better C storage assessment by vegetation, among other many usesS

Near Real-Time Automated Early Mapping of the Perimeter of Large Forest Fires from the Aggregation of VIIRS and MODIS Active Fires in Mexico

In contrast with current operational products of burned area, which are generally available one month after the fire, active fires are readily available, with potential application for early evaluation of approximate fire perimeters to support fire management decision making in near real time. While previous coarse-scale studies have focused on relating the number of active fires to a burned area, some local-scale studies have proposed the spatial aggregation of active fires to directly obtain early estimate perimeters from active fires. Nevertheless, further analysis of this latter technique, including the definition of aggregation distance and large-scale testing, is still required. There is a need for studies that evaluate the potential of active fire aggregation for rapid initial fire perimeter delineation, particularly taking advantage of the improved spatial resolution of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer (VIIRS) 375 m, over large areas and long periods of study. The current study tested the use of convex hull algorithms for deriving coarse-scale perimeters from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) active fire detections, compared against the mapped perimeter of the MODIS collection 6 (MCD64A1) burned area. We analyzed the effect of aggregation distance (750, 1000, 1125 and 1500 m) on the relationships of active fire perimeters with MCD64A1, for both individual fire perimeter prediction and total burned area estimation, for the period 2012–2108 in Mexico. The aggregation of active fire detections from MODIS and VIIRS demonstrated a potential to offer coarse-scale early estimates of the perimeters of large fires, which can be available to support fire monitoring and management in near real time. Total burned area predicted from aggregated active fires followed the same temporal behavior as the standard MCD64A1 burned area, with potential to also account for the role of smaller fires detected by the thermal anomalies. The proposed methodology, based on easily available algorithms of point aggregation, is susceptible to be utilized both for near real-time and historical fire perimeter evaluation elsewhere. Future studies might test active fires aggregation between regions or biomes with contrasting fuel characteristics and human activity patterns against medium resolution (e.g., Landsat and Sentinel) fire perimeters. Furthermore, coarse-scale active fire perimeters might be utilized to locate areas where such higher-resolution imagery can be downloaded to improve the evaluation of fire extent and impactFunding for this study was provided by CONAFOR/CONACYT Projects “CO2-2014-3-252620” and “CO-2018-2-A3-S-131553” for the development and enhancement of a Forest Fire Danger Prediction System for Mexico, funded by the Sectorial Fund for forest research, development and technological innovation “Fondo Sectorial para la investigación, el desarrollo y la innovación tecnológica forestal”S