Spatiotemporal changes of forest fire in vegetation areas of Iran based on MODIS sensor

The increase in fire activity in many regions of Iran in recent decades has raised concerns about the short-term and long-term consequences. Forest and pasture fires will affect the quantity, quality, and health of natural ecosystems. The first step in controlling and preventing forest fires is monitoring. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate ​​fire areas and identify the spatial-temporal changes of these events in the vegetation areas of Iran. To achieve this goal, TERRA satellite MODIS sensor data including active fire products (MOD14A1) and burned areas (MCD64A1) for 20 years (2001-2020) have been used. The results showed that the maximum extent of fires in the vegetation areas of Iran is related to July, which covers about 4100 hectares. This month, a large part of the country's forests, especially in the northwestern parts of the Arasbaran vegetation area, has caught fire. In contrast, the minimum amount of fire areas in the vegetation areas of Iran is related to April, which was observed as two limited zones in the northwest and west of the country. Due to the maximum time of forest fires in the hot and dry months of the year, including June, July, August, and September in the western part of the country in the Zagros. The linear correlation between the burned areas and the areas with active fires in Iran showed that there is a significant relationship between these two satellite products. This connection shows that the burned areas in the vegetation areas of Iran are among the active centers of forest fires