AERIAL FIREFIGHTING OF FOREST FIRES – SPATIAL DATA SUPPORT

Abstract. The main aim of the article is to show the usage of spatial data for support of aerial firefighting of forest fires. First, the support of strategic level decision is shown, and after that, the support of the tactical and operational level is demonstrated.

The strategic level decisions are supported with various cartographical outputs showing the distribution and trends of the forest fires in the area of the Czech Republic. These maps are based on the data concerning the emergencies collected on the operational centers of the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic. The created maps serve as a support for the decisions concerning the strengthening of the assets for aerial firefighting of the forest fires. In this way, the spatial data concerning the emergencies, are used to support the strategic decisions. The outcome of these decisions is the public procurement focused on the selection of the aircraft of the private owners, which will bolster the current state assets for wildfires suppression.

The operational and tactical level of aerial firefighting of forest fires is supported with the published layer, which contains the selected places for water supply to the aircraft during the forest fire suppression operation. The places were selected on the regional offices of Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic. The data was sent in the form of Office Open XML Workbook (xlsx) (Microsoft Excel table) to the General Directorate. There the data was collected and processed by the Java program into the form of ArcGIS Server feature layer. This process makes the data available through the whole Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic in a standardized manner.