Prioritisation of Criteria in the Analysis of Forest Fire Vulnerable Areas by Interval Valued Neutrosophic AHP and Spherical Fuzzy AHP Methods
Abstract
Wildfires arise from multiple causes and can spread rapidly across large areas, posing severe environmental challenges. In Turkey, nearly 12 million hectares predominantly located in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions are considered highly susceptible to such events. Vulnerable zones are characterized by areas where ignition can occur easily and where flames can quickly propagate to surrounding landscapes. Given limited control over natural dynamics, this study focuses on prioritizing the criteria that influence wildfire vulnerability. Based on expert consultations and a comprehensive literature review, five main categories and seventeen sub-criteria were established. The primary groups comprise climatic and meteorological factors, vegetation characteristics, geographical conditions, human-related activities, and remote sensing indicators. The detailed sub-criteria include variables such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, flammable vegetation, forest density, dried biomass, slope, aspect, coastal proximity, soil properties, settlement concentration, agricultural and husbandry practices, tourism, industrial activity and power lines, historical fire records, drought indices, and afforestation practices. All of these criteria play an important role in the probability of wildfires. For the first time, these parameters were weighted with the Interval-Valued Neutrosophic AHP (IVN-AHP) and Spherical Fuzzy AHP (SF-AHP) methods. It was identified that, among all the factors, humidity was the most critical parameter, with weights of 9.47% and 11.07% for IVN-AHP and SF-AHP, respectively. It has been observed that low humidity levels lead to the drying of vegetation, which becomes highly prone to wildfires, even with small ignition sources. This shows the consistency of the two methods, which reflects the reality of wildfires.
Keywords
References
- Rigolot, E., “Impact du changement climatique sur les feux de forêté”, Forêt Méditerranéenne, 29(2): 167-176, (2008). DOI: https://hal.science/hal-03573294v1
- El Mazi, M., Boutallaka, M., Saber, E. R., Chanyour, Y., and Bouhlal, A., “Forest fire risk modeling in Mediterranean forests using GIS and AHP method: case of the high Rif forest massif (Morocco)”, Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration, 9(3): 1109-1123, (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-024-00591-3
- Busico, G., Giuditta, E., Kazakis, N., and Colombani, N., “A hybrid GIS and AHP approach for modelling actual and future forest fire risk under climate change accounting water resources attenuation role”, Sustainability, 11(24): 7166, (2019). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11247166
- Fernández-García, V., Fulé, P. Z., Marcos, E., and Calvo, L., “The role of fire frequency and severity on the regeneration of Mediterranean serotinous pines under different environmental conditions”, Forest Ecology and Management, 444: 59-68, (2019). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.04.040
- Driouech, F., ElRhaz, K., Moufouma-Okia, W., Arjdal, K., and Balhane, S., “Assessing future changes of climate extreme events in the CORDEX-MENA region using regional climate model ALADIN-climate”, Earth Systems and Environment, 4(3): 477-492, (2020). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-020-00169-3
- Moreno, M., Bertolín, C., Arlanzón, D., Ortiz, P., and Ortiz, R., “Climate change, large fires, and cultural landscapes in the mediterranean basin: An analysis in southern Spain”, Heliyon, 9(6), (2023). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16941
- Francos, M., Úbeda, X., Tort, J., Panareda, J. M., and Cerdà, A., “The role of forest fire severity on vegetation recovery after 18 years. Implications for forest management of Quercus suber L. in Iberian Peninsula”, Global and Planetary Change, 145: 11-16, (2016). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2016.07.016
- Novo, A., Fariñas-Álvarez, N., Martínez-Sánchez, J., González-Jorge, H., Fernández-Alonso, J. M., and Lorenzo, H., “Mapping forest fire risk—a case study in Galicia (Spain)”, Remote Sensing, 12(22): 3705, (2020). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12223705
Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Fuzzy Computation, Multiple Criteria Decision Making
Journal Section
Research Article
Early Pub Date
July 24, 2026
Publication Date
-
Submission Date
September 3, 2025
Acceptance Date
April 29, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Number: Advanced Online Publication