Visibility Analysis of Fire Watchtowers Using GIS: A Case Study in Dalaman State Forest Enterprise

Abstract

The determination of the forest fires locations as quickly as possible and accurately is very important for fighting forest fires. Therefore, fire watchtowers should be located on high peaks where watchtower staffs are able to watch most of the forested areas. In this study, Dalaman State Forest Enterprise was selected as first-degree fire- prone region, and visibility analysis has been performed to evaluate fire watchtowers network. Using Visibility Analysis technique of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the location of each watchtower was evaluated separately and visible forested areas monitored by fire watchtowers were identified. Visibility analysis was conducted for 9 fire watchtowers which supervise the study area. In the study, forested areas observed by each individual watchtower and more than one watchtower, and also invisible forested areas were determined. The results showed that 47.2 % of forested area could be observed by fire watchtowers. In order to increase visibility percentage to more effective levels, new fire watchtowers should be established or inactive fire watchtowers could be moved to more suitable locations.