Chromatic Coding (ConForest_RGB) for the Detection of Spatial-Temporal Patterns in Collective Lands in Galicia (Spain)

Abstract

In the scientific literature, numerous different analyses have been reported on forest fires, in a constant effort to predict their behavior and occurrence. It is known that a variety of factors come together in these events: climatic, physiographic, socioeconomic and territorial, among others. However, although forest fires have a significant relationship with social conflict, this aspect has not been sufficiently studied. This aspect is particularly important in regions such as Galicia (Northwest Spain), where forest fires, either intentional or related to human activity, account for up to 95% of the total annual number of fires. As a measure of this social conflict, in this article, we compile the court sentences and newspaper reports, in which the montes vecinales en mano común VMC) of Galicia (a special type of property and tenure right) have been involved, which allows us to elaborate a chromatic coding that relates the three factors and allows us to detect spatio-temporal patterns. The resulting coding is a grid made up of 3034 rows and 15 columns, in which the color of each cell indicates the relationship between fires, newspaper reports, and court rulings. This coding also makes it possible to detect differences between the geographical sectors considered, which helps to detect spatio-temporal patterns and facilitates the implementation of specific prevention policies for each geographical sector.