Quebec Wildfires 2023

Keywords: Canada, Wildfires, 2023,
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

Canada has been devasted by a record-breaking series of wildfires in 2023. Wildfires have raged in all 13 provinces and territories burning 15 million hectares. The 2023 fire was the most destructive ever recorded - exceeding the fire years of 1989 (7.6 million hectares), 1994 (7 million hectares), and 2014 (4.5 million hectares). The Province of Quebec had been devastated with record 4.5 million hectares burned between March & September 2023, due to extremely warm and dry conditions. With the acquired geospatial data and maps we can learn about what types of trees that have been destroyed in Quebec by evaluating the patterns and repercussions of previous wildfires, and the impacts of fires in 2023. The types of vegetation destroyed were grassland, needle forest, shrubland, and mixed forest. Wildfires in Canada can significantly impact the landscape and their distribution. GIS and Remote Sensing methods were employed, such as using the clip tool to extract wildfire affected regions. The Buffer tool created spatially measured 100ft buffer zones around fire-affected areas. Spatial interpolation estimates the distribution and density of above references tree types within identified fire perimeters. ERDAS Imagine program was utilized to remove atmospheric interference from the smoke within the image data. The 3D Analyst tool visualizes terrain and elevation data in three dimensions, enhancing understanding of topography, vegetation cover, and fire behavior. These methods provide an assessment of the extent of tree destruction caused by wildfires in Canada.