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Visibility analysis of fire lookout towers in the Boyabat State Forest Enterprise in Turkey

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Abstract

For a successful fire suppression, it is essential to detect and intervene forest fires as early as possible. Fire lookout towers are crucial assets in detecting forest fires, in addition to other technological advancements. In this study, we performed a visibility analysis on a network of fire lookout towers currently operating in a relatively fire-prone region in Turkey’s Western Black Sea region. Some of these towers had not been functioning properly; it was proposed that these be taken out of the grid and replaced with new ones. The percentage of visible areas under the current network of fire lookout towers was 73%; it could rise to 81% with the addition of newly proposed towers. This study was the first research to conduct a visibility analysis of current and newly proposed fire lookout towers in the Western Black Sea region and focus on its forest fire problem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forestry, Kastamonu University, 37100, Kastamonu, Turkey

    Omer Kucuk & Arif Oguz Altunel

  2. Regional Forest Directorate of Kastamonu, Kastamonu, Turkey

    Ozer Topaloglu

  3. Faculty of Architecture and Engineering, Kastamonu University, 37100, Kastamonu, Turkey

    Mehmet Cetin

Authors
  1. Omer Kucuk
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  2. Ozer Topaloglu
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  3. Arif Oguz Altunel
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  4. Mehmet Cetin
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Correspondence to Omer Kucuk.

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Kucuk, O., Topaloglu, O., Altunel, A.O. et al. Visibility analysis of fire lookout towers in the Boyabat State Forest Enterprise in Turkey. Environ Monit Assess 189, 329 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6008-1

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