Impacts of Wildfires on Surface Runoff and Erosion: The Case Study of a Fire Event in Pelion Area, Greece

Wildfires can trigger dramatic increases in surface runoff and erosion, because of the burned vegetation and the appearance of a condition of soil-water repellence. Fire-enhanced surface runoff generation and soil erosion constitute adverse effects of high concern for a long-term future period after a fire event occurrence. The current study investigates the increase on peak surface runoff and sediment loss as a result of a fire event that occurred in Pelion area in Greece on June 27th, 2007. The boundaries of the burned area were determined using satellite images, and the total burned area was found to be almost 60km2. The land cover of the area prior to fire event, mainly included forest, seminatural and agricultural areas as determined by the raster datasets produced by the Copernicus land cover program. The change of peak surface runoff discharge pre- and post- fire event was estimated using the Natural Resources Conservation Service – CN (NRCS-CN) method, while the sediment loss was also estimated. The fire event was found to significantly increased peak surface runoff, which may cause the occurrence of flood events in the downstream area.