REGIONE AUTONOMA DELLA SARDEGNA

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1 Focus on Wildland Urban Interfaces Supported by PROTERINA-C Project (EU Italia-Francia Marittimo Programme) Organized by Università di Sassari Dipartimento di Economia e Sistemi Arborei Alghero (Italy) 4-6 October 2011 Co-Sponsored by BOOK OF ABSTRACTS Under the patronage of REGIONE AUTONOMA DELLA SARDEGNA

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3 Focus on Wildland Urban Interfaces Alghero (Italy), 4-6 October, 2011 Supported by PROTERINA-C Project: A forecast and prevention system for climate change impacts on risk variability for wildlands and urban areas (EU Italia-Francia Marittimo Programme) Edited by Pierpaolo Duce National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Biometeorology (CNR-IBIMET), Sassari, Italy Donatella Spano Department of Economics and Woody Plant Systems (DESA), University of Sassari, Italy; Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Changes, IAFENT Division, Sassari, Italy

4 Department of Economics and Woody Plant Systems (DESA), University of Sassari, Italy; National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Biometeorology (CNR-IBIMET), Sassari, Italy ISBN Supported by Co-Sponsored by EDES Editrice Democratica Sarda Via Principessa Iolanda, 97 Tel SASSARI PROTERINA-C Project EU Italia-Francia Marittimo Programme Graphic Design and Layout Valentina Bacciu and Michele Salis Printed by TAS, Tipografi Associati Sassari Zona Industriale Predda Niedda Sud Strada 10 SASSARI Under the patronage of REGIONE AUTONOMA DELLA SARDEGNA October,2011

5 «Dixerat ille, et iam per moenia clarior ignis auditur, propiusque aestus incendia volvunt. ergo age, care pater, cervici imponere nostrae; ipse subibo umeris nec me labor iste gravabit; quo res cumque cadent, unum et commune periclum, una salus ambobus erit.» Publius Vergilius Maro Aeneis, Liber II, vv «He spoke; and higher o'er the blazing walls leaped the loud fire, while ever nearer drew the rolling surges of tumultuous flame. Haste, father, on these bending shoulders climb! This back is ready, and the burden light; one peril smites us both, whate'er befall; one rescue both shall find.» Publius Vergilius Maro Aeneid, Book II, vv Theodore C. Williams, trans., 1910

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7 PROTERINA-C Project The Project Proterina-C a forecast and prevention system for climate change impacts on risk variability for wildlands and urban areas (EU Italia-Francia Marittimo Programme) focuses on climate change impacts on wildlands and anthropic areas, with particolar emphasis on the relations between climate changes and risk. The main objective is to provide common tools to prevent and reduce the negative effects of climate variability on risk conditions. The study areas are Sardinia, Corsica and Liguria, that are characterised by strong similarities in terms of both topography and land use. A key concern of PROTERINA-C is to investigate the effects of climate changes on fuel characteristics. Fire danger and behaviour models are used to evaluate the interactions between climate changes and fires, Key points of the Project are also communication and education programs, integrated into wildland fire management. Project Coordinator: Regione Liguria - Dipartimento Agricoltura, Protezione Civile e Turismo Partner 2: Université de Corse Equipe feux de forèt Partner 3: Regione Sardegna - Assessorato della Difesa dell'ambiente Direzione Generale del Corpo Forestale e di Vigilanza Ambientale Partner 4: Arpa Sardegna Partner 5: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Istituto di Biometeorologia Sassari Partner 6: Università degli Studi di Sassari - Dipartimento di Economia e Sistemi Arborei Il progetto Proterina-C, un Sistema di Previsione e Prevenzione dell Impatto della Variabilità delle Condizioni Climatiche sulla Variabilità del Rischio per l Ambiente Vegetato e Urbano, finanziato per il triennio nell'ambito del programma europeo transfrontaliero marittimo Italia-Francia, affronta le problematiche collegate al cambiamento climatico e ai suoi impatti sull ambiente naturale e antropizzato (aree forestali e agricole), con particolare riferimento alle condizioni di rischio indotte da questi mutamenti. L obiettivo generale è quello di fornire alle aree interessate, che presentano tra loro forti analogie morfologiche e di utilizzo del territorio, strumenti comuni per contrastare gli effetti negativi della variabilità del clima sulle condizioni di rischio. Le aree di riferimento comprendono i territori di Corsica, Liguria e Sardegna. Alcune attività verranno focalizzate su aree pilota, scelte sulla base della loro significatività in relazione alle problematiche affrontate. I beneficiari finali del progetto saranno le amministrazioni locali coinvolte nella prevenzione dei rischi. Alcune attività avranno ricadute dirette su organizzazioni locali (es., gruppi di volontariato) o sulla popolazione esposta ai rischi. Il progetto prevede attività dedicate all approfondimento della conoscenza e allo sviluppo di modelli in grado di valutare la pericolosità da incendi boschivi, anche in i

8 relazione alla variabilità del clima. E prevista inoltre l adozione di una piattaforma unica integrata per la previsione dei rischi idrogeologico e da incendi, nonché l identificazione di azioni pilota per la riqualificazione dei territori a rischio, anche attraverso l identificazione di pratiche sostenibili di utilizzo del suolo. Elementi chiave sono i programmi di formazione per gli enti locali e le campagne di informazione rivolte alla popolazione soggetta al rischio. Infine sono previste attività di disseminazione dei risultati tramite lo svolgimento di workshop e la redazione di pubblicazioni congiunte. Le projet Proterina-C trait des questions liées aux changements climatiques et ses impacts sur l'environnement et les zones urbaines (agriculture et forêt), notamment en ce qui concerne les conditions de risque causés par ces changements. L'objectif global est de fournir les zones du projet, qui ont de fortes similitudes morphologiques et d'utilisation des terres, des outils communs pour la lutte contre les effets de la variabilité du climat sur les conditions de risque. Les zones de référence comprends les territoires de la Corse, de la Ligurie et Sardaigne. Certaines activités seront axées sur des zones pilotes, choisis sur la base de leur importance par rapport aux questions adressée. Les bénéficiaires finaux du projet seront les gouvernements locaux impliqués dans la prévention des risques. Certaines activités ont des répercussions directes sur les organisations locales (par exemple, des groupes de bénévoles) ou sur la population exposée au risque. Le projet comprend des activités consacrées à approfondir les connaissances et le développement de modèles pour l évaluation de risque des feux de forêt, aussi en relation avec la variabilité du climat. Il est également envisagé l'adoption de une plate-forme intégrée pour la prévision des risques d'incendie et hydrogéologiques et l'identification des projets pilotes pour la réhabilitation des territoires à risque, notamment par l'identification des pratiques l'utilisation durable des terres. Les principaux éléments sont les programmes de formation pour les collectivités locales et les campagnes d'information visant la population soumise au risque. Enfin, ils sont prévus des activités de diffusion des résultats, des ateliers thématiques, et des publications conjointes ii

9 Scientific Committee Convenors Pierpaolo Duce National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Biometeorology (CNR-IBIMET), Sassari, Italy Donatella Spano Department of Economics and Woody Plant Systems (DESA), University of Sassari, Italy; Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Changes, IAFENT Division, Sassari, Italy Members Bachisio Arca Institute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET (ITALY) Margarita Arianoutsou- Faragitaki Valentina Bacciu University of Athens EuroMediterranean Center for Climate Change CMCC, IAFENT Division; University of Sassari DESA (GREECE) (ITALY) Carlos Borrego University of Aveiro (PORTUGAL) Giovanni Bovio University of Torino (ITALY) Francisco Castro Rego University of Lisbon (PORTUGAL) Jack Cohen Marco Conedera USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, MT Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Bellinzona (USA) (SWITZERLAND) Claudio Conese Institute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET (ITALY) Sandro Dettori University of Sassari DESA (ITALY) John Dold University of Manchester (UK) Mike Flannigan Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Alberta (CANADA) iii

10 Francis Fujioka USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Riverside, CA (USA) Corinne Lampin CEMAGREF, Aix-en-Provence (FRANCE) Stefano Mazzoleni University of Napoli (ITALY) Domingo Molina Terren University of Lleida (SPAIN) Josè Manuel Moreno Rodriguez University of Castilla La Mancha (SPAIN) Grazia Pellizzaro Institute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET (ITALY) Michele Salis Jesús San-Miguel-Ayanz University of Sassari DESA; EuroMediterranean Center for Climate Change CMCC, IAFENT Division Institute for Environment and Sustainability EC JRC, Ispra, Varese (ITALY) (ITALY) Albert Simeoni Worcester Polytechnic Istitute, Worcester, MA (USA ) Costantino Sirca Ramon Vallejo Calzada University of Sassari DESA; EuroMediterranean Center for Climate Change CMCC, IAFENT Division Centro de Estudios Ambientales del Mediterraneo CEAM (ITALY) (SPAIN) Andrea Ventura Istitute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET (ITALY) Xavier Viegas Domingos University of Coimbra (PORTUGAL) Gavriil Xanthopoulos Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Forest Products Technology NAGREF, Athens (GREECE) iv

11 Organizing Committee Giorgio Onorato Cicalò Nicolò Antonio Corraine Pierpaolo Duce Paolo Fiorucci Ulderica Parodi Paul Antoine Santoni Donatella Spano Civil Protection Sardinia Forest Service ARPAS Environmental Protection Agency of Sardinia Institute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET CIMA Research Foundation International Centre on Environmental Monitoring Civil Protection of Liguria University of Corsica University of Sassari DESA; EuroMediterranean Center for Climate Change CMCC, IAFENT Division Valentina Bacciu Elena Campus Tiziano Ghisu Gian Valeriano Pintus Michele Salis Scientific Secretariat EuroMediterranean Center for Climate Change CMCC, IAFENT Division; University of Sassari DESA Institute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET Institute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET Institute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET University of Sassari DESA; EuroMediterranean Center for Climate Change CMCC, IAFENT Division Organizing Secretariat Elena Campus Marcello Cillara Cinzia Fois Gian Valeriano Pintus Institute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET University of Sassari DESA University of Sassari DESA Institute of Biometeorology CNR IBIMET v

12 Convenors ICFBR 2011 DONATELLA SPANO Professor at the Department of Economics and Woody Plant Ecosystems (DESA) at the University of Sassari and coordinator of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Changes (CMCC) Unit in Sassari, Italy. She is Chair of the PhD Course on Agrometeorology and Ecophysiology. Appointed to the Italian Department of Civil Protection - National Committee on Natural Hazards, subcommittee on Forest Fire. She is a biometeorogist with relevant experience on research activity on the interaction between the lower atmosphere and vegetative surfaces with emphasis on the development and refinement of micrometeorological methods for estimating evapotranspiration and CO2 exchanges. Most recent research effort is directed towards the development and testing of wildfire risk and forecasting models and the assessment of climate change impacts on agricultural and forest ecosystems. She is involved as principle investigator in several national and international research projects and authored and co-authored more than 150 national and international scientific papers. She is serving as Pro Rector of Scientific Research at the University of Sassari. PIERPAOLO DUCE Senior research scientist, head of the research unit of the Institute of Biometeorology (CNR Ibimet) located in Sassari, biometeorologist with relevant experience in research team and project management. He developed a significant experience on biometeorological and ecophysiological researches with emphasis on methods and modeling for the analysis and protection of agricultural and forest ecosystem. Specific research activities have been conducted on: (i) flux modelling in agricultural and forest systems, (ii) methods and instruments for monitoring terrestrial ecosystems, and (iii) ecophysiology of crops and forest species. Most recent research efforts were directed to modelling energy and mass exchanges in the lower atmosphere, to assess Mediterranean ecosystems functioning, to determine fire risk and behaviour, and to investigate potential climate change impacts on agricultural and natural ecosystems. He is currently involved in several national and international research projects aiming to better understand forest and shrubland ecosystems functioning and improve fire behaviour modelling. To date, he has authored and co-authored more than 150 national and international scientific papers. vi

13 Foreword Dear friends and colleagues, Welcome to the 2011 and to Alghero! ICFBR2011 is organized by the Institute of Biometeorology of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR Ibimet, Sassari) and the Department of Economics and Woody Plant Ecosystems (DESA) of the University of Sassari with the purpose of exchanging scientific results, information, and experiences between Mediterranean and extra-mediterranean countries and contributing to the reinforcement of forest fire knowledge, prevention and suppression. The Mediterranean basin ecosystems are extremely sensitive and vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbances and fire is one of the most significant threats for the Mediterranean forested areas. In the last three decades, forest fires showed an increase of both occurrence and number of extreme fire seasons. Moreover, a growing number of fires threats the wildland-urban interface, with potential risk for people safety and damage for villages, tourist resorts and other human activities. Therefore, the development of fire management policies are required to reduce the wildland and wildlandurban interface fire risk by applying methods and models for planning the operational phases of fire management. In the Mediterranean countries, considerable knowledge, several tools and adapted methodologies, typical for each country, were developed to help in improving the efficiency in forest fire prevention and suppression systems and they need to be better known and shared. The Conference, an initiative of the Proterina-C Project (A forecast and prevention system for climate change impacts on risk variability for wildlands and urban areas), is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Transboundary Co-operation Program Italy-France Maritime, and is co-sponsored by the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), an activity of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR), with the patronage of the Regional Administration of Sardinia, the Province Administration of Sassari, and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC). The aim is to present advancements in forest fire research and to illustrate the contribution of researchers to scientific and operational knowledge of wildland fire, with particular attention to fire behaviour and risk modelling, relationships between climate and fires, and fire risk at wildland urban interface. Every session is opened by keynote speakers from USDA and Canadian Forest Services, which will present the state-of-the-art of each issue and specific research studies. Special sessions are dedicated to illustrate results from the Proterina-C Project and to give an overview of the more relevant European projects. The present Book of Abstracts contains all the lectures, papers and posters that were accepted for presentation at the Conference, with the original version in English as well as the French and Italian translation. We would like to thank all the Authors for their interest and contribution to the Conference. The good quality of the submitted papers was acknowledged by the Scientific Committee of the Conference that evaluated more than 130 papers. We would also like to express our personal thanks to all the components of the Organizing Committee and the Secretariat for the great effort and care during all the months that preceded the Conference days. Lastly, with over 25 Countries from around the globe here these days, we thank you for coming. We hope that you will enjoy ICFBR2011, learn something new, discuss the issues, take time to renew contacts and make new friends. Yours sincerely, The Convenors of the Conference: Pierpaolo Duce Donatella Spano vii

14 Keynote Speakers ICFBR 2011 FRANCIS FUJIOKA is a Research Meteorologist with the USDA Forest Service, assigned to the Pacific Southwest Research Station in Riverside, California. He specializes in the development of weather models for fire management applications, such as weather/fire behavior simulation and prediction, and seasonal fire potential forecasting at regional and national scales. Dr. Fujioka served as Project Leader for Fire Meteorology and Fire Management Research in the PSW Station at Riverside. His AMS involvement has included co-chair for three AMS Fire and Forest Meteorology Conferences, and member of the Committee on Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. He also served as a member of the 2007 Fire Weather Research Working Group commissioned by the NOAA Science Advisory Board to review the nation's research and operational needs for fire weather information. Dr. Fujioka's current research focuses on developing risk assessment tools for fire management decision support. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in meteorology from the University of Hawaii, an M.A. degree in statistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. degree in Earth Sciences from the University of California, Riverside. MIKE FLANNIGAN is a professor with the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta and a senior Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service. He received his BSc (Physics) from the University of Manitoba, his MS (Atmospheric Science) from Colorado State University and his PhD (Plant Sciences) from Cambridge University. He also completed Meteorologist course MT35 with Environment Canada and worked as a meteorologist for a few years. Dr. Flannigan s primary research interests include fire and weather/climate interactions including the potential impact of climatic change, lightning-ignited forest fires, landscape fire modelling and interactions between vegetation (peat in particular), fire and weather. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Wildland Fire ( ) and has taken on leadership roles with the US National Assessment on Global Change, IPCC, IGBP Fire Fast Track Initiative and Global Change Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) efforts on the global impacts of fire. He is the director of the newly formed Western Partnership for Wildland Fire Science located at the University of Alberta. viii

15 JACK COHEN is a Research Physical Scientist for the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. He has been involved in wildland fire research since 1972 and has served at US Forest Service fire laboratories in Missoula, MT, Riverside, CA and Macon, GA. He was a codeveloper of the U.S. National Fire Danger Rating System and has contributed to the development of U.S. fire behavior prediction systems. At the Riverside Fire Laboratory he conducted research on live fuel fire behavior in southern California shrub lands (chaparral) and also served operationally as a prescribed fire ignition supervisor and fire behavior analyst. For most of two decades Dr. Cohen focused his research on how wildland-urban interface (WUI) fire disasters occur and how homes ignite during extreme wildfires. He was one of the principal scientists involved in the International Crown Fire Modeling Experiment, NWT, Canada, where he investigated the thermal characteristics of crown fire related to structure ignition and fire spread. He currently focuses his research on the fire dynamics related to live shrub and tree canopy fire behavior (active crown fires) and continues a portion of his time revealing opportunities for preventing wildland-urban fire disasters. ix

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17 First Session European Projects on Forest Fires

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19 PR.1 - An overview of the Proterina-C European project Parodi U. 1, Fanti S. 2, Galardi M Regione Liguria, Via Fieschi, Genova, Italy; 2. CIMA Foundation,Via Magliotto, Savona, Italy ulderica.parodi@regione.liguria.it, silvia.fanti@regione.liguria.it, massimo.galardi@regione.liguria.it The PROTERINA-C project is funded, for the period , by the European cross-border maritime ITALIA-FRANCIA programme. It combines scientific activities with the design and experimentation of sustainable risk mitigation measures for pilot areas and use of pre- operational forecast models for forest fires and wild-urban interface fires. The project aims to promote the scientific transfer to local communities and governmental authorities of the maritime border area by encouraging the development of sustainable policies and the construction and a shared culture of risk mitigation. The project develops common tools for predicting risk (platforms and models) and involves local communities in developing sustainable risk prevention projects. In addition to the results of scientific studies that show some characters of interest and novelty the project highlights the importance of side by side work done by scientific partners and technicians of local or regional authorities in developing pilot projects for sustainable risk prevention, information activities and training. This working mode favours scientific enrichment of local operators and the development of a greater attention of scientific community to operational and management issues. A further element of strength of the project PROTERINA-C is the multi-disciplinary. The project sees involved a broad spectrum of scientists and professionals ranging from sociologists to physicists, to computing, statistics, biologists and plant physiologists, engineers and architects in a synergistic framework of scientific analysis for the development of sustainable prevention projects, risk management and spread of risk culture. The presentation illustrates the technical and financial aspects of the project and gives a rapid survey of the results obtained from the project. Keywords: sustainability, risk prevention, climate change, risk management, European funding Il progetto PROTERINA-C, finanziato per il triennio nell'ambito del programma europeo transfrontaliero Italia-Francia marittimo, coniuga attività di tipo scientifico con la progettazione e realizzazione di interventi sperimentali di mitigazione del rischio su aree pilota e l'implementazione pre-operativa di modelli di previsione per gli incendi boschivi e di interfaccia. Il progetto vuole favorire il trasferimento di competenze dal mondo della ricerca scientifica alle comunità locali ed ai governi dell'area transfrontaliera favorendo lo sviluppo di politiche sostenibili e la costruzione ed una cultura del rischio condivisa nell'ambito della regione marittima. Sono stati quindi sviluppati strumenti comuni per la previsione dei rischi (piattaforme e modelli) e coinvolte le comunità locali nello sviluppo di progetti di prevenzione sostenibile del rischio. Oltre ai risultati dei lavori scientifici che presentano alcuni caratteri di interesse e novità, si evidenzia l'importanza dell'affiancamento di partner scientifici e amministratori o tecnici di enti locali o regionali nella realizzazione dei progetti pilota di prevenzione sostenibile del rischio e nelle attività di informazione e formazione. Tale affiancamento favorisce sia l'arricchimento scientifico di chi si trova ad operare sul territorio sia lo sviluppo di una maggiore attenzione del mondo scientifico alle problematiche gestionali ed operative. Un ulteriore elemento di forza del progetto Proterina-C è la multidisciplinarietà. Il progetto vede infatti coinvolto un ampio spettro di scienziati ed operatori che spaziano dalla sociologia alla fisica, all'informatica, alla matematica statistica, alla biologia e fisiologia vegetale, all'ingegneria ed architettura in un quadro sinergico di analisi scientifica e sviluppo di progetti di prevenzione sostenibile e di diffusione della cultura del rischio. La presentazione illustra gli aspetti tecnici e finanziari del progetto oltre a fornire un rapido excursus dei risultati ottenuti dal progetto. Le projet PROTERINA-C est financé, pour la période , par le programme frontalier maritime Italie- France. Il combine des activités scientifiques avec la conception et l expérimentation des mesures durables de mitigation du risque pour des zones pilotes et l utilisation de modèles de prévision pré-opérationnels pour les incendies de forêt et les incendies de l interface péri-urbaine. Le projet vise à promouvoir le transfert scientifique aux communautés locales et aux autorités gouvernementales de la zone de frontière maritime en encourageant le développement de politiques durables et la construction d une culture partagée de la mitigation du risque. Il veloppe SESSION 1: European Projects on Forest Fires SESSION 2: European Project on Forest Fires 3

20 des outils ordinaires de prévision du risque (plateformes et modèles) et implique les communautés locales dans le développement de projets de prévention durable du risque. Outre les résultats des études scientifiques qui ont montré certains traits d intérêt et d innovation, le projet met en évidence l importance du travail côte à côte des partenaires scientifiques et des techniciens des autorités locales et régionales dans le développement de projets pilotes pour une prévention durable du risque, des activités d information et de formation. Ce mode de travail favorise l enrichissement scientifique des opérateurs locaux et le développement d une plus grande attention de la communauté scientifique aux questions de gestion et de fonctionnement. Un autre élément de force du projet PROTERINA-C est la multidisciplinarité. Le projet semble impliquer un large spectre de scientifiques et professionnels, allant des sociologues aux physiciens, informaticiens, statisticiens, biologistes et physiologistes des plantes, ingénieurs et architectes dans un cadre synergique d analyse scientifique pour le développement de projets de prévention durable, gestion du risque et expansion de culture du risque. L article montre les aspects techniques et financiers du projet et présente une étude rapide de ses résultats. 4

21 PR.2 - Fuel types and potential fire behavior in Sardinia and Corsica islands: a pilot study Duce P. 1, Pellizzaro G. 1, Arca B. 1, Bacciu V. 2,3, Salis M. 2,3, Spano D. 2,3, Santoni P.A. 4, Barboni T. 4, Leroy V. 4, Cancellieri D. 4, Leoni E. 4, Ferrat L. 4, Perez Y National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Biometeorology (CNR-IBIMET), Sassari, Italy; 2. Department of Economics and Woody Plant Systems (DESA), University of Sassari, Italy; 3. Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Changes, IAFENT Division, Sassari, Italy; 4. SPE UMR 6134 CNRS University of Corsica, Campus Grimaldi BP 52, Corte, France p.duce@ibimet.cnr.it, vbacciu@uniss.it, santoni@univ-corse.fr Wildland fires represent a serious threat to forests and wooded areas of Mediterranean Basin. Regarding the last ten years, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and France recorded an annual average of about 50,000 forest fires and about 470,000 burned hectares (European Communities, 2009). Cover, type, humidity status, and biomass and necromass load of vegetation are critical variables in affecting wildland fire occurrence. In particular, fuel physical characteristics such as loading (weight per unit area), size (particle diameter), and bulk density (weight per unit volume) of the live and dead biomass contribute to the spread, intensity, and severity of wildland fire. So that, the availability of accurate fuel data at different spatial and temporal scales is essential for fire management applications, from fire behavior prediction to fire effects simulation to ecosystem simulation modeling. One of the goals of Proterina-C project is to evaluate the fire danger in Mediterranean areas and characterize the vegetation parameters involved in the combustion process. In this context, the objectives of this work are i) to identify and describe the different fuel types mainly affected by fire occurrence in Sardinia and Corsica Islands and ii) clusterize the selected fuel types in function of their potential fire behavior. In the first part of the work, the available time series of fire event perimeters and the land use map data were crossed and analysed in order to identify the main land use types affected by fires. Field sampling sites were then randomly identified on selected vegetation types and the following variables were collected: live and dead fuel load, depth of the fuel layer, plant cover. Dead and live fuel load were inventoried following the standardized classes (1h, 10h, 100h) of the USDA National Fire Danger Rating System. In the second part of the work the potential fire behavior for every experimental site was then calculated by BEHAVE fire behavior prediction system (Andrews, 1989), using as input data the collected fuel variables. Fire behavior was simulated by setting different weather scenarios representing the most frequent summer meteorological conditions. The simulation outputs (fireline intensity, rate of spread, flame length) were then used to perform a cluster analysis in order to group the different fuel types based on their potential fire behavior. The results of this analysis can be used to produce fire behavior fuel maps that are important tools in locating and rating fuel treatments, evaluating fire hazard and risk for land management planning, and aiding in environmental assessments and fire danger programs modeling. Keywords: Proterina-C, fuel characteristics, potential fire behavior Gli incendi boschivi rappresentano una seria minaccia per foreste e aree boscate nelle aree del bacino del Mediterraneo. Negli ultimi dieci anni in Spagna, Portogallo, Francia, Italia e Grecia è stata registrata una media annuale di circa 50,000 incendi boschivi con una superficie bruciata di circa 470,000. L insorgenza di incendi boschivi è largamente influenzata anche da diverse variabili legate alla vegetazione quali la copertura, le condizioni di umidità della vegetazione e il carico di biomassa e necromassa. In particolare, alcune caratteristiche del combustibile quali il carico, la dimensione delle particelle e la densità influiscono sulla velocità di propagazione, sull intensità e sulla severità di un incendio. La disponibilità, a differenti scale spaziali e temporali, di dati accurati relativi al combustibile è, quindi, essenziale per la previsione del comportamento dell incendio, per simularne gli effetti e per attuare una corretta gestione del fenomeno. Uno degli obiettivi del progetto Proterina-C è quello di valutare il pericolo di incendio in area Mediterranea anche attraverso la caratterizzazione delle proprietà della vegetazione che influenzano il processo di combustione. In questo contesto, gli obiettivi del presente lavoro sono: i) identificare e descrivere le differenti tipologie di combustibile vegetale maggiormente interessate dagli incendi boschivi in Sardegna e Corsica, ii) classificare le diverse tipologie di combustibile selezionate in funzione del comportamento potenziale del fuoco associato ad esse. Nella prima parte del lavoro, i perimetri degli incendi passati e la mappa di uso del suolo sono stati incrociati al fine di identificare quali fossero le tipologie di vegetazione maggiormente interessate dal fenomeno degli incendi. Successivamente, per le tipologie individuate, sono stati selezionati diversi siti sperimentali SESSION 1: European Projects on Forest Fires 5