A decision tree in a classification of fire hazard factors

Abstract

Today in Ukraine there is an increased level of natural and technogenic threats and fire hazards. Therefore, an important task in identifying and assessing risks and threats is to determine fixed and variable factors that affect the potential for fires and to classify them by the available features. To solve the problem of classifying numerous factors of fires, we suggest using the method of building decision trees, which is a method of presenting rules in a hierarchical consistent structure where each object corresponds to a single node through which the decision is made. The use of the C4.5 algorithm helps build a branched decision tree and classify factors of fire danger. Three main classes of permanent environmental factors have been distinguished, which include land cover, topography, and climatic resources; the variable factors are the indices NDVI, DMP, and SWI. They, in turn, are divided into subclasses. The calculated weights can be used for simulating a fire hazard. The obtained values range from 0 to 1, where a value of 0 prevents natural fires (e. g., water surfaces), but values close to 1 indicate a high hazard potential of natural fires. The decision trees, obtained in the process of classification, are important for planning measures to prevent natural fires. They can also be used for zoning in terms of fire hazards in spatial modeling of fires, mathematical modeling of their effects, as well as in further monitoring and prediction of natural fires.