Understand the Index v2.0
Introduction
The Greater Hobart Bushfire Exposure Index is a web platform designed to visualise bushfire severity and exposure across the Greater Hobart region. It helps local governments and communities identify areas of high exposure and prioritise long-term preparedness efforts.
Funded by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the platform was originally developed in partnership with Glenorchy Council, the City of Hobart, and Kingborough Council. The platform has now been expanded to include the council areas of Clarence, Sorell, and Brighton.
By offering detailed insights into bushfire exposure levels, the platform empowers councils, emergency services, and residents to better understand bushfire exposure and take informed action to protect lives and property. This tool supports effective preparedness and mitigation strategies, helping communities enhance their resilience against bushfire threats.
Key Features of the Map
The Greater Hobart Bushfire Exposure Index platform offers two essential layers that help visualise bushfire risk in the region:
- Wildfire Severity Index: This layer represents a prediction of the potential severity of a bushfire in a given area. It considers critical factors like vegetation type, density, topography (e.g., slope of the land), and climate to estimate how severe a bushfire might become if it ignites. The severity layer is valuable for local governments to identify high-severity areas where bushfires are likely to be more intense, and it can inform fuel reduction and mitigation strategies.
- Wildfire Exposure Index: This layer focuses on the potential exposure of buildings and communities to bushfires, based primarily on their proximity to bushland and surrounding vegetation. The closer a building is to high-density vegetation or bushland, the higher the exposure. This index helps communities and authorities prioritise areas where homes and critical infrastructure are most exposed and plan safety measures accordingly.
Both of these indices—the Wildfire Severity Index and the Wildfire Exposure Index—are derived from a framework called the Geoneon Wildfire Data Stack. This stack is built using a series of input layers that are essential to understanding and modelling bushfire exposure. These layers include:
- Buildings: Residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure building footprints, which provide a clear understanding of where structures are located relative to bushland.
- Climate: Climate data, including historical weather patterns that influence vegetation.
- Vegetation: Vegetation maps, showing the type and density of vegetation in the area, which is the primary fuel source for bushfires.
- Topography: Elevation and slope data, which are key for understanding severity.
- Imagery: High-resolution satellite imagery that provides a visual foundation for mapping and monitoring the area.
By combining these inputs, the Geoneon Wildfire Data Stack produces the two output layers—Wildfire Severity and Wildfire Exposure—that provide a picture of bushfire exposure in the Greater Hobart area.
Benefits and Applications of the Index
The Greater Hobart Bushfire Exposure Index is a powerful mitigation tool that leverages advanced deep-learning algorithms, high-resolution mapping, and multi-faceted data to provide a detailed picture of bushfire exposure for buildings and communities. It is designed to assist both local governments and the public in understanding and addressing bushfire risks in a highly actionable way.
By providing precise geospatial data, the index enables local authorities to:
- Prioritise Safety Measures: Local governments can identify areas most exposed and develop targeted strategies to protect people and assets.
- Optimise Resource Allocation: The data helps authorities allocate resources efficiently to mitigate the impacts of bushfires, ensuring that funds and efforts are directed where they are most needed.
In addition to benefiting government agencies, the Greater Hobart Bushfire Exposure Index serves as a public resource, empowering residents with insights into their personal bushfire exposure. This information is essential for making informed decisions about preparedness strategies.
Key Benefits:
- Strengthened Mitigation Strategies: Improve overall hazard readiness by refining mitigation plans, reducing potential impacts, and enhancing emergency response efforts.
- Community Engagement & Communication: Encourage risk awareness and foster collective action within communities, ensuring informed dialogue and engagement.
- Sustainable Community Recovery: Support long-term recovery by guiding communities in resilient and sustainable rebuilding efforts after bushfires.
- New Resident Education: Educate new homeowners and renters about their specific risks and preventive measures to ensure safety in bushfire-prone areas.
- Resource Allocation & Prioritisation: Maximise the efficiency of resource deployment by focusing on areas that present the highest exposure and potential risk.
- Refined Risk Assessments: Improve the accuracy and reliability of hazard evaluations by conducting more detailed and precise risk assessments.
Disclaimer
The Greater Hobart Bushfire Exposure Index (the Index) serves as a mitigation tool, designed to enable enhanced understanding and planning in relation to bushfire risks. It is grounded in methodologies that have been reviewed and validated by subject matter experts specialising in natural hazard risk research, bushfire analysis, and forestry. The application of advanced processing methods has yielded results aligned with established bushfire exposure analyses from academic and scientific literature.
Users should be aware that the Index does not delve into the intricate physical properties of buildings, such as roofing materials, deck constructions, and other structural elements. Hazard impacts in surrounding parcels may induce indirect losses in others, regardless of an individual parcel's exposure profile as portrayed by the Index.
By accessing and utilising the Index, users affirm their understanding and acceptance of these inherent limitations and agree to use this tool responsibly.
While the Index available on this platform is developed with care and aims to provide reliable information, it is imperative that users understand and acknowledge the following:
- Limitation of Liability: The developers, contributors, and administrators of the Index do not accept any liability for any damage, loss, injury, or inconvenience suffered because of using the Index. Users are encouraged to use this information responsibly and consider it as one of many tools for informed decision-making.
- No Warranty: The information provided through the Index is supplied “as is” and without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for a particular purpose of the information available through the index.
- Not a Substitute for Professional Advice: The Index is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon as the sole basis for significant decisions. Users are advised to consult with relevant professionals or authorities when considering actions relating to bushfire preparedness, mitigation, and response.
- Dynamic Nature of Data: The environmental data used to build the index is subject to change due to natural processes, and as such, the index should be considered a dynamic resource that represents the conditions at the time of data collection. Users should be aware that actual conditions may vary, and regular updates and consultation of other resources are recommended.
- Data Interpretation: The Index relies on the interpretation of complex data, and different interpretations could lead to different conclusions. Users are urged to consider this variability when using the index.
- Use at Your Own Risk: By using the Index, users agree to assume all risks related to the use of the information provided, acknowledging the limitations and variability inherent in this kind of data analysis.
By proceeding to use the Index contained herein, users acknowledge and agree to the terms outlined in this disclaimer.