[01] Daniela Avetisyan, Department of Aerospace Information, Space Research and Technology Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. [02] Roumen Nedkov, Department of Aerospace Information, Space Research and Technology Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Forest landscapes provide a wide variety of ecosystem services, part of which is their regulating function, expressed by prevention of natural hazard and climate changes regulation. In arid regions, where a large part of Simitli Municipality is located, major threat for the forest ecosystems and landscapes are wildfires. In the present study, the fire hazard zones in the forest landscapes in Simitli Municipality were determined and assessed. An elaborate landscape map on different hierarchical levels was created. Each level was assigned a weight coefficient, defining its significance for increase in landscape vulnerability to wildfires. The vegetation condition by applying vegetation indices was also taken into account.

Landscapes, Fire Hazard Zones, Remote Sensing, GIS, Vegetation Indices, Southwestern Bulgaria

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