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Spatiotemporal dynamics of wildfires in the Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina (1986-2024): A remote sensing approach to burned area reconstruction

J. V. Albornoz,C. Baldini,L. Bellis,M.C. Naval Fernández,J.P. Argañnaraz

Published 2025 in 2025 Latin American GRSS & ISPRS Remote Sensing Conference (LAGIRS)

ABSTRACT

-This study presents the most comprehensive and consistent reconstruction of wildfire history in the Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina, spanning the period 1986-2024. By integrating multiple satellite data sources (Landsat, Sentinel-2) and applying hybrid classification techniques in Google Earth Engine, a spatially explicit burned area dataset was developed. A total of 11,458 wildfire events were recorded, over the 39-year period studied, accumulating nearly 2.5 million hectares (ha). Large fires ($\gt1,000$ ha) represent 2.75% of all fire events and accounted for nearly 75% of the total burned area. Among these, megafires-defined as events exceeding $\mathbf{1 0, 0 0 0}$ ha-represented only $\mathbf{0. 3 4 \%}$ of all fires but were responsible for over 43% of the total area burned. Fire activity showed strong seasonality: over 77% of the total burned area occurred during the late winter and early spring, with peak activity in September and October. Nearly 45% of the Sierras de Córdoba experienced at least one fire event between 1986 and 2024, with recurrent hotspots in the central Sierras Chicas and southern Sierras de los Comechingones showing fire return intervals as short as $\mathbf{4 - 5}$ years. This long-term dataset provides a critical tool for understanding fire regime dynamics, supporting land and fire management, and assessing the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of wildfires in the context of climate change and expanding Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI).

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