Study Area

This study focuses on the Chiang Mai province in Northern Thailand (provincial boundaries highlighted in blue below).

Figure 1:  Political map of Thailand, with county boundaries and Chiang Mai highlighted in blue.

We examined the area in 2001 and compared it to 2006 to find any changes in vegetation due to fire vulnerability.  The following projections are of actual view of the Chiang Mai region where agriculture is practice in the valley, and farms and roads beginning to reach into the tropical dry forest can be seen from space.

Figure 2:  Satellite image of study area in the Chiang Mai province, April 2001

Figure 3:  Satellite image of study area in the Chiang Mai province, February 2006

A snapshot of the study area taken from Google Earth was used as ancillary data to support our analysis of the region and help us locate our study area.

Figure 4:  Image of study area taken from Google Earth (click to enlarge)

Because fires spread uphill, we also examined elevation data as an element of flammability in addition to human agency.

Figure 5:  3D elevation model of study area