Viewshed Analysis for Improving the Effectiveness of Watchtowers, in the North of Mexico

ABSTRACT

The forests in Mexico have been seriously affected by forest fires, and thus detection of fires from watchtowers is essential. The current numbers of watchtowers and effectiveness of their distribution is unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the current and potential area visible from the watchtowers, and to propose a new network to maximize its effectiveness. Visibility analysis in ArcGis were developed by integrating a digital model of elevation and a vegetation cover map, to determine visibility on a surface from point to point along a given line of sight or across the entire surface in a viewshed. It was found that existing watchtowers provide an overall visibility effectiveness (43%) very low compared with the recommended level. We suggest relocating one of the watchtowers and constructing another, which would increase the overall visibility effectiveness up to 81%.