Personal homepage

 

 

 

Research interests

  • Calibration and validation of wildfire simulators; application of wildfire simulators in fire prevention and management; simulation of the effects of weather variables and climate conditions on fire occurrence and spread; characterization of wildland-urban interfaces prone to fires; prediction of climate change impact on wildfires probability and severity; mitigation and adaptation to wildfires; estimation of fire vulnerability and risk.
  • Estimation and mapping of vegetation types and fuel models by field data and remote sensing imagery.
  • Estimation of the spatial and temporal consistency of insect defoliation on oak forests by remote sensing indexes.
  • Short-term prediction and estimation of reference evapotranspiration.
  • Statistical analysis of time series.
  • Development of geographic information systems.
  • Gap-filling techniques to estimate missing data.
  • Analysis of airborne pollen time series.

Selected publications


Salis, M., Del Giudice, L., Alcasena-Urdiroz, F., Scarpa, C., Duce, P. (2023). Assessing cross-boundary wildfire hazard, transmission, and exposure to communities in the Italy-France Maritime cooperation area.  Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 6, 1241378.
Jahdi, R., Del Giudice, L., Melis, M., Lovreglio, R., Salis, M., Arca, B., & Duce, P. (2023). Assessing the effects of alternative fuel treatments to reduce wildfire exposure. Journal of Forestry Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-022-01504-2
Salis, M., Del Giudice, L., Jahdi, R., Alcasena-Urdiroz, F., Scarpa, C., Pellizzaro, G., Bacciu, V., Schirru, M., Ventura, A., Casula, M., Pedes, F., Canu, A., Duce, P., & Arca, B. (2022). Spatial patterns and intensity of land abandonment drive wildfire hazard and likelihood in mediterranean agropastoral areas. Land, 11(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/land11111942
Del Giudice, L., Arca, B., Scarpa, C., Pellizzaro, G., Duce, P., & Salis, M. (2021). The wildland-anthropic interface raster data of the italy–france maritime cooperation area (sardinia, corsica, tuscany, liguria, and provence-alpes-côte d’azur). Data in Brief, 38, 107355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.107355
Salis, M., Arca, B., Del Giudice, L., Palaiologou, P., Alcasena-Urdiroz, F., Ager, A., Fiori, M., Pellizzaro, G., Scarpa, C., Schirru, M., Ventura, A., Casula, M., & Duce, P. (2021). Application of simulation modeling for wildfire exposure and transmission assessment in sardinia, italy. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 58, 102189. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102189
Ascoli, D., Vacchiano, G., Scarpa, C., Arca, B., Barbati, A., Battipaglia, G., Elia, M., Esposito, A., Garfì, V., Lovreglio, R., Mairota, P., Marchetti, M., Marchi, E., Meytre, S., Ottaviano, M., Pellizzaro, G., Rizzolo, R., Sallustio, L., Salis, M., … Bacciu, V. (2020). Harmonized dataset of surface fuels under Alpine, temperate and Mediterranean conditions in Italy. A synthesis supporting fire management. iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, 6, 513–522. https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor3587-013
Jahdi, R., Salis, M., Alcasena, F. J., Arabi, M., Arca, B., & Duce, P. (2020). Evaluating landscape-scale wildfire exposure in northwestern iran. Natural Hazards, 101(3), 911–932.
Jahdi, R., Salis, M., Alcasena, F. J., Arabi, M., Arca, B., & Duce, P. (2020). Evaluating landscape-scale wildfire exposure in northwestern iran. Natural Hazards, 101(3), 911–932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-03901-4
Arca, B., Ghisu, T., Casula, M., Salis, M., & Duce, P. (2019). A web-based wildfire simulator for operational applications. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 28(2), 99–112. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF18078
Jahdi, R., Salis, M., Arabi, M., & Arca, B. (2019). Fire modelling to assess spatial patterns of wildfire exposure in ardabil, NW iran. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLII-4/W18, 577–581. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-4-W18-577-2019
Salis, M., Arca, B., Alcasena-Urdiroz, F., Massaiu, A., Bacciu, V., Bosseur, F., Caramelle, P., Dettori, S., Fernandes de Oliveira, A. S., Molina-Terren, D., Pellizzaro, G., Santoni, P.-A., Spano, D., Vega-Garcia, C., & Duce, P. (2019). Analyzing the recent dynamics of wildland fires in quercus suber l. Woodlands in sardinia (italy), corsica (france) and catalonia (spain). European Journal of Forest Research, 138(3), 415–431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-019-01179-1
Salis, M., Del Giudice, L., Robichaud, P. R., Ager, A. A., Canu, A., Duce, P., Pellizzaro, G., Ventura, A., Alcasena-Urdiroz, F., Spano, D., & Arca, B. (2019). Coupling wildfire spread and erosion models to quantify post-fire erosion before and after fuel treatments. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 28(9), 687–703. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF19034
Salis, M., Giudice, L. D., Arca, B., Ager, A. A., Alcasena-Urdiroz, F., Lozano, O., Bacciu, V., Spano, D., & Duce, P. (2018). Modeling the effects of different fuel treatment mosaics on wildfire spread and behavior in a mediterranean agro-pastoral area. Journal of Environmental Management, 212, 490–505. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.020
Santoni, P.-A., Tihay-Felicelli, V., Barboni, T., Massaiu, A., Salis, M., Arca, B., & Pellizzaro, G. (2018). Forest fire. In S. L. Manzello (Ed.), Encyclopedia of wildfires and wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires (pp. 1–8). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_56-1
Sirca, C., Salis, M., Arca, B., Duce, P., & Spano, D. (2018). Assessing the performance of fire danger indexes in a mediterranean area. iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, 5, 563–571. https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2679-011
Lozano, O. M., Salis, M., Ager, A. A., Arca, B., Alcasena, F. J., Monteiro, A. T., Finney, M. A., Del Giudice, L., Scoccimarro, E., & Spano, D. (2017). Assessing climate change impacts on wildfire exposure in mediterranean areas. Risk Analysis, 37(10), 1898–1916. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12739
Salis, M., Arca, B., Alcasena, F., Arianoutsou, M., Bacciu, V., Duce, P., Duguy, B., Koutsias, N., Mallinis, G., Mitsopoulos, I., Moreno, J. M., Pérez, J. R., Urbieta, I. R., Xystrakis, F., Zavala, G., & Spano, D. (2016). Predicting wildfire spread and behaviour in mediterranean landscapes. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25(10), 1015–1032. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF15081
Salis, M., Laconi, M., Ager, A. A., Alcasena, F. J., Arca, B., Lozano, O., Oliveira, A. F. de, & Spano, D. (2016). Evaluating alternative fuel treatment strategies to reduce wildfire losses in a mediterranean area. Forest Ecology and Management, 368, 207–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2016.03.009
Alcasena, F. J., Salis, M., Ager, A. A., Arca, B., Molina, D., & Spano, D. (2015). Assessing landscape scale wildfire exposure for highly valued resources in a mediterranean area. Environmental Management, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0448-6
Arca, B., Ghisu, T., & Trunfio, G. A. (2015). GPU-accelerated multi-objective optimization of fuel treatments for mitigating wildfire hazard. Journal of Computational Science, 11, 258–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocs.2015.08.009
Ghisu, T., Arca, B., Pellizzaro, G., & Duce, P. (2015). An optimal cellular automata algorithm for simulating wildfire spread. Environmental Modelling & Software, 71(0), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2015.05.001
Salis, M., Ager, A. A., Alcasena, FerminJ., Arca, B., Finney, M. A., Pellizzaro, G., & Spano, D. (2015). Analyzing seasonal patterns of wildfire exposure factors in sardinia, italy. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 187(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-4175-x
Ager, A. A., Preisler, H. K., Arca, B., Spano, D., & Salis, M. (2014). Wildfire risk estimation in the mediterranean area. Environmetrics, 25(6), 384–396. https://doi.org/10.1002/env.2269
Canu, A., Arca, B., Pellizzaro, G., Pintus, G. V., & Ferrara, R. (2014). Fire danger and soil erosion risk in northern sardinia wildland-urban interface. FLAMMA, 5, 103–105.
Ghisu, T., Arca, B., Pellizzaro, G., & Duce, P. (2014). A level-set algorithm for simulating wildfire spread. CMES Computer Modeling in Engineering & Science, 102(1), 83–102. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2014.102.083
Salis, M., Ager, AlanA., Finney, MarkA., Arca, B., & Spano, D. (2014). Analyzing spatiotemporal changes in wildfire regime and exposure across a mediterranean fire-prone area. Natural Hazards, 71(3), 1389–1418. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0951-0
Arca, B., Ghisu, T., Spataro, W., & Trunfio, G. A. (2013). GPU-accelerated optimization of fuel treatments for mitigating wildfire hazard. Procedia Computer Science, 18, 966–975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2013.05.262
13th Annual International Conference on Computational Science (ICCS), Barcelona, SPAIN, JUN 05-07, 2013
Salis, M., Ager, A. A., Arca, B., Finney, M. A., Bacciu, V., Duce, P., & Spano, D. (2013). Assessing exposure of human and ecological values to wildfire in sardinia, italy. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 22, 549–565. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF11060
Received 1 May 2011, accepted 14 August 2012, published online 8 November 2012
Franca, A., Sanna, F., Nieddu, S., Re, G. A., Pintus, G. V., Ventura, A., Duce, P., Salis, M., & Arca, B. (2012). Effects of grazing on the traits of a potential fire in a sardinian wooded pasture. Options Méditerranéennes. Série A: Séminaires Méditerranéens, 102, 307–311.
Pellizzaro, G., Canu, A., Arca, B., Cesaraccio, C., & Vargiu, A. (2009). Influence of temperature on flowering oleaceae, grasses and pinaceae: 20 years of data [influenza della temperatura sulla fioritura delle oleacee, graminacee e pinacee: 20 anni di dati]. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology, 2.
Pellizzaro, G., Ventura, A., Arca, B., Arca, A., & Duce, P. (2009). Effect of changes of air temperature and rainfall on the fuel plant in environment mediterranean [effetto delle variazioni della temperatura dell’aria e delle precipitazioni sullo stato del combustibile vegetale in ambiente mediterraneo]. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology, 2, 43–44.
Arca, B., Duce, P., Laconi, M., Pellizzaro, G., Salis, M., & Spano, D. (2007). Evaluation of FARSITE simulator in mediterranean maquis. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 16(5), 563–572. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF06070
Arca, B., Duce, P., Spano, D., Snyder, R. L., & Fiori, M. (2004). Use of numerical weather forecast and time series models for predicting reference evapotranspiration. Acta Horticulturae, 664, 39–46.
Arca, B., Benincasa, F., & De Vincenzi, M. (2000). Miglioramento tramite reti neurali dei modelli matematici per la stima dellévapotraspirazione. Rivista Di Ingegneria Agraria, 2, 89–95.
Arca, B., Benincasa, F., Materassi, A., & Ventura, A. (2000). Progettazione e realizzazione di uno strumento per la misura non distruttiva della biomassa vegetale. Rivista Di Ingegneria Agraria, 4, 201–206.
Arca, B., Benincasa, F., Bianchini, M., De Vincenzi, M., & Gori, M. (1998). Le reti neurali nel calcolo dei flussi radiativi. Rivista Di Ingegneria Agraria, 1, 26–31.
Pellizzaro, G., Ventura, A., Arca, B., & Canu, A. (1998). A non destructive method to determine leaf chlorophyll content in grain sorghum. Agricoltura Mediterranea, 128, 1–9.
Two methods for the analysis of colorimetric components applied to plant stress monitoring. (1998). Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 19(2), 167–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1699(97)00042-2
Duce, P., Arca, B., Spano, D., Ventura, A., & Usai, I. (1997). Uno strumento per la misura non distruttiva del contenuto in clorofilla: Applicabilità dello strumento agli agrumi. Italus Hortus, 4, 26–31.
Duce, P., Spano, D., Benincasa, F., Deidda, P., & Arca, B. (1996). Colorimetric technique for evaluating leaf stress status: An example for water stress. Advances in Horticultural Science, 10, 33–38.
Barboni, T., Pellizzaro, G., Arca, B., Chiaramonti, N., & Duce, P. (2010). Analysis and origins of volatile organic compounds smoke from ligno-cellulosic fuels. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 89(1), 60–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2010.05.006

National and international projects

 

Dec 2023 - Nov 2025.
PRIN PNRR FIREBOX - Essential tools for wildland fire risk management in Italy.
Co-investigator.
Subject: Development of modeling tools able to simulate wildfire propagation, estimate wildfire hazard, assess vulnerability and exposure, and support wildfire prevention and risk mitigation in Italian National Parks.

Jan 2023 - Jan 2027
EU Horizon Marie Curie Actions Fire-Adapt Project - The Role of Integrated Fire Management on Climate Change Adaptation for Ecosystem Services in Tropical and Subtropical Regions.
Subject: assessment, monitoring and evaluation of the impact of Integrated Fire Management activities on carbon dynamics, biodiversity and cultural ecosystem services in different tropical and subtropical regions with altered fire regimes.

Apr 2021 - Mar 2025.
EU H2020 FIREURISK - Developing a holistic, risk-wise strategy for european wildfire management.
Subject: Development of fuel models, application of prescribed fire in agroforestry areas, prediction of burn probability and severity, evaluation of fire danger and risk at wildland-urban interface.

May 2019 - Dec 2022.
EU Medcoopfire - Mediterranean cooperation for the defense of forests against fires.
Co-investigator.
Subject: Development of tools for a more effective strategy of fire management; development of an integrated response system based on a cross-border cooperation at regional and national level

Jan 2018 - Dec 2021.
S2igi - Integrated Fire Management System.
Co-investigator.
Subject: Development of an integrated system for the monitoring of wildfires based on the integration among remote sensing products, wildfire danger models, and wildfire propagation models.

May 2019 - Dec 2022.
EU Med-Star - Strategies and interventions for fire risk mitigation in the Mediterranean area.
Subject: Improving and standardizing the monitoring of wildfires, the prevention of the fire spread and factors influencing it, and the adoption of communication activities aimed at demonstrating the applicability of new techniques and methodologies for operational applications (III International Conference on Fire Behaviour and Risk).

Jul 2013 – Dec 2015.
EU Proterina-DUE - The second step towards protection from natural hazards.
Subject: Development of a fire simulator for operational applications, comprising a mass-consistent model to estimate the wind field, the fire spread model of Rothermel, the Level-set simulation tecnique, and a graphical user interface based on the Google Maps Application Programming Interface.

Jan 2010 – Dec 2013.
EU FUME - Forest fires under climate, social and economic changes in Europe, the Mediterranean and other fire-affected areas of the world (FP7, G.A. 243888).
Work package leader.
Subject: Development of burn probability and severity maps using actual weather data and future data from regional climate models. Assessment of fire danger and risk variations at wildland-urban interface.

Sep 2012 – Dec 2015.
EXTREME - Messa a punto di metodologie e sistemi di supporto per la valutazione del rischio di incendio in condizioni meteorologiche estreme.
Principal investigator.
Subject: Post-processing of weather data, development of wind field data by computational fluid dynamics models, dissemination and exploitation of project results (II International Conference on Fire Behaviour and Risk).

May 2009 – Jul 2012.
EU PROTERINA-C – Monitoring system for evaluating the impact of climate variability on nature and urban environments.
Subject: Wildfire spread and behaviour simulation on real case studies, development of fuel models, dissemination and exploitation of project results.

Jan 2011 – Dec 2012.
MIIUR - Metodologie e indicatori per la valutazione del rischio di Incendio nelle aree di interfaccia urbano-rurale in ambiente mediterraneo.
Principal investigator.
Subject: Estimation and prediction of wildland-urban interface development, wildfire danger assessment.

Feb 2009 – Dec 2010.
Fornitura di prodotti informatici e ortofotocarte rilevati con tecnologia LIDAR e iperspettrale. Co-investigator.
Subject: Collection of field data on dendrometric variables, calibration and validation of airborne LIDAR and hyperspectral data. Fuel inventory applications.

Oct 2007 – Feb 2008.
EU ATMOSnet - Studio sulle potenzialità del monitoraggio pollinico nella valutazione quantitativa degli impatti delle variazioni e dei cambiamenti climatici sulla salute umana.
Co-investigator.
Time series analysis of pollen data by autoregressive models and neural networks. Detection of linear trends and relationships between pollen data and climate changes.

Sep 2012 – 2015.
LIDAR - Definizione di una metodologia per il monitoraggio delle infestazioni da lepidotteri defogliatori nei boschi a Quercus spp. della Sardegna.
Subject: Estimation of forest biomass from point clouds collected by terrestrial laser scanner.

Jul 2010 – Dec 2012.
CLIMIMPACT – Climate change impacts on crop production and fire danger in selected Mediterranean areas. Academy of Sciences of Cech Republic.
Subject: Climate change impact on wildfires probability and severity. Seasonal forecasts.

Jul 2008 – Aug 2010.
CMCC, Euro-mediterranean centre for climate change, IAFENT Division “Impacts on Agriculture, Forest, and Natural Ecosystems.”
Subject: Climate change impact on wildfires probability and severity. Seasonal forecasts.

 

Teaching activities

May 2004 – present.
Member of the Teaching Board.
Ph.D. Program on Agrometeorology and Ecophysiology of Agricultural and Forest Ecosystems, University of Sassari, Italy.

Jan 2013 – Feb 2013.
Lectures on (1) “Environmental factors and fire behaviour” (2) “Wildfire modelling applications”.
International Master in Fire Planning, Prevention and Fighting in Mediterranean areas (PIROS), University of Sassari, Italy.

Nov 2003 – Jan 2004.
Lectures on “Concept, models, and informatics tools in desertification studies”.
Master in Training for Integrated Research for application of innovative technologies and processes to combat desertification (FRIADE), University of Sassari, Italy.

Dec 2009 – Feb 2011.
Lectures on (1) “Environmental factors and fire behaviour” (2) “Case study analysis and lesson learned”.
Fire Behaviour Analyst course for the Sardinian Forestry Corps, University of Sassari, ItalyLectures on (1) “Environmental factors and fire behaviour” (2) “Case study analysis and lesson learned”.
Fire Behaviour Analyst course for the Sardinian Forestry Corps, University of Sassari, Italy.

Jan 2003 – Dec 2009.
Lecture on “Data management and statistical applications”.
Ph.D. Program on Agrometeorology and Ecophysiology of Agricultural and Forest Ecosystems, University of Sassari, Italy.

Dec 2003 – Feb 2009.
Lecture on “Neural networks and ARIMA models in time series analysis”.
Ph.D. Program on Agrometeorology and Ecophysiology of Agricultural and Forest Ecosystems, University of Sassari, Italy.

13 Mar 2008.
Lecture on “Methodological approaches for fire inventory and modelling: wildfire simulators”.
Ph.D. Program on forestry and environmental sciences, IV Intensive advanced short course, University of Tuscia, Viterbo.

Jun 1996.
Lecture on “Informatic tools in data management and statistical applications”.
Research Area of Sassari, National Research Council of Italy.

Feb 2001.
Lecture on “Modelling techniques in Forest Ecology”.
Degree Course on Forest and Environmental Science, University of Sassari, Italy.

May 2008.
Lecture on “Modelling techniques in wildfire analysis and prediction”.
Master Course on Planning and Management of Forest and Environmental Systems, University of Sassari, Italy.

May 2008.
Lectures on “Data management, database applications, geographic information systems, statistical tests”.
Course “Istruzione e Formazione Tecnica Superiore (IFTS), Tecnico superiore per il monitoraggio e la gestione del territorio e l’ambiente”, Liceo Scientifico Spano, Sassari, Italy.

Apr 2007 – Jan 2008.
Lectures on “Data management, database applications, geographic information systems, statistical tests”.
Course Istruzione e Formazione Tecnica Superiore (IFTS), “Tecnico superiore per il monitoraggio e la gestione del territorio e l’ambiente”, Liceo Scientifico Azuni, Cagliari, Italy.

Jan 2007 – Oct 2007.
Supervisor of the Ph.D. thesis “Fire Behaviour Simulation in Mediterranean Areas using FARSITE”.
Ph.D. Program on Agrometeorology and Ecophysiology of Agricultural and Forest Ecosystems, University of Sassari, Italy.

Jan 2008 – Oct 2008.
Co-Supervisor of the Ph.D. thesis “Maquis fuel model development to support spatially-explicit fire modelling applications”.
Ph.D. Program on Agrometeorology and Ecophysiology of Agricultural and Forest Ecosystems, University of Sassari, Italy.

May 2006 – Jan 2007.
Co-Supervisor of the Degree thesis “Characterization of fuel to predict the wildfire danger”.
Degree Course on Forest and Environmental Science, University of Sassari, Italy.

National Research Council of Italy
Institute of BioEconomy (CNR-IBE), Sassari, Italy

Tel. +390792841505