Mapping of landscape fires in the Mekong delta

The article presents the results of the analysis of the spatial-temporal dynamics of wildfires within the boundaries of the economic region “Mekong Delta” in the south-west of the Republic of Vietnam for the period from 2001-2020. according to various information products of satellite monitoring based on data MODIS spatial resolution 250-1000 m and Landsat resolution 30 m. Mapping of burnt-out areas was performed and the recurrence of fires was determined for 13 provinces of the Mekong Delta. In the future, this will allow us to determine the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on the burnabilityof the territory, as well as to study the consequences of pyrogenic effects on landscapes. According to various information products of the burnt areas, the total area of the hares ranged from 1 to 8.7 million hectares or from 15 to 37 % of the entire territory. Data on the recurrence of fires during the study period were obtained, which allows us to find out in which areas fires occur most often. The maximum frequency of fires is typical for Anjiang Province, located in the north of the region. The ability to harvest rice 2-3 times a year creates prerequisites for burning rice straw in the fields. This is probably why the increased frequency of fires and the burning of the most agricultural-developed provinces of the Mekong Delta are associated with this. This indicates the high importance of fires as an exogenous factor for the ecosystems of the lower Mekong in the conditions of climate change. In the future, an analysis of the dynamics of the territory’s burnability under the influence of climatic and hydrological factors may be carried out, considering the peculiarities of agricultural use of the Mekong Delta territory.