University of Alicante

About: University of Alicante is a education organization based out in Alicante, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Population. The organization has 8681 authors who have published 22690 publications receiving 476064 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitat d'Alacant & Universidad de Alicante.

Fuel characteristics and fire behaviour in mature Mediterranean gorse shrublands

Abstract: Since the early 1990s, Mediterranean gorse shrublands have expanded significantly in the Mediterranean regions of Spain mainly as a result of the increase in the frequency and extension of forest fires. Mediterranean gorse (Ulex parviflorus), which has been described as a degradation stage of forest communities after fire, has also been described as a fire-prone community. Thus, its presence increases the risk that new fires might occur. In spite of this evidence, there is little information on both the composition and structural characteristics of these communities or the relationship that might exist between these vegetation characteristics and fire behaviour. In this paper we present the results of a characterization of the vegetative structure (plant density, specific composition, biomass fractions, and horizontal and vertical fuel distribution) in Mediterranean gorse. We also analyse fire behaviour using indicators obtained at different scales. Our results show mature Mediterranean gorse shrublands to be communities with high biomass values (3000–4000 g m−2) and high horizontal and vertical vegetation continuity, in which the proportion of fine dead fuel fractions with low moisture content is around 50% of the total phytomass present. Ulex parviflorus is the dominant species and its degree of dominance is a key element in the behaviour of fire. Both the fire-line intensity values and the fire severity values observed can be considered high with respect to those observed in other Mediterranean communities, thus confirming Mediterranean gorse as a high-risk community.

A survey on summarizability issues in multidimensional modeling

Abstract: The development of a data warehouse (DW) system is based on a conceptual multidimensional model, which provides a high level of abstraction in accurately and expressively describing real-world situations. Once this model is designed, the corresponding logical representation must be obtained as the basis of the implementation of the DW according to one specific technology. However, even though a good conceptual multidimensional model is designed underneath a DW, there is a semantic gap between this model and its logical representation. In particular, this gap complicates an adequate treatment of summarizability issues, which in turn may lead to erroneous results of data analysis tools. Research addressing this topic has produced only partial solutions, and individual terminology used by different parties hinders further progress. Consequently, based on a unifying vocabulary, this survey sheds light on (i) the weak and strong points of current approaches for modeling complex multidimensional structures that reflect real-world situations in a conceptual multidimensional model and (ii) existing mechanisms to avoid summarizability problems when conceptual multidimensional models are being implemented.