Assessment of Forest Fire Weather Index at National Level

Abstract. Understanding how fire weather danger indices changed in the past and how such changes affected forest fire activity is important in a changing climate. We used the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI), calculated from two reanalysis data sets, ERA-40 and ERA Interim, to examine the temporal variation of forest fire danger in Europe in 1960–2012. Additionally, we used national forest fire statistics from Greece, Spain and Finland to examine the relationship between fire danger and fires. There is no obvious trend in fire danger for the time period covered by ERA-40 (1960–1999), whereas for the period 1980–2012 covered by ERA Interim, the mean FWI shows an increasing trend for southern and eastern Europe which is significant at the 99% confidence level. The cross correlations calculated at the national level in Greece, Spain and Finland between total area burned and mean FWI of the current season is of the order of 0.6, demonstrating the extent to which the current fire-season weather can explain forest fires. To summarize, fire risk is multifaceted, and while climate is a major determinant, other factors can contribute to it, either positively or negatively.

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The Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System as a predictor of total soil moisture content as estimated by the Thornthwaite water balance

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x85-196 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 15 (6) ◽

pp. 1194-1195

Author(s):

Robert S. McAlpine ◽

Thomas G. Eiber

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Moisture Content ◽

Water Balance ◽

Forest Fire ◽

Index System ◽

Soil Moisture Content ◽

Fire Weather ◽

Weather Index ◽

Fire Weather Index ◽

Total Soil

Weather data from Upsala and Atikokan, Ontario, were used to determine the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System values and to calculate the soil moisture for two soil types using the Thornthwaite water balance. The Duff Moisture Code and the Drought Code were found to give excellent correlations with the total soil moisture content under most weather patterns.

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Fire Weather Index Implementation in the Alpine Area

ISRN Meteorology ◽

10.5402/2012/429072 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniele Cane ◽

Nadia Ciccarelli ◽

Renata Pelosini

Keyword(s):

Forest Fire ◽

Fire Weather ◽

Mountain Areas ◽

Weather Index ◽

Local Conditions ◽

Fire Weather Index ◽

Fire Propagation ◽

A New Technique ◽

Definition Of ◽

Piedmont Region

Piedmont region is located in North-Western Italy and is surrounded by the alpine chain and by the Apennines. The region is covered by a wide extension of forests, mainly in its mountain areas (the forests cover 36% of the regional territory). In the period 1997–2007, Piedmont gained interest by an average of 378 wildfire events per year, covering an average of 1767 ha of forest per year. Meteorological conditions like long periods without precipitation contribute to create favourable conditions to forest fire development, while the fire propagation is made easier by the foehn winds, frequently interesting the region in winter and spring particularly. We applied the Fire Weather Index FWI (Van Wagner, 1987) to the Piedmont region on warning areas previously defined for fire management purposes (Cane et al., 2008). Here we present a new technique for the definition of thresholds in order to obtain alert levels more suited with the local conditions of the forest fire warning areas. We describe also the implementation of the prognostic FWI prediction system, involving the use of good forecasts of weather parameters at the station locations obtained by the Multimodel SuperEnsemble postprocessing technique.

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Relating changes in duff moisture to the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System in Populus tremuloides stands in Elk Island National Park

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x07-055 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 37 (10) ◽

pp. 1987-1998 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

S. G. Otway ◽

E. W. Bork ◽

K. R. Anderson ◽

M. E. Alexander

Keyword(s):

Forest Fire ◽

Populus Tremuloides ◽

Index System ◽

National Park ◽

National Standard ◽

Fire Weather ◽

Weather Index ◽

Fire Weather Index ◽

Elk Island National Park ◽

Topographic Positions

The manner in which trembling aspen ( Populus tremuloides Michx.) forest duff moisture changes during the growing season was investigated in Elk Island National Park, Alberta, Canada. A calibration–validation procedure incorporating one calibration site with moisture sampling across three topographic positions was used to develop predictive models, which were subsequently compared with 12 validation sites across three vegetation types throughout the Park. Duff moisture was modelled against the Duff Moisture Code and Drought Code components of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. Spring, summer, and fall rates of duff moisture change differed (P < 0.050) during calibration, with moisture loss greatest in spring. Additionally, while moisture changes on the south-facing and crest topographic positions were similar during spring, moisture losses were greater (P < 0.050) at these locations compared with the north-facing landscape position. Correlation analysis indicated that duff inorganic content and bulk density were both related to duff moisture but were limited in importance compared with weather-based influences. When compared with predicted values obtained from calibrated models, moderate predictability of duff moisture was found (mean absolute error = 20.7%–54.2%). Relative to the national standard equations, unique but very different empirical relationships were developed between the Duff Moisture Code and Drought Code and the moisture content of the duff layer in aspen forest stands found in Elk Island National Park.

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Wildfires and the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index system for the Daxing'anling region of China

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf09120 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 20 (8) ◽

pp. 963 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Xiaorui Tian ◽

Douglas J. McRae ◽

Jizhong Jin ◽

Lifu Shu ◽

Fengjun Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Fire ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Coniferous Forest ◽

Northern China ◽

Fire Danger ◽

Fire Season ◽

Fire Weather ◽

Burnt Area ◽

Weather Index ◽

Fire Weather Index

The Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) system was evaluated for the Daxing'anling region of northern China for the 1987–2006 fire seasons. The FWI system reflected the regional fire danger and could be effectively used there in wildfire management. The various FWI system components were classified into classes (i.e. low to extreme) for fire conditions found in the region. A total of 81.1% of the fires occurred in the high, very high and extreme fire danger classes, in which 73.9% of the fires occurred in the spring (0.1, 9.5, 33.3 and 33.1% in March, April, May and June). Large wildfires greater than 200 ha in area (16.7% of the total) burnt 99.2% of the total burnt area. Lightning was the main ignition source for 57.1% of the total fires. Result show that forest fires mainly occurred in deciduous coniferous forest (61.3%), grass (23.9%) and deciduous broad leaved forest (8.0%). A bimodal fire season was detected, with peaks in May and October. The components of FWI system were good indicators of fire danger in the Daxing'anling region of China and could be used to build a working fire danger rating system for the region.

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Climatological evaluation of Haines forest fire weather index over the Mediterranean Basin

Meteorological Applications ◽

10.1002/met.1367 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 545-552 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Hasan Tatli ◽

Murat Türkeş

Keyword(s):

Forest Fire ◽

Mediterranean Basin ◽

Fire Weather ◽

Weather Index ◽

Fire Weather Index ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Mediterranean Basin

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Updated Operational Implementation of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System in Ireland

10.5194/ems2021-285 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Padraig Flattery ◽

Klara Finkele ◽

Paul Downes ◽

Ferdia O'Leary ◽

Ciaran Nugent

Keyword(s):

Forest Fire ◽

Index System ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Fire Danger ◽

Energy Output ◽

Fire Intensity ◽

Fire Weather ◽

Reference Period ◽

Weather Index ◽

Fire Weather Index

Since 2006 the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System (FWI) has been used operationally at Met &#201;ireann to predict the risk of forest fires in Ireland (Walsh, S, 2006). Although only around 11% or ca 770,000 ha of the total land area of Ireland is afforested, there are also large areas of open mountain and peatlands that are covered in grasses, dwarfshrub and larger woody shrub type vegetation which can provide ready fuel for spring wildfires, when suitable conditions arise. Following winter, much of this vegetation is either dead or has a very low live moisture content, and the flammability of this vegetation can be readily influenced by prevailing weather, most especially following prolonged dry periods. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine is the Forest Protection authority in Ireland and issues Fire Danger Notices as part of this work. These notices permit improved preparedness for fire responses and are based on information provided by Met &#201;ireann on the current status of FWI and FWI components using observation data at synoptic stations and the predicted FWI for the next five days ahead based on numerical weather prediction input data.The FWI is based on<ul><li>three different types of forest fuel, ie how quickly these dry out/get rewetted. These are the Fine Fuels Moisture Code (FFMC), the Duff Moisture Code (DMC) and the Drought Code (DC).</li> <li>components based on fire behaviour: the Initial Spread Index (ISI), the Build-up Index (BUI), and the Fire Weather Index (FWI) which represents fire intensity as energy output rate per unit length of fire front. It is then used to determine the Daily Severity Rating (DSR) of the fire danger.&#160;</li> </ul>Of these components, the FFMC and ISI components have been found to provide the most accurate indication of risk under Irish conditions, based on the fuels involved and ignition patterns observed to date.The DSR was based on a climatology of 1971 to 2005 at the time of operational implantation of the FWI at Met &#201;ireann. An updated climatology based on the new reference period of 1990 to 2020 will be shown as well as the change of the 98 percentiles of extreme rating using this new reference period. &#160;Walsh, S.&#160;&#8220;Implementation in Ireland of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System.&#8221; In&#160;Making Science Work on the Farm. A Workshop on Decision Support Systems for Irish Agriculture, 120&#8211;126. Dublin: AGMET, 2007.&#160;

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