scholarly journals Quantitative Analysis of Forest Fires in Southeastern Australia Using SAR Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2386
Author(s):  
Aqil Tariq ◽  
Hong Shu ◽  
Qingting Li ◽  
Orhan Altan ◽  
Mobushir Riaz Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Backscatter Coefficient ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Sar Data ◽  
Sar Imagery

Prescribed burning is a common strategy for minimizing forest fire risk. Fire is introduced under specific environmental conditions, with explicit duration, intensity, and rate of spread. Such conditions deviate from those encountered during the fire season. Prescribed burns mostly affect surface fuels and understory vegetation, an outcome markedly different when compared to wildfires. Data on prescribed burning are crucial for evaluating whether land management targets have been reached. This research developed a methodology to quantify the effects of prescribed burns using multi-temporal Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery in the forests of southeastern Australia. C-band SAR datasets were specifically used to statistically explore changes in radar backscatter coefficients with the intensity of prescribed burns. Two modeling approaches based on pre- and post-fire ratios were applied for evaluating prescribed burn impacts. The effects of prescribed burns were documented with an overall accuracy of 82.3% using cross-polarized backscatter (VH) SAR data under dry conditions. The VV polarization indicated some potential to detect burned areas under wet conditions. The findings in this study indicate that the C-band SAR backscatter coefficient has the potential to evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed burns due to its sensitivity to changes in vegetation structure.

Performance Evaluation of Fire Risk Map from LSA-SAF over Mediterranean region in 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina Alonso ◽  
Célia Gouveia
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Radiative Energy ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Risk Map ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Burnt Areas

<p>Forest fires have always been present in Mediterranean ecosystems; as such, they constitute a major ecological and socioeconomical issue. Despite being mostly of anthropogenic origin, the influence of the recent increase in temperature and evapotranspiration is associated with an increase in the frequency and severity of wildfires in the region. Large fires are promoted by the occurrence of high temperatures and episodes of drought that may lead to total burnt areas being several times larger than the average, such as the burnt areas in Portugal in 2003 and 2005, and Greece in 2007. The fire season of 2017 in Portugal has been catastrophic by most accounts. The authorities reported more than 100 human fatalities, with about 500.000ha of estimated burnt area, which corresponds to the maximum record since 1980. </p><p>The Land Surface Analysis Satellite Applications Facility (LSA SAF) from EUMETSAT operationally disseminates a set of fire related products for the Mediterranean region. The Fire Radiative Power product (FRP-PIXEL) is delivered in near real-time since 2004 with a 15-min temporal resolution. In this work, daily Fire Radiative Energy (FRE) is computed for the Mediterranean region. The Fire Risk Map (FRM) product combines information from the operational forecasts from ECMWF and vegetation state from SEVIRI to derive forecasts of the risk of fire for the Mediterranean region. The FRM algorithm computes the daily values of the set of components of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System (CFFWIS) for Mediterranean Europe, together with levels of fire danger associated with probabilities of occurrence of fires exceeding specified magnitudes. The FRM can be an important tool to support the management of forest fires and the decision making of prescribed burning within the framework of agricultural and forest management practices.</p><p>This work aims to assess the performance of the FRM product during 2020 over the Mediterranean region using FRE estimates. In particular, we aim to evaluate if the more severe and intense fires occurred in areas of high fire risk and high probability of occurrence of extreme fires, as obtained using FRM products. This analysis is made for different countries in the Mediterranean Basin, namely Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece. Results reveal a good performance of FRM over the Mediterranean region during 2020; however, better results were observed for the fire season in the Iberian Peninsula than for Italy.</p><p><strong>Acknowledgements:</strong> This study was performed within the framework of the LSA-SAF, co-funded by EUMETSAT This work was partially supported by national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal) under projects FIRECAST (PCIF/GRF/0204/2017) and IMPECAF (PTDC/CTA-CLI/28902/2017).</p>

Characterisation of the fuel and fire environment in southern Ontario’s tallgrass prairie

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Kidnie ◽  
B. Mike Wotton
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Prairie Restoration ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Spread Rate ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie Restoration

Prescribed burning can be an integral part of tallgrass prairie restoration and management. Understanding fire behaviour in this fuel is critical to conducting safe and effective prescribed burns. Our goal was to quantify important physical characteristics of southern Ontario’s tallgrass fuel complex prior to and during prescribed burns and synthesise our findings into useful applications for the prescribed fire community. We found that the average fuel load in tallgrass communities was 0.70 kg m–2. Fuel loads varied from 0.38 to 0.96 kg m–2. Average heat of combustion did not vary by species and was 17 334 kJ kg–1. A moisture content model was developed for fully cured, matted field grass, which was found to successfully predict moisture content of the surface layers of cured tallgrass in spring. We observed 25 head fires in spring-season prescribed burns with spread rates ranging from 4 to 55 m min–1. Flame front residence time averaged 27 s, varying significantly with fuel load but not fire spread rate. A grassland spread rate model from Australia showed the closest agreement with observed spread rates. These results provide prescribed-burn practitioners in Ontario better information to plan and deliver successful burns.

The Effect of Season of Picloram and Chlorsulfuron Application on Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria genistifolia) on Prescribed Burns

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Jacobs ◽  
Roger L. Sheley
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Randomized Complete Block Design ◽  
Untreated Check ◽  
Dalmatian Toadflax ◽  
Density And Biomass ◽  
Cover Density

Herbicides are an important tool for managing weeds where prescribed fire is used for rangeland improvement. Understanding how the season of herbicide application relates to prescribed burning is important. Our objective was to determine the effect of picloram and chlorsulfuron on Dalmatian toadflax cover, density, and biomass, where these herbicides were applied in the fall before burning or in the spring before or after burning. Six herbicide treatments and an untreated check were applied in a randomized complete block design with four replications to a prescribed burn at two sites infested with Dalmatian toadflax in Montana, United States. Herbicides were applied in the fall preburn, spring preburn, and spring postburn. Site 1 was treated in 1999 and 2000, and site 2 was treated in 2000 and 2001. Cover, biomass, and density of Dalmatian toadflax were sampled in September 2000, 2001, and 2002 at site 1 and September 2001 and 2002 at site 2. At site 1, cover, biomass, and density of Dalmatian toadflax were at least 76% lower compared with the check in both spring-applied picloram treatments, whereas the fall picloram treatment had similar Dalmatian toadflax cover, biomass, and density compared with the check 3 yr after application. By 2002, chlorsulfuron reduced Dalmatian toadflax cover, biomass, and density by at least 79% compared with the check in all timings of application at site 1. At site 2, Dalmatian toadflax cover, biomass, and density were reduced by at least 86% for all picloram and chlorsulfuron treatments in 2002, 2 yr after application. Chlorsulfuron applied in the fall or the spring and picloram applied in the spring effectively suppressed Dalmatian toadflax cover, biomass, and density for up to 3 yr.

Potential changes in monthly fire risk in the eastern Canadian boreal forest under future climate change

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (12) ◽  
pp. 2369-2380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héloïse Le Goff ◽  
Mike D. Flannigan ◽  
Yves Bergeron
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Fire Activity

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate whether future climate change would trigger an increase in the fire activity of the Waswanipi area, central Quebec. First, we used regression analyses to model the historical (1973–2002) link between weather conditions and fire activity. Then, we calculated Fire Weather Index system components using 1961–2100 daily weather variables from the Canadian Regional Climate Model for the A2 climate change scenario. We tested linear trends in 1961–2100 fire activity and calculated rates of change in fire activity between 1975–2005, 2030–2060, and 2070–2100. Our results suggest that the August fire risk would double (+110%) for 2100, while the May fire risk would slightly decrease (–20%), moving the fire season peak later in the season. Future climate change would trigger weather conditions more favourable to forest fires and a slight increase in regional fire activity (+7%). While considering this long-term increase, interannual variations of fire activity remain a major challenge for the development of sustainable forest management.

scholarly journals Unveiling the Factors Responsible for Australia’s Black Summer Fires of 2019/2020

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Noam Levin ◽  
Marta Yebra ◽  
Stuart Phinn
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Burnt Area ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Average Area ◽  
Southeast Australia ◽  
Large Fires ◽  
Fire Area ◽  
Response Variables

The summer season of 2019–2020 has been named Australia’s Black Summer because of the large forest fires that burnt for months in southeast Australia, affecting millions of Australia’s citizens and hundreds of millions of animals and capturing global media attention. This extensive fire season has been attributed to the global climate crisis, a long drought season and extreme fire weather conditions. Our aim in this study was to examine the factors that have led some of the wildfires to burn over larger areas for a longer duration and to cause more damage to vegetation. To this end, we studied all large forest and non-forest fires (>100 km2) that burnt in Australia between September 2019 and mid-February 2020 (Australia’s Black Summer fires), focusing on the forest fires in southeast Australia. We used a segmentation algorithm to define individual polygons of large fires based on the burn date from NASA’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) active fires product and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) burnt area product (MCD64A1). For each of the wildfires, we calculated the following 10 response variables, which served as proxies for the fires’ extent in space and time, spread and intensity: fire area, fire duration (days), the average spread of fire (area/days), fire radiative power (FRP; as detected by NASA’s MODIS Collection 6 active fires product (MCD14ML)), two burn severity products, and changes in vegetation as a result of the fire (as calculated using the vegetation health index (VHI) derived from AVHRR and VIIRS as well as live fuel moisture content (LFMC), photosynthetic vegetation (PV) and combined photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic vegetation (PV+NPV) derived from MODIS). We also computed more than 30 climatic, vegetation and anthropogenic variables based on remotely sensed derived variables, climatic time series and land cover datasets, which served as the explanatory variables. Altogether, 391 large fires were identified for Australia’s Black Summer. These included 205 forest fires with an average area of 584 km2 and 186 non-forest fires with an average area of 445 km2; 63 of the forest fires took place in southeast (SE) Australia (the area between Fraser Island, Queensland, and Kangaroo Island, South Australia), with an average area of 1097 km2. Australia’s Black Summer forest fires burnt for more days compared with non-forest fires. Overall, the stepwise regression models were most successful at explaining the response variables for the forest fires in SE Australia (n = 63; median-adjusted R2 of 64.3%), followed by all forest fires (n = 205; median-adjusted R2 of 55.8%) and all non-forest fires (n = 186; median-adjusted R2 of 48.2%). The two response variables that were best explained by the explanatory variables used as proxies for fires’ extent, spread and intensity across all models for the Black Summer forest and non-forest fires were the change in PV due to fire (median-adjusted R2 of 69.1%) and the change in VHI due to fire (median-adjusted R2 of 66.3%). Amongst the variables we examined, vegetation and fuel-related variables (such as previous frequency of fires and the conditions of the vegetation before the fire) were found to be more prevalent in the multivariate models for explaining the response variables in comparison with climatic and anthropogenic variables. This result suggests that better management of wildland–urban interfaces and natural vegetation using cultural and prescribed burning as well as planning landscapes with less flammable and more fire-tolerant ground cover plants may reduce fire risk to communities living near forests, but this is challenging given the sheer size and diversity of ecosystems in Australia.

scholarly journals Soil Quality of Abandoned Agricultural Terraces Managed with Prescribed Fires and Livestock in the Municipality of Capafonts, Catalonia, Spain (2000–2017)

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Úbeda ◽  
Meritxell Alcañiz ◽  
Gonzalo Borges ◽  
Luis Outeiro ◽  
Marcos Francos
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Hazard ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Prescribed Fires ◽  
Agricultural Terraces ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Village

The abandonment of the economic activities of agriculture, livestock, and forestry since the second half of the 20th century, in conjunction with the exodus of inhabitants from rural areas, has resulted in an increase in the forest mass as well as an expansion of forest areas. This, in turn, has led to a greater risk of forest fires and an increase in the intensity and severity of these fires. Moreover, these forest masses represent a fire hazard to adjacent urban areas, which is a problem illustrated here by the village of Capafonts, whose former agricultural terraces have been invaded by shrubs, and which in the event of fire runs the risk of aiding the propagation of the flames from the forest to the village’s homes. One of the tools available to reduce the amount of fuel in zones adjoining inhabited areas is prescribed burns. The local authorities have also promoted measures to convert these terraces into pasture; in this way, the grazing of livestock (in this particular instance, goats) aims to keep fuel levels low and thus reduce the risk of fire. The use of prescribed fires is controversial, as they are believed to be highly aggressive for the soil, and little is known about their long-term effects. The alternation of the two strategies is more acceptable—that is, the use of prescribed burning followed by the grazing of livestock. Yet, similarly little is known about the effects of this management sequence on the soil. As such, this study seeks to examine the impact of the management of the abandoned terraces of Capafonts by means of two prescribed fires (2000 and 2002), which were designed specifically to prevent forest fires from reaching the village. Following these two prescribed burns, a herd of goats began to graze these terraces in 2005. Here, we report the results of soil analyses conducted during this period of years up to and including 2017. A plot comprising 30 sampling points was established on one of the terraces and used to monitor its main soil quality properties. The data were subject to statistical tests to determine whether the recorded changes were significant. The results show modifications to the concentration of soil elements, and since the first prescribed burn, these changes have all been statistically significant. We compare our results with those reported in other studies that evaluate optimum soil concentrations for the adequate growth of grazing to feed goats, and conclude that the soil conditions on the terrace after 17 years are optimum for livestock use.

Simulation of prescribed burning strategies in south-west Tasmania, Australia: effects on unplanned fires, fire regimes, and ecological management values

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. King ◽  
Geoffrey J. Cary ◽  
Ross A. Bradstock ◽  
Joanne Chapman ◽  
Adrian Pyrke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Treatment Level ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Burn Treatment ◽  
South West ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Mean

Computer simulation modelling provides a useful approach for determining the trade-offs between the extent of prescribed burning and the long-term impacts of unplanned fires on management values. In the present study, FIRESCAPE-SWTAS, a process-based fire regime and vegetation dynamics model, was used in the World Heritage Area of south-west Tasmania, Australia, to investigate the implications of different prescribed burning treatments on identified management objectives. Treatments included annual prescribed burning of different proportions of the most flammable vegetation community, buttongrass moorlands. Additionally, a proposed strategic burning treatment for this landscape was simulated for comparison with these treatments. Simulations identified the nature of the relationships between the prescribed burn treatment level and the fire size distributions, the mean incidence, and the mean annual areas burnt by unplanned fires, with all three parameters declining with increases in treatment level. The study also indicated that strategically located treatment units were able to enhance the reduction in the fire risk to vegetation species susceptible to fire (fire-intolerant species).

A methodology for investigating trends in changes in the timing of the fire season with applications to lightning-caused forest fires in Alberta and Ontario, Canada

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisha Albert-Green ◽  
C.B. Dean ◽  
David L. Martell ◽  
Douglas G. Woolford
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Generalized Additive Models ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Additive Models ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Interval Estimates ◽  
Area Burned ◽  
Historical Forest ◽  
Flexible Models ◽  
Linear Trends

Lightning-caused fires account for approximately 45% of ignitions and 80% of area burned by forest fires in Canada. Investigating the seasonality of these fires and the extent to which it may be changing over time is of interest to both fire managers and researchers. In this project, we develop flexible models for describing the temporal variation in the risk of lightning-caused fires. Generalized additive models are first used to obtain smooth estimates of fire risk by Julian day for each year. Inverse calculations are then employed to obtain point and interval estimates of the start and end of the fire season annually; these are defined by the crossing of fire risk thresholds. Finally, permutation-based methods are used to test for significant linear trends in the start and end of the fire season. This methodology is applied to historical forest fire records in Alberta, Canada, and the western and eastern subregions of Ontario, Canada. Our results suggest significant changes to both the start and end of the fire season in Alberta and a significant change to the end of the fire season in western and eastern Ontario.

scholarly journals What Do the Australian Black Summer Fires Signify for the Global Fire Crisis?

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Rachael H. Nolan ◽  
David M. J. S. Bowman ◽  
Hamish Clarke ◽  
Katharine Haynes ◽  
Mark K. J. Ooi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Lateral Approach ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Socially Disadvantaged

The 2019–20 Australian fire season was heralded as emblematic of the catastrophic harm wrought by climate change. Similarly extreme wildfire seasons have occurred across the globe in recent years. Here, we apply a pyrogeographic lens to the recent Australian fires to examine the range of causes, impacts and responses. We find that the extensive area burnt was due to extreme climatic circumstances. However, antecedent hazard reduction burns (prescribed burns with the aim of reducing fuel loads) were effective in reducing fire severity and house loss, but their effectiveness declined under extreme weather conditions. Impacts were disproportionately borne by socially disadvantaged regional communities. Urban populations were also impacted through prolonged smoke exposure. The fires produced large carbon emissions, burnt fire-sensitive ecosystems and exposed large areas to the risk of biodiversity decline by being too frequently burnt in the future. We argue that the rate of change in fire risk delivered by climate change is outstripping the capacity of our ecological and social systems to adapt. A multi-lateral approach is required to mitigate future fire risk, with an emphasis on reducing the vulnerability of people through a reinvigoration of community-level capacity for targeted actions to complement mainstream fire management capacity.

scholarly journals Forest Fire Probability Mapping in Eastern Serbia: Logistic Regression versus Random Forest Method

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Slobodan Milanović ◽  
Nenad Marković ◽  
Dragan Pamučar ◽  
Ljubomir Gigović ◽  
Pavle Kostić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Standard Procedure ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
Probability Mapping

Forest fire risk has increased globally during the previous decades. The Mediterranean region is traditionally the most at risk in Europe, but continental countries like Serbia have experienced significant economic and ecological losses due to forest fires. To prevent damage to forests and infrastructure, alongside other societal losses, it is necessary to create an effective protection system against fire, which minimizes the harmful effects. Forest fire probability mapping, as one of the basic tools in risk management, allows the allocation of resources for fire suppression, within a fire season, from zones with a lower risk to those under higher threat. Logistic regression (LR) has been used as a standard procedure in forest fire probability mapping, but in the last decade, machine learning methods such as fandom forest (RF) have become more frequent. The main goals in this study were to (i) determine the main explanatory variables for forest fire occurrence for both models, LR and RF, and (ii) map the probability of forest fire occurrence in Eastern Serbia based on LR and RF. The most important variable was drought code, followed by different anthropogenic features depending on the type of the model. The RF models demonstrated better overall predictive ability than LR models. The map produced may increase firefighting efficiency due to the early detection of forest fire and enable resources to be allocated in the eastern part of Serbia, which covers more than one-third of the country’s area.

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