Updating the Earth remote sensing software for the detection of thermal anomalies

O b j e c t i v e s. The task of improving the software package for detecting thermal anomalies based on meteorologicalsatellite data developed by the unitary enterprise "Geoinformation Systems" was solved.M e t h o d s. In the period from 2015 to the present, the work on practical testing and improvement of the software for natural fires detection has been carried out. For this purpose, satellite images of the territory of Belarus obtained from NOAA series spacecraft were used. Special attention was paid to the problem of improving the accuracy of determining the coordinates of fires and reducing the time required for initial data processing.Re s u l t s. A retrospective analysis of the main stages of improving the software for natural fires detection and obtained during practical tests generalized results are provided. The description of the web service developed on the basis of the software for detecting natural fires is presented.Co n c l u s i o n. The information can be useful for the specialists and researchers who are engaged in the detection of thermal anomalies (fires) using remote sensing data from meteorological satellites.

Negative environmental factors at forestry facilities in the Ural Federal district

Information on the forestry facilities operation, number of employees, regulated activities, statistical data on natural fires are taken from public access sources and do not provide a comprehensive analysis in the Ural Federal District. The article makes an attempt to briefly study the activities of several forestry enterprises in the Tyumen and Sverdlovsk regions.

Tree-Ring Based Reconstruction of Historical Fire in an Endangered Ecosystem in the Florida Keys

Big Pine Key, Florida, is home to one of Earth’s largest swaths of the critically-endangered dry forests. Known as pine rocklands, this fire-adapted ecosystem must experience regular fire to persist and remain healthy. Pine rocklands are composed of a sole canopy species: the South Florida slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa), along with a dense understory of various woody and herbaceous species, and minimal surface moisture and soil development. Slash pine record wildfire activity of the surrounding area via fire scars preserved within the annual tree rings formed by the species. Our study used dendrochronology to investigate the fire history of the pine rocklands on Big Pine Key, specifically within and around the National Key Deer Refuge (NKDR) because it is the largest segment of unfragmented pine rockland on the island. We combined the results found within the NKDR with those of a previous study completed in 2011, and incorporated historical documents and reports of prescribed and natural fires through November 2019 into our evaluation of fire history on Big Pine Key. We conclude that prescribed burning practices are vital to truly restore natural fire behavior, and repeated burning on these islands in the future must be prioritized.

Floristic Composition and Soil Characteristics in Muara Kaman Sedulang Nature Reserve, East Kalimantan

Muara Kaman Sedulang Nature Reserve in East Kalimantan has been damaged due to anthropogenic activities and natural fires. The study aims to explore the floristic composition and soil characteristics in the rehabilitation and protection block to provide plant species information for the restoration activity. Vegetation data were collected in each block with a purposive random sampling method, in a total of 0,36 ha plot sample in rehabilitation block and 0,32 ha in protection block. Soil characteristics samples for physical and chemical measurement were collected in each plot with a composite technique at the soil surface (0 – 30 cm). There are 15 species recorded in rehabilitation block and 30 species in the protection block. The diameter distribution indicated that there are differences in the regeneration process after periods of destruction on each block. The diversity index in the rehabilitation block is low, while in the protection block is low to middle. Mallotus sumatranus is a dominant species in the rehabilitation block, whereas in the protection block is Lagerstroemia speciosa. Lepisanthes alata always presents in all research plots indicated suitability for all type of habitat in the area. Soil type is Endoaquepts Dystrudepts with silt clay loam texture and acid soil.

Study Into the Changes in Soil Organic Matter, Caused By Laboratory Simulated Fires in Four Slovak Soils 1. UV-VIS Spectrum Analysis

The study was focused on describing ultraviolet-visible spectra of the humic substances, humic acids and fulvic acids isolated from four Slovak soils. The samples were heated in a laboratory furnace, to simulate soil behaviour during fires. The absorbances at the wavelengths corresponding to the selected chromophores and specific wavelength for groups of substances were compared. Analysis of the UV -VIS spectra of the extracted humic substances may indicate the directions of interest in the changes in soil organic matter, along with the changes in external conditions, such as natural fires.

ASSESSMENT OF AVIATION CAPABILITIES OF EMERCOM OF RUSSIA TO ENSURE THE EXTINGUISHING EFFECTIVENESS OF NATURAL FIRES IN UNFAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR AIRFIELD MANEUVER

В статье рассмотрены вопросы, касающиеся оценки возможностей авиации МЧС России по сохранению высокой производительности доставки огнетушащего вещества (воды) к очагу природного пожара в неблагоприятных условиях аэродромного маневра. Актуальность материалов статьи обусловлена следующим: с одной стороны, наиболее эффективным способом тушения природных пожаров в настоящее время является применение самолетов-танкеров с большим объемом сбрасываемой жидкости, а с другой, - слабая аэродромная сеть, обеспечивающая полную заправку самолетов водой, в районах страны, наиболее проблемных в пожарном отношении. В статье представлены расчеты, показывающие, что в целом существуют возможности повышения производительности доставки воды к очагу пожара за счет использования грунтовых аэродромов. Вместе с тем сделаны выводы о том, что реализовывать эти возможности следует с учетом экономической и технической целесообразности, базирующейся на выявленных соотношениях производительности, готовности аэродромных служб к заправкам самолетов водой и топливом на аэродромах маневра, возможностях по использованию грунтовых аэродромов. Представлены дополнительные методы оценки возможностей по использованию грунтовых аэродромов в процессе тушения с применением авиации природных пожаров, отсутствующие в инструкциях и руководствах по летной эксплуатации самолетов - «водяных танкеров». The article considers the issues of assessing the aviation capability of EMERCOM of Russia on supporting high delivery capacity of extinguishing agent (water) to the site of natural fire in unfavorable conditions for airfield maneuver. The relevance of the article is due to the following factors. On the one hand, the use of aircraft-tankers with large volume of discharged fluid is currently the most effective method for fighting natural fires. On the other hand, there is weak airfield network providing refueling aircraft with water in areas of the country that are most problematic in relation to fire. The article presents calculations showing that, in general, there are opportunities to increase the productivity of water delivery to the fire site with the use of unpaved airfields. It is concluded that these opportunities should be implemented taking into account the economic and technical advisability. This advisability should be based on the identified performance ratios, on the readiness of airfield services to refuel aircraft with water and fuel at maneuver airfields, as well as on the capabilities for using unpaved airfields. There are submitted additional procedures for assessing the possibilities of using unpaved airfields in the process of aerial firefighting of natural fires. Such procedures are not presented in the methodologies that are placed in instructions and flight operation manuals for the aircraft - “water tankers”.

Intentional fire management in the Holocene with emphasis on hunter-gatherers in the Mesolithic in South Norway

The geographical and altitudinal distribution of the data from 68 palynological sites has allowed the synthesis of a relationship between the microscopic charcoal curves and people over time. Most of the selected sites were of archaeological interest. Quantitative methods, qualitative methods and topics about the relation between fire, charcoal, nature and people in a forested landscape were used. Palynological sites are better suited to revealing fire management activities in the Mesolithic than archaeological sites because intentional burning of vegetation was carried out in areas related to lakes and mires. Climate is ruled out as the cause of the charcoal occurrence because there are no correlations between inferred regional climatic changes and the charcoal. This suggests that an anthropogenic explanation for the charcoal occurrence is the most plausible.There are many indications that hunter-gatherers in the Mesolithic used fire management and that fire was an important part of cultural practice associated with settlement, population density and resource needs. Fire management was a common and regular work task integrated with other activities. The traditional lifestyle of foragers may have included customary controlled burning practices as a part of manipulating the ecological succession and the modification of vegetation communities. Burning may have been central to hunting and gathering practices and the key to many social and cultural activities. The timing of burns may have been related to weather conditions, time of year and annual cultural events.The different pattern of temporal changes in charcoal abundance suggests that no widespread burning (i.e. on a regional or landscape-scale) had taken place. The anthropogenic burning was different from natural fires. The fires set by people were smaller and less intense. Selected areas of vegetation were burnt on a recurrent basis. They were predictable, almost immediately productive, creating mosaics in a complex pattern of vegetation of burnt and unburnt patches. Because they reduced available fuel, they provided protection against the disruptions of natural fires. The occurrence of natural fires is irregular, often with long intervals in between; they are uncontrolled, unpredictable, destructive to the vegetation and potentially dangerous for people. In order for the recorded charcoal occurrences to be considered the result of natural fires, sites close to each other should have had similar charcoal occurrences, but this is not the case. An often low and continuous charcoal presence in a more or less dense forest in the Mesolithic indicates a continuous production of charcoal, which is better interpreted as people’s use of fire than continuous natural fires. The data confirm that anthropogenic fires were much more frequent than natural fires in the Mesolithic. Foragers did not simply adjust to their environment, but had an active, dynamic relationship with nature, using intentional burning both to modify and to maintain the environment. Intentional burning of vegetation during the Mesolithic is suggested to have been enacted by foragers who controlled fire for many purposes and widened its application to preserve their basis of existence, for instance to improve the outcome of hunting and for communication. Two periods with a high frequency of maximum values of charcoal in the pollen diagrams are recorded in the early (9800–6000 cal yr BP) and the late part of the Holocene (younger than 2400 cal yr BP), respectively, and not at the transition to the Neolithic. This shows that early farmers did not produce as much charcoal—measured in maxima—as the huntergatherers did before the transition to the Neolithic, and confirms foragers’ intentional burning as part of Mesolithic land-use in South Norway. The first occurrences and high frequency of maximum values of charcoal pre-date the transition to the Neolithic and thus it can be ruled out that they were correlated with agrarian cultures in South Norway. It is possible that the selective burning carried out by foragers in vegetation paved the way for pioneer farmers to convert land for agricultural purposes. In that sense, the neolithisation was not very revolutionary, as the knowledge of using fire to manipulate and open the forest had a long pre-agrarian history. As the path of the charcoal curve following the transition to the Neolithic is often interpreted as the result of forest clearance by farmers, a fire-related woodland change interpretation for the Mesolithic might also be used. After the transition to the Neolithic, the density of the forest in many areas decreased and allowed more charcoal deposition. The density of the forest affected the charcoal curve resulting in low values before the transition to theNeolithic compared to the values after the transition. This is a strong indication that the charcoal curve during the Mesolithic mainly originated as an effect of human activities. That the density of the forest in the Mesolithic changed more than the traditionally accepted view is probably the result of intentional fire management.

Contrasting prescription burning and wildfires in California Sierra Nevada national parks and adjacent national forests

History of prescription burning and wildfires in the three Sierra Nevada National Park Service (NPS) parks and adjacent US Forest Service (USFS) forests is presented. Annual prescription (Rx) burns began in 1968 in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, followed by Yosemite National Park and Lassen Volcanic National Park. During the last third of the 20th century, USFS national forests adjacent to these parks did limited Rx burns, accounting for very little area burned. However, in 2004, an aggressive annual burn program was initiated in these national forests and in the last decade, area burned by planned prescription burns, relative to area protected, was approximately comparable between these NPS and USFS lands. In 1968, the NPS prescription burning program was unique because it coupled planned Rx burns with managing many lightning-ignited fires for resource benefit. From 1968 to 2017, these natural fires managed for resource benefit averaged the same total area burned as planned Rx burns in the three national parks; thus, they have had a substantial impact on total area burned by prescription. In contrast, on USFS lands, most lightning-ignited fires have been managed for suppression, but increasing attention is being paid to managing wildfires for resource benefit.