Forecasting diurnal variations in fire intensity to enhance wildland firefighter safety

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 173 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Beck ◽  
M. E. Alexander ◽  
S. D. Harvey ◽  
A. K. Beaver
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Fire Environment ◽  
Forest Fire Danger ◽  
Wildland Firefighting

The extent to which the concept of displaying the diurnal variation in Byram's fire intensity on a daily basis during the fire season has been applied in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, to ensure safe and productive wildland firefighting work practices is described. This has been made possible by using the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System coupled with fire weather forecasts and local information on the state of the fire environment in regards to fuel types, fuel moisture conditions and slope steepness. The resulting operational fire management tool has been the development, beginning in the mid 1990s, of the British Columbia Fire Weather and Behavior Advisory and Warning System. Potential areas for improvement in this system are detailed.

scholarly journals Temporal variations and change in forest fire danger in Europe for 1960–2012

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1477-1490 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Venäläinen ◽  
N. Korhonen ◽  
O. Hyvärinen ◽  
N. Koutsias ◽  
F. Xystrakis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
National Level ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Current Season ◽  
Forest Fire Danger

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.

Monthly adaptations of the Drought Code reveal nuanced fire–drought associations in montane forests with a mixed-severity fire regime

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphaël D. Chavardès ◽  
Lori D. Daniels ◽  
Bianca N. I. Eskelson ◽  
Paul D. Pickell
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Montane Forests ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Drought Conditions

We compared three monthly adaptations of the daily Drought Code (DC) of Canada’s Fire Weather Index System and applied them to interpret drought conditions associated with historical fires in montane forests of south-eastern British Columbia. The three adaptations were compared with the monthly mean DC calculated from daily values for the Palliser fire-weather station. Two adaptations improved on the existing Monthly DC calculated from monthly climate data by (1) accounting for overwinter drying and an early start to the fire season, and (2) improving estimates of effective precipitation. Using a cross-dated fire-scar record from 20 sites in montane forests surrounding the Palliser station, we found significant fire–drought associations from June to August with all adaptations, and significant associations in April and May with the two new adaptations. Of the 17 fire years from 1901 to 2013, 6years had low initial drought conditions that increased late in the fire season, and 5 years had high drought conditions throughout the fire season. We conclude that variable drought within and among fire seasons influenced fire severity. Our findings provide a connection between modern drought indices used to rank fire danger and drought effects on the historical mixed-severity fire regime in montane forests of south-eastern British Columbia.

A Comparison of Fire-Weather Severity in Northern Alberta During the 1980 and 1981 Fire Seasons

1986 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 507-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Harvey ◽  
M. E. Alexander ◽  
B. Janz
Keyword(s):  
Fire Danger ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Severity Rating ◽  
Total Potential ◽  
Forest Fire Danger ◽  
Objective Basis ◽  
Northern Alberta

The burning potential of two major fire seasons in northern Alberta is evaluated with the use of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS). Fire danger class frequency and severity ratings based on the Fire Weather Index (FWI) component in the CFFDRS were utilized in the evaluation. Daily fire-danger reports from 16 selected fire weather stations distributed throughout the northern half of the province provided the basis for the analysis. Although the Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR) for 1981 was slightly higher (SSR = 3.1) than that of 1980 (SSR = 2.5), the area burned in 1981 was about double that of the previous year. The period of critical fire weather began early in the 1980 fire season and prior to the normal summer lightning pattern, whereas in 1981 it occurred during the latter half of the fire season and coincided with the majority of the lightning incidence. FWI severity ratings were not designed to portray a complete picture of the total potential fire containment job but rather to provide an objective basis on which to compare the severity of one season's fire weather with another. Key words: Fire Weather index, fire season seventy rating, critical fire weather, lightning occurrence, northern Alberta.

scholarly journals Twenty-first century droughts have not increasingly exacerbated fire season severity in the Brazilian Amazon

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Libonati ◽  
J. M. C. Pereira ◽  
C. C. Da Camara ◽  
L. F. Peres ◽  
D. Oom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
First Century ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Amazon Forest ◽  
Active Fire ◽  
Fire Activity ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
In Fire

AbstractBiomass burning in the Brazilian Amazon is modulated by climate factors, such as droughts, and by human factors, such as deforestation, and land management activities. The increase in forest fires during drought years has led to the hypothesis that fire activity decoupled from deforestation during the twenty-first century. However, assessment of the hypothesis relied on an incorrect active fire dataset, which led to an underestimation of the decreasing trend in fire activity and to an inflated rank for year 2015 in terms of active fire counts. The recent correction of that database warrants a reassessment of the relationships between deforestation and fire. Contrasting with earlier findings, we show that the exacerbating effect of drought on fire season severity did not increase from 2003 to 2015 and that the record-breaking dry conditions of 2015 had the least impact on fire season of all twenty-first century severe droughts. Overall, our results for the same period used in the study that originated the fire-deforestation decoupling hypothesis (2003–2015) show that decoupling was clearly weaker than initially proposed. Extension of the study period up to 2019, and novel analysis of trends in fire types and fire intensity strengthened this conclusion. Therefore, the role of deforestation as a driver of fire activity in the region should not be underestimated and must be taken into account when implementing measures to protect the Amazon forest.

scholarly journals Prescribed burning in a mediterranean-climate region mitigates the disturbance by bushfire to a critical food resource for an endangered bird, the Carnaby’s cockatoo

Fire Ecology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie S. Densmore ◽  
Emma S. Clingan
Keyword(s):  
Seed Production ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Hazard ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Percentage Survival

Abstract Background Prescribed burning is used to reduce fire hazard in highly flammable vegetation types, including Banksia L.f. woodland that occurs on the Swan Coastal Plain (SCP), Western Australia, Australia. The 2016 census recorded well over 1.9 million people living on the SCP, which also encompasses Perth, the fourth largest city in Australia. Banksia woodland is prone to frequent ignitions that can cause extensive bushfires that consume canopy-stored banksia seeds, a critical food resource for an endangered bird, the Carnaby’s cockatoo (Calyptorynchus latirostris, Carnaby 1948). The time needed for banksias to reach maturity and maximum seed production is several years longer than the typical interval between prescribed burns. We compared prescribed burns to bushfires and unburned sites at three locations in banksia woodland to determine whether low-intensity prescribed burns affect the number of adult banksias and their seed production. Study sites were matched to the same vegetation complex, fire regime, and time-since-fire to isolate fire intensity as a variable. Results Headfire rates of spread and differenced normalized burn ratios indicated that prescribed burning was generally of a much lower intensity than bushfire. The percentage survival of adult banksias and their production of cones and follicles (seeds) did not decrease during the first three years following a prescribed burn. However, survival and seed production were significantly diminished followed high-intensity bushfire. Thus, carrying capacity for Carnaby’s cockatoo was unchanged by prescribed burning but decreased markedly following bushfire in banksia woodland. Conclusions These results suggest that prescribed burning is markedly different from bushfire when considering appropriate fire intervals to conserve canopy habitats in fire-resilient vegetation communities. Therefore, low-intensity prescribed burning represents a viable management tool to reduce the frequency and extent of bushfire impacts on banksia woodland and Carnaby’s cockatoo.

Trend analysis of fire season length and extreme fire weather in North America between 1979 and 2015

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piyush Jain ◽  
Xianli Wang ◽  
Mike D. Flannigan
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Kendall Test ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Season Length ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Reanalysis Dataset ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Extreme Fire

We have constructed a fire weather climatology over North America from 1979 to 2015 using the North American Regional Reanalysis dataset and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System. We tested for the presence of trends in potential fire season length, based on a meteorological definition, and extreme fire weather using the non-parametric Theil–Sen slope estimator and Mann–Kendall test. Applying field significance testing (i.e. joint significance of multiple tests) allowed the identification of the locations of significant trends, taking into account spatial correlations. Fire season length was found to be increasing over large areas of North America, especially in eastern Canada and the south-western US, which is consistent with a later fire season end and an earlier fire season start. Both positive and negative trends in potential fire spread days and the 99th percentile of FWI occurred in Canada and the contiguous United States, although the trends of largest magnitude and statistical significance were mostly positive. In contrast, the proportion of trends with significant decreases in these variables were much lower, indicating an overall increase in extreme fire weather. The smaller proportion of significant positive trends found over Canada reflects the truncation of the time series, necessary because assimilation of precipitation observations over Canada ceased in the reanalysis post-2002.

Fuel and fire characteristics in savanna - woodland of West Africa in relation to grazing and dominant grass type

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrice Savadogo ◽  
Didier Zida ◽  
Louis Sawadogo ◽  
Daniel Tiveau ◽  
Mulualem Tigabu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Fire Behaviour ◽  
Savanna Woodland ◽  
Vegetation Height ◽  
Average Maximum ◽  
Dominant Grass

Fuel characteristics, fire behaviour and temperature were studied in relation to grazing, dominant grass type and wind direction in West African savanna–woodland by lighting 32 prescribed early fires. Grazing significantly reduced the vegetation height, total fuel load, and dead and live fuel fractions whereas plots dominated by perennial grasses had higher values for vegetation height, total fuel load and the quantity of live fuel load. Although fire intensity remained insensitive (P > 0.05) to any of these factors, fuel consumption was significantly (P = 0.021) reduced by grazing, rate of spread was faster in head fire (P = 0.012), and flame length was shorter in head fire than back fire (P = 0.044). The average maximum temperature was higher (P < 0.05) on non-grazed plots, on plots dominated by annual grasses, on plots subjected to head fire, and at the soil surface. Lethal temperature residence time showed a nearly similar trend to fire temperature. Wind speed and total fuel load were best predictors of fire behaviour parameters (R2 ranging from 0.557 to 0.862). It can be concluded that grazing could be used as a management tool to modify fire behaviour, back fire should be carried out during prescribed burning to lower fire severity, and the fire behaviour models can be employed to guide prescribed early fire in the study area.

Analysis of the British Columbia Water Quality Index for Watershed Managers: a Case Study of Two Small Watersheds

1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 519-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Zandbergen ◽  
Ken J. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Water Quality Index ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Aquatic Life ◽  
River Watershed ◽  
Small Watersheds ◽  
Water Quality Objectives

Abstract The use of indices in ecosystem management is attractive because it allows for the representation of a complex set of information on ecosystem variables in a simple fashion. Recently the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks developed the British Columbia Water Quality Index (BCWQI). As this index is currently being considered as the basis for other provincial indices and a national water quality index, the character of the BCWQI needs to be carefully considered. This study evaluates the performance of the BCWQI and assesses how useful and appropriate it is as a management tool at the watershed level. For this purpose the index is used to express the results of two sampling programs, one by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, and the other by the Westwater Research Centre, of two relatively small watersheds in the Greater Vancouver area: the Brunette River watershed, heavily impacted by urbanization, and the Salmon River watershed on the urban-rural fringe. For both watersheds the intended use is the protection of aquatic life and only those water quality objectives are considered. The results indicate that the BCWQI is extremely sensitive to sampling design and highly dependent on the specific application of water quality objectives. A comparison is made with another type of index in widespread use in North America: the National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSFWQI). This index appears promising for stream stewardship groups because of its simplicity and ease of use. For watershed managers, an alternative to the BCWQI is suggested, based on exceedance factors for individual objectives. This Simple Water Quality Index (SWQI) recognizes the importance of objectives that are specific to a particular water body, but overcomes some of the limitations of the BCWQI. A presentation format is suggested for objective exceedance factors, with a clear indication of exactly which objectives were included — without this, the final numerical index value is meaningless. This study suggests that the BCWQI in its current form has serious limitations for comparing water bodies and for establishing management priorities. If local watershed managers use the BCWQI in guiding efforts to protect aquatic resources, they should consider these limitations carefully.

Influence of prescribed burning on fruit production in Proteaceae

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. D. Penman ◽  
S. H. Penman
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Long Term Study

Prescribed burning is applied worldwide as a forest management tool. It is broadly accepted that altered fire regimes can directly impact upon community structure and composition, but little is known about the indirect effects of altered fire regimes on the mechanisms that produce community-level changes such as changes to the reproductive output of individual plants, hence populations. We examined the reproductive output of four species of Proteaceae within a long term study site where disturbance histories for the last twenty years have been accurately recorded on 216 plots. Frequent fire was found to increase woody fruit production in Banksia marginata, but had no apparent effect on B. serrata, Hakea eriantha or H. sericea. Results of this study vary from a similar study which examined the effect of wildfires. The differences observed are likely to reflect the differing impacts of fire intensity on these species. Indirect changes in fruit production may result in changes in reproductive success of species which in turn may affect vegetation community structure and faunal habitat.

scholarly journals Attribution of the Australian bushfire risk to anthropogenic climate change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geert Jan van Oldenborgh ◽  
Folmer Krikken ◽  
Sophie Lewis ◽  
Nicholas J. Leach ◽  
Flavio Lehner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Southern Annular Mode ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
Anthropogenic Climate Change ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index

Abstract. Disastrous bushfires during the last months of 2019 and January 2020 affected Australia, raising the question to what extent the risk of these fires was exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change. To answer the question for southeastern Australia, where fires were particularly severe, affecting people and ecosystems, we use a physically-based index of fire weather, the Fire Weather Index, long-term observations of heat and drought, and eleven large ensembles of state-of-the-art climate models. In agreement with previous analyses we find that heat extremes have become more likely by at least a factor two due to the long-term warming trend. However, current climate models overestimate variability and tend to underestimate the long-term trend in these extremes, so the true change in the likelihood of extreme heat could be larger. We do not find an attributable trend in either extreme annual drought or the driest month of the fire season September–February. The observations, however, show a weak drying trend in the annual mean. Finally, we find large trends in the Fire Weather Index in the ERA5 reanalysis, and a smaller but significant increase by at least 30 % in the models. The trend is mainly driven by the increase of temperature extremes and hence also likely underestimated. For the 2019/20 season more than half of the July–December drought was driven by record excursions of the Indian Ocean dipole and Southern Annular Mode. These factors are included in the analysis. The study reveals the complexity of the 2019/20 bushfire event, with some, but not all drivers showing an imprint of anthropogenic climate change.

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