Comparing the height and area of wild and prescribed fire particle plumes in south-east Australia using weather radar

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen F. Price ◽  
Phil J. Purdam ◽  
Grant J. Williamson ◽  
David M. J. S. Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Prescribed Fires ◽  
Maximum Height ◽  
Major Health ◽  
Weather Radars ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Large Particles ◽  
Smoke Pollution ◽  
Large Fires ◽  
Fire Area

Smoke pollution from landscape fires is a major health issue. Prescribed burning aims to reduce the area and impact of wildfire, but itself produces smoke pollution. This raises the question as to whether the smoke production and transport from prescribed fires is substantially different compared to wildfires. We examined the maximum height, width and areal footprint of large-particle plumes from 97 wild and 126 prescribed fires in south-eastern Australia using the existing network of weather radars. Radar detects large particles in smoke (probably those >100 μm) and hence is an imperfect proxy for microfine (<2 μm) particles that are known to affect human health. Of the 223 landscape fires, ~45% of plumes were detected, with the probability being >0.8 for large fires (>100 000 ha) regardless of type, closer than 50 km from the radar. Plume height was strongly influenced by fire area, the height of the planetary boundary layer and fire type. Plume heights differed between wildfire (range 1016–12 206 m, median 3260 m) and prescribed fires (range 706–6397 m, median 1669 m), and prescribed fires were predicted to be 800–1200 m lower than wildfires, controlling for other factors. For both wildfires and prescribed fires, the maximum plume footprint was always near the ground.

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.

Satellite-based comparison of fire intensity and smoke plumes from prescribed fires and wildfires in south-eastern Australia

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant J. Williamson ◽  
Owen F. Price ◽  
Sarah B. Henderson ◽  
David M. J. S. Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Thermal Anomaly ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Prescribed Fires ◽  
Smoke Plume ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Smoke Plumes ◽  
Smoke Pollution

Smoke pollution from wildfires can adversely affect human health, and there is uncertainty about the amount of smoke pollution caused by prescribed v. wildfires, a problem demanding a landscape perspective given that air quality monitoring is sparse outside of urban airsheds. The primary objective was to assess differences in fire intensity and smoke plume area between prescribed fires and wildfires around Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. We matched thermal anomaly satellite data to databases of fires in forests surrounding both cities. For each matched fire we determined hotspot count and quantified their intensity using the fire radiative power (FRP) measurement. Smoke plumes were mapped using MODIS true colour images. Wildfires had more extreme fire intensity values than did prescribed burns and the mean size of wildfire plumes was six times greater than of prescribed fire plumes for both cities. Statistical modelling showed that the horizontal area covered by smoke plumes could be predicted by hotspot count and sum of FRP, with differences between cities and fire type. Smoke plumes from both fire types reached both urban areas, and particulate pollution was higher on days affected by smoke plumes. Our results suggested that prescribed fires produced smaller smoke plume areas than did wildfires in two different flammable landscapes. Smoke plume and FRP data, combined with air pollution data from static monitors, can be used to improve smoke management for human health.

Quantifying wildfire growth rates using smoke plume observations derived from weather radar

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Duff ◽  
Derek M. Chong ◽  
Trent D. Penman
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Theoretic Approach ◽  
Weather Radars ◽  
Time Estimates ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Fire Area ◽  
Information Theoretic Approach

Fast-moving wildfires can result in substantial losses of infrastructure, property and life. During such events, real-time intelligence is critical for managing firefighting activities and public safety. The ability of fixed-site weather radars to detect the plumes from fires has long been recognised; however, quantitative methods to link properties of radar observed plumes to fire behaviour are lacking. We investigated the potential for weather radars to provide real time estimates of the growth of large fires in south-eastern Australia. Specifically, we examined whether the rate of change in fire area could be approximated using the change in volume represented by radar returns. We evaluated a series of linear mixed-effects models predicting fire-area growth using radar data representing a range of dBZ thresholds and search volumes. Models were compared using an information–theoretic approach. Radar return volume was found to be a robust predictor of fire-area change. The best model had a minimum threshold of 10 dBZ and a search radius of 60 km (R2 = 0.64). Fire area and radar relationships did not vary significantly between radar stations, suggesting broad applicability beyond the dataset. Further development of the use of weather radars for wildfire monitoring could yield substantial benefits because of their high frequency of scan and broad coverage over many populated areas.

Detection of Russian Fires Using MOPITT and MODIS Data

2005 ◽  
Vol 277-279 ◽  
pp. 816-823
Author(s):  
Sang Hee Lee ◽  
Gi Hyuk Choi ◽  
Hyo Suk Lim ◽  
Joo Hee Lee ◽  
Kwon Ho Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
Smoke Aerosol ◽  
Modis Data ◽  
Smoke Pollution ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Large Fires ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

The great fires were detected through the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations over Northeast Asia. The large amount of smoke produced near Lake Baikal was transported to East Asia using high Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) as seen through the satellite images. The smoke pollution from the Russian forest fires would sometimes reach Korea through Mongolia and eastern China. In May 2003, a number of large fires blazed through eastern Russian, producing a thick, widespread pall of smoke over much of East Asia. This study focuses on the identification of the carbon monoxide (CO) for MOPITT released from MOPITT primarily into East Asia during the Russian Fires. In the wake of the fires, the 700hPa MOPITT retrieved CO concentrations which reached up to 250ppbv. Smoke aerosol retrieval using a separation technique was also applied to the MODIS data observed in 14-22 May 2003. Large AOT, 2.0 ~ 5.0, was observed over Korea on 20 May 2003 due to the influence of the long range transport of smoke aerosol plume from the Russian Fires.

Large fires in Australian alpine landscapes: their part in the historical fire regime and their impacts on alpine biodiversity

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Williams ◽  
Carl-Henrik Wahren ◽  
Arn D. Tolsma ◽  
Glenn M. Sanecki ◽  
Warwick A. Papst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fire Regime ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Fire Monitoring ◽  
Core Habitat ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Large Fires ◽  
Using Data

The fires of summer 2003 in south-eastern Australia burnt tens of thousands of hectares of treeless alpine landscape. Here, we examine the environmental impact of these fires, using data from the Bogong High Plains area of Victoria, and the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales. Historical and biophysical evidence suggests that in Australian alpine environments, extensive fires occur only in periods of extended regional drought, and when severe local fire weather coincides with multiple ignitions in the surrounding montane forests. Dendrochronological evidence indicates that large fires have occurred approximately every 50–100 years over the past 400 years. Post-fire monitoring of vegetation in grasslands and heathlands indicates that most alpine species regenerate rapidly after fire, with >90% of species present 1 year after fire. Some keystone species in some plant communities, however, had not regenerated after 3 years. The responses of alpine fauna to the 2003 fires were variable. The core habitat (closed heathland) of several vulnerable small mammals was extensively burnt. Some mammals experienced substantial falls in populations, others experienced substantial increases. Unburnt patches of vegetation are critical to faunal recovery from fire. There was, however, no evidence of local extinction. We conclude that infrequent extensive fires are a feature of alpine Australia. For both the flora and fauna, there is no quantitative evidence that the 2003 fires were an ecological disaster, and we conclude that the flora and fauna of alpine Australia are highly resilient to infrequent, large, intense fires.

scholarly journals Effects of Seasonal Prescribed Fires on Residual Overstory Trees in Oak-Dominated Shelterwood Stands

1999 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Brose ◽  
David Van Lear
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Prescribed Fires ◽  
Red Maple ◽  
Crown Condition ◽  
Treatment Area ◽  
Yellow Poplar ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Overstory Trees

Abstract A study was initiated in 1994 to evaluate the degree of bole damage and crown decline residual overstory trees would experience because of prescribed burning of shelterwood stands. Three oak-dominated shelterwood stands, partially harvested 2 to 4 yr earlier, were divided into four treatments (unburned control, spring burn, summer burn, and winter burn). Fifteen permanent sampling points were systematically located in each 5 to 12 ac treatment area, and overstory trees were selected from these points with a 10 BAF prism. Before burning, each tree was evaluated for lower bole and crown condition and reevaluated two growing seasons after the fires. Hickory, oak, and yellow-poplar were largely unaffected by the winter and summer prescribed fires but displayed bole damage and crown decline following spring burning. American beech and red maple declined after all fire treatments. Fire damage to oak, hickory, and yellow-poplar was strongly associated to presence of logging slash near a tree's base. Directional felling or moving slash should minimize injury to these trees. This research will aid resource managers wishing to use prescribed fire in shelterwood stands to favor oak regeneration while minimizing damage to residual overstory oaks. South. J. Appl. For. 23(2):88-93.

scholarly journals Prescribed Fire Effects on Advanced Regeneration in Mixed Hardwood Stands

1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.A. Barnes ◽  
D.H. Van Lear
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Hardwood Forests ◽  
Prescribed Fires ◽  
Oak Regeneration ◽  
Advanced Regeneration ◽  
Composition And Structure

Abstract Fire treatments were initiated in 1990 to evaluate effects of low-intensity prescribed fires on composition and structure of the advanced regeneration pool under mature mixed-hardwood stands on upland sites in the Piedmont of South Carolina. One spring burn was as effective as three winter burns in reducing midstory density, considered a prerequisite for subsequent development of oak (Quercus spp.) advanced regeneration. Burning increased the number of oak rootstocks, reduced the relative position of competing species, and increased root-to-shoot ratios of oak stems in the regeneration layer. These favorable effects of fire on oak regeneration outweigh the removal of small, poorly formed oak stems from the midstory/understory strata during burning. Prescribed burning in hardwood forests may solve some of the current oak regeneration problems, especially on better upland sites in the South. South. J. Appl. For. 22(3):138-142.

scholarly journals Effects of large fires on biodiversity in south-eastern Australia: disaster or template for diversity?

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross A. Bradstock
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Habitat Variation ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Rate Adaptive ◽  
Large Fires ◽  
South Eastern Australia

Large fires coincident with drought occurred in south-eastern Australia during 2001–2007. Perceptions of large, intense fires as being ecologically ‘disastrous’ are common. These are summarised by four hypotheses characterising large fires as: (i) homogenous in extent and intensity; (ii) causing large-scale extinction due to perceived lack of survival and regeneration capacity among biota; (iii) degrading due to erosion and related edaphic effects; (iv) unnatural, as a consequence of contemporary land management. These hypotheses are examined using available evidence and shown to inadequately account for effects of large fires on biodiversity. Large fires do not burn homogeneously, though they may produce intensely burnt patches and areas. The bulk of biota are resilient through a variety of in situ persistence mechanisms that are reinforced by landscape factors. Severe erosive episodes following fire tend to be local and uncertain rather than global and inevitable. Redistribution of soil and nutrients may reinforce habitat variation in some cases. Signals of fire are highly variable over prehistoric and historic eras, and, in some cases, contemporary and pre-European signal levels are equivalent. The most important effects of large fires in these diverse ecological communities and landscapes stem from their recurrence rate. Adaptive management of fire regimes rather than fire events is required, based on an understanding of risks posed by particular regimes to biota.

“Careless fires” and “smoaky weather”: The documentation of prescribed burning in the Peace–Athabasca trading post journals 1818–1899

2011 ◽  
Vol 87 (03) ◽  
pp. 414-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Contextual Analysis ◽  
Prescribed Fires ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Northern Alberta ◽  
Journal Entries ◽  
Aboriginal Burning

An examination of a series of trade post journals from northern Alberta shows how the recording of prescribed fires was shaped by the foci of these brief journal entries. Contextual analysis of these records informed by previous ethnographic research on local Aboriginal burning suggests 1) that prescribed fires that were both routine and carried out at some distance from the post were not likely to be recorded, and 2) that the Aboriginal “careless fires” that threatened or appeared to threaten post property were in fact prescribed fires.

scholarly journals Combustion efficiency and emission factors for wildfire-season fires in mixed conifer forests of the northern Rocky Mountains, US

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7241-7262 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Urbanski
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Temperate Forests ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Combustion Efficiency ◽  
Prescribed Fires ◽  
Northern Rocky Mountains ◽  
Western Us ◽  
Mixed Conifer Forests ◽  
Wildfire Season

Abstract. In the US, wildfires and prescribed burning present significant challenges to air regulatory agencies attempting to achieve and maintain compliance with air quality regulations. Fire emission factors (EF) are essential input for the emission models used to develop wildland fire emission inventories. Most previous studies quantifying wildland fire EF of temperate ecosystems have focused on emissions from prescribed burning conducted outside of the wildfire season. Little information is available on EF for wildfires in temperate forests of the conterminous US. The goal of this work is to provide information on emissions from wildfire-season forest fires in the northern Rocky Mountains, US. In August 2011, we deployed airborne chemistry instruments and sampled emissions over eight days from three wildfires and a prescribed fire that occurred in mixed conifer forests of the northern Rocky Mountains. We measured the combustion efficiency, quantified as the modified combustion efficiency (MCE), and EF for CO2, CO, and CH4. Our study average values for MCE, EFCO2, EFCO, and EFCH4 were 0.883, 1596 g kg−1, 135 g kg−1, 7.30 g kg−1, respectively. Compared with previous field studies of prescribed fires in temperate forests, the fires sampled in our study had significantly lower MCE and EFCO2 and significantly higher EFCO and EFCH4. The fires sampled in this study burned in areas reported to have moderate to heavy components of standing dead trees and down dead wood due to insect activity and previous fire, but fuel consumption data was not available. However, an analysis of MCE and fuel consumption data from 18 prescribed fires reported in the literature indicates that the availability of coarse fuels and conditions favorable for the combustion of these fuels favors low MCE fires. This analysis suggests that fuel composition was an important factor contributing to the low MCE of the fires measured in this study. This study only measured EF for CO2, CO, and CH4; however, we used our study average MCE to provide rough estimates of wildfire-season EF for PM2.5 and four non-methane organic compounds (NMOC) using MCE and EF data reported in the literature. This analysis suggests the EFPM2.5 for wildfires that occur in forests of the northern Rocky Mountains may be significantly larger than those reported for temperate forests in the literature and that used in a recent national emission inventory. If the MCE of the fires sampled in this work are representative of the combustion characteristics of wildfire-season fires in similar forest types across the western US then the use of EF based on prescribed fires may result in an underestimate of wildfire PM2.5 and NMOC emissions. Given the magnitude of biomass consumed by western US wildfires, this may have important implications for the forecasting and management of regional air quality.

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