Lightning-ignited forest fires in northwestern Ontario

1991 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Flannigan ◽  
B. M. Wotton
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Northwestern Region ◽  
Lightning Discharges ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Relationship

This study investigates the relationship between lightning activity and the occurrence of lightning-ignited forest fires in the Northwestern Region of Ontario. We found that the Duff Moisture Code (a component of the Fire Weather Index System) and the multiplicity of the negative lightning discharges were the most important variables for estimating the number of lightning-ignited fires on a daily basis for Universal Transverse Mercator zone15 in Ontario. Also, the results indicate that negative lightning ignited more fires than positive lightning discharges, which is contrary to popular belief. Nearly 50% of the variance in the forest fire occurrence data was explained using linear stepwise regression. Future work will focus on finer temporal and spatial scales.

scholarly journals Proposal of an Iot Solution to Fire Risk Assessment Problem

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Bernardo ◽  
Pedro Silva ◽  
Paulo Fazendeiro
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Keywords Internet ◽  
The Common ◽  
Civic Awareness ◽  
Municipal Level

Several of the fighting weaknesses evidenced by the forest fires tragedies of the last years are rooted in the disconnection between the current technical/scientific resources and the availability of the resulting information to operational agents on the ground. In order to be effective, a pre-emptive response to similar disasters must include the articulation between local authorities at municipal level - in prevention, preparedness and initial response - and the common citizen who is on the field, resides there, and has a deeper knowledge about the field of operation. This work intends to take a first step in the development of a tool that can serve to improve the civic awareness of all and to support the decision-making of the competent authorities. Keywords: Internet of things, Citizen science, Fire weather index

Fire activity in Portugal and its relationship to weather and the Canadian Fire Weather Index System

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Carvalho ◽  
M. D. Flannigan ◽  
K. Logan ◽  
A. I. Miranda ◽  
C. Borrego
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Daily Maximum ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Area Burned ◽  
System Components ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
Forward Stepwise ◽  
Maximum Temperatures

The relationships among the weather, the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System components, the monthly area burned, and the number of fire occurrences from 1980 to 2004 were investigated in 11 Portuguese districts that represent respectively 66% and 61% of the total area burned and number of fires in Portugal. A statistical approach was used to estimate the monthly area burned and the monthly number of fires per district, using meteorological variables and FWI System components as predictors. The approach succeeded in explaining from 60.9 to 80.4% of the variance for area burned and between 47.9 and 77.0% of the variance for the number of fires; all regressions were highly significant (P < 0.0001). The monthly mean and the monthly maximum of daily maximum temperatures and the monthly mean and extremes (maximum and 90th percentile) of the daily FWI were selected for all districts, except for Bragança and Porto, in the forward stepwise regression for area burned. For all districts combined, the variance explained was 80.9 and 63.0% for area burned and number of fires, respectively. Our results point to highly significant relationships among forest fires in Portugal and the weather and the Canadian FWI System. The present analysis provides baseline information for predicting the area burned and number of fires under future climate scenarios and the subsequent impacts on air quality.

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

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 963 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Variation in the Canadian Fire Weather Index Thresholds for Increasingly Larger Fires in Portugal

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Fire Management ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Fire Size ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
North Central ◽  
Forest Fire Management

Forest fire management relies on the fire danger rating to optimize its suite of activities. Limiting fire size is the fire management target whenever minimizing burned area is the primary goal, such as in the Mediterranean Basin. Within the region, wildfire incidence is especially acute in Portugal, a country where fire-influencing anthropogenic and landscape features vary markedly within a relatively small area. This study establishes daily fire weather thresholds associated to transitions to increasingly larger fires for individual Portuguese regions (2001–2011 period), using the national wildfire and Canadian fire weather index (FWI) databases and logistic regression. FWI thresholds variation in relation to population density, topography, land cover, and net primary production (NPP) metrics is examined through regression and cluster analysis. Larger fires occur under increasingly higher fire danger. Resistance to fire spread (the fire-size FWI thresholds) varies regionally following biophysical gradients, and decreases under more complex topography and when NPP and occupation by flammable forest or by shrubland increase. Three main clusters synthesize these relationships and roughly coincide with the western north-central, eastern north-central and southern parts of the country. Quantification of fire-weather relationships can be improved through additional variables and analysis at other spatial scales.

scholarly journals Atmospheric and Fuel Moisture Characteristics Associated with Lightning-Attributed Fires

2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 2025-2037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Dowdy ◽  
Graham A. Mills
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Moisture ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Lightning Stroke ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Seasonal And Diurnal Variations ◽  
Weather Parameters ◽  
Comparison Of The Results ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractA systematic examination is presented of the relationship between lightning occurrence and fires attributed to lightning ignitions. Lightning occurrence data are matched to a database of fires attributed to lightning ignition over southeastern Australia and are compared with atmospheric and fuel characteristics at the time of the lightning occurrence. Factors influencing the chance of fire per lightning stroke are examined, including the influence of fuel moisture and weather parameters, as well as seasonal and diurnal variations. The fuel moisture parameters of the Canadian Fire Weather Index System are found to be useful in indicating whether a fire will occur, given the occurrence of lightning. The occurrence of “dry lightning” (i.e., lightning that occurs without significant rainfall) is found to have a large influence on the chance of fire per lightning stroke. Through comparison of the results presented here with the results of studies from other parts of the world, a considerable degree of universality is shown to exist in the characteristics of lightning fires and the atmospheric conditions associated with them, suggesting the potential for these results to be applied more widely than just in the area of the study.

scholarly journals First steps towards a dynamical model for forest fire behaviour in Argentinian landscapes

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. e09
Author(s):  
Monica Denham ◽  
Karina Laneri ◽  
Viviana Zimmerman ◽  
Sigfrido Waidelich
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Reaction Diffusion ◽  
Dynamical Model ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Fire Propagation ◽  
Diffusion Convection ◽  
And Diffusion ◽  
Simulation Time

We developed a Reaction Diffusion Convection (RDC) model for forest fire propagation coupled to a visualization platform with several functionalities requested by local firefighters. The dynamical model aims to understand the key mechanisms driving fire propagation in the Patagonian region. We'll show in this work the first tests considering combustion and diffusion in artificial landscapes. The simulator, developed in CUDA/OpenGL, integrates several layers including topography, weather, and fuel data. It allows to visualize the fire propagation and also to interact with the user in simulation time. The Fire Weather Index (FWI), extensively used in Argentina to support operative preventive measures for forest fires management, was also coupled to our visualization platform. This additional functionality allows the user to visualize on the landscape the fire risks, that are closely related to FWI, for Northwest Patagonian forests in Argentina.

Sensitivity of the CFFDRS Fire Weather Index parameters for Indian weather conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anasuya Barik ◽  
Somnath Baidya Roy
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire Hazard ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Climatic Zones ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Fire Model

&lt;p&gt;The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) is used to assess and predict the fire behavior in various forest ecosystems all over the world. The Fire Weather Index (FWI) module of the CFFDRS models the relationship between meteorology and forest fires. It was observed in our earlier study that the values of the FWI and its related parameters were considerably different from the other countries that use the model for their operational fire weather simulation. In this study we evaluate the model performance over Indian climate for a period of 10 years 1996-2005 under various weather scenarios. The daily meteorological data from ECMWF&amp;#8217;s ERA5 reanalysis has been used as inputs to the fire model and the active fire data from MODIS Terra and Aqua satellites over the study period has been used to evaluate the capability of model to simulate fire danger. As India has many different climatic zones, we evaluated the behavior fire model parameters over 5 forest zones namely Himalayan, Deciduous, Western Ghats, Thorn forests and North Eastern forests based on the Roy et al. 2016 Land Use Land Cover data and Koppen climatic zones.&amp;#160; The analysis was narrowed down over only the forest areas of the zones so as to remove any chances of including the non-forest fires detected by the satellite. Results show that the FWI shows a strong correlation with forest fires if the model is correctly spun up and appropriately calibrated. A spin up time of minimum 60 days was found to be appropriate for stabilization of FWI components like Duff Moisture Code (DMC) and Drought Code (DC). Sensitivity studies showed that temperature and relative humidity are the key controlling factors of forest fires over India and that the parameters depict high interannual seasonality due to relatively lower values during the Indian monsoon season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This study is one of the first attempts to use fire models to simulate fire behavior over India. It can serve as a launchpad for further work on fire hazard prediction and effects of climate change on fire hazard in India.&lt;/p&gt;

Evaluation of the reliability of the high-resolution WRF fire danger forecasts in Poland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Gruszczynska ◽  
Alan Mandal ◽  
Grzegorz Nykiel ◽  
Tomasz Strzyzewski ◽  
Weronika Wronska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Fire Service ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index

&lt;p&gt;Fires negatively affect the composition and structure of fauna and flora, as well as the quality of air, soils and water. They cause economic losses and pose a risk to human life. Poland is at the forefront of European countries in terms of forest fires. Therefore, Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute (IMWM-NIR) implemented fire danger forecast system based on high-resolution (2.5 km) Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. Forecasted meteorological data are used to calculate parameters of Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System: Fire Weather Index (FWI), Initial Spread Index (ISI), Buildup Index (BUI), Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC), Duff Moisture Code (DMC), and Drought Code (DC). Each parameter is presented in one of the classes corresponding to the fire danger &amp;#8211; from low to extreme. In this way, a daily 24- and 48-hour fire danger forecasts are generated for the whole area of Poland and presented on IMWM-NIR meteorological website (meteo.imgw.pl).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this presentation we show analyses of reliability of implemented FWI system. For this purpose, data reprocessing from March to September 2019 were made. Also data on fires occurrence on forest lands: time of occurrence, characteristics and location, from the resources of the State Fire Service were collected. Finally, for the selected period, we obtained a dataset of about 8 thousand events for which we assigned values of FWI parameters. Generally, based on our analysis, correlation between number of fires and averaged value of FWI amounted over 0.8. We found out, the correlation coefficient calculated for regions differ. The correlation is higher in central and northern Poland compared to the eastern part of the country, which also correspond to the number of fires. This may be related to the different forest structure - there is a higher proportion of broadleaf forests in the east. The comparison of 24- and 48-hour forecasts showed that they have similar reliability.&lt;/p&gt;

Lightning and lightning fire, central cordillera, Canada

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Wierzchowski ◽  
Mark Heathcott ◽  
Michael D. Flannigan
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Lightning Strikes ◽  
Severity Rating ◽  
Continental Divide ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Lightning Discharges ◽  
Lightning Fire

This study examines the influences of fuel, weather and topography on lightning-caused forest fires in portions of southern British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. The results show a significant difference in lightning and lightning-caused fires east and west of the Continental Divide. In British Columbia, on average there was one fire for every 50 lightning discharges whereas in Alberta there was one fire for every 1400 lightning discharges. Elevation, the distribution of lightning strikes, the Daily Severity Rating (a component of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System) and vegetation composition were identified as primary agents controlling lightning fire occurrence. However, the multivariate analysis does suggest that there are other factors influencing fire occurrence other than the biophysical factors we tested. The implications of the lightning and lightning-ignited fires for land managers are discussed.

Estimation of Forest Fire Risk by Using Fire Weather Index in the MENA Region

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burcu Calda ◽  
Kamil Collu ◽  
Aytac Pacal ◽  
Mehmet Levent Kurnaz
Keyword(s):  
Observational Data ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Control Period ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Forest Fire Risk

&lt;p&gt;Forest fires are naturals in the Mediterranean ecosystems. However, in the last decade, the number of wildfires has significantly increased in the Mediterranean basin along with climate change. Therefore, forecasts of this region by using fire indices are crucial to take necessary precautions. In the present study, the projected changes for the period 2070 - 2099 concerning the control period 1971 - 2000 were used to estimate forest fire risk by the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI). RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios (IPCC) outputs of MPI-ESM-MR and HadGEM2-ES dynamically downscaled to 50 km for the CORDEX-MENA domain with the use of the RegCM4 were utilized. ERA-Interim observational data from ECMWF covering the period 1980-2012 were also used to test the performances of models. The output of MPI-ESM-MR gave more similar fire risk prediction with the reforecast of observational data (ERA-Interim). Thus, the MPI-ESM-MR model could be more suitable to estimate fire risk by FWI. According to future projection, forest fire risk will significantly increase throughout the region for the last 30 years of this century.&lt;/p&gt;

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document