Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: . Natural and human-ignited fires affect all major biomes, altering ecosystem structure, biogeochemical cycles, and atmospheric composition. Satellite observations provide global data on spatiotemporal patterns of biomass burning and evidence for rapid changes in global fire activity in response to land management and climate. Satellite imagery also provides detailed information on the daily or subdaily position of fires that can be used to understand the dynamics of individual fires. The Global Fire Atlas is a new global dataset that tracks the dynamics of individual fires to determine the timing and location of ignitions and fire size, duration, daily expansion, fire line length, speed, and direction of spread. Here we present the underlying methodology and Global Fire Atlas results for 2003–2016 derived from daily moderate resolution (500 m) Collection 6 MCD64A1 burned area data. The algorithm identified 13.3 million individual fires over the study period, and estimated fire perimeters were in good agreement with independent data for the continental United States. A small number of large fires dominated sparsely populated arid and boreal ecosystems, while burned area in agricultural and other human-dominated landscapes was driven by high ignition densities that resulted in numerous smaller fires. Long-duration fires in the boreal regions and natural landscapes in the humid tropics suggest that fire-season length exerts a strong control on fire size and total burned area in these areas. In arid ecosystems with low fuel densities, high fire spread rates resulted in large, short-duration fires that quickly consumed available fuels. Importantly, multi-day fires contributed the majority of burned area in all biomass burning regions. A first analysis of the largest, longest, and fastest fires that occurred around the world revealed coherent regional patterns of extreme fires driven by large-scale climate forcing. Global Fire Atlas data are publicly available through www.globalfiredata.org/ and https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1642, and individual fire information and summary data products provide new information for benchmarking fire models within ecosystem and Earth system models, understanding vegetation-fire feedbacks, improving global emissions estimates, and characterizing the changing role of fire in the Earth system.
Source: Earth system science data
Institutions: Goddard Space Flight Center, University of California, Irvine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, University of Maryland, College Park, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Européen de Recherche et de Formation Avancée en Calcul Scientifique, Climat, Environnement, Couplages et Incertitudes, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Language: English
Topic: Fire effects on ecosystems
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Climate action, Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,509
Awards: Fire Season and Drought Forecasting System Development, FIRE IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF THE EARTH SYSTEM. NASA S EARTH OBSERVING SATELLITES MONITOR ACTIVE FIRES MAP BURNED AREA AND ESTIMATE TRACE GAS AND AEROSOL EMISSIONS FROM FIRES WORLDWIDE. GLOBALLY FIRES EMIT MORE THAN 2 PG C PER YEAR YET IMPORTANT CHALLENGES REMAIN WITH RESPECT TO INTEGRATING FIRE EMISSIONS INTO CARBON MONITORING SYSTEMS. ONE IMPEDIMENT TO ROUTINE MONITORING REPORTING AND VERIFICATION (MRV) OF FIRES IS THE NEED FOR EMISSIONS INFORMATION OVER A RANGE OF TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL SCALES. ON DAILY TO WEEKLY TIME SCALES NEAR-REAL TIME FIRE EMISSIONS DATA ARE NEEDED TO SUPPORT FORECASTS AND RESPONSE EFFORTS DURING WILDFIRE EMERGENCIES. TIME SERIES OF ANNUAL FIRE EMISSIONS BY FIRE TYPE SUCH AS PRODUCTS FROM THE GLOBAL FIRE EMISSIONS DATABASE (GFED) ARE IMPORTANT FOR GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING AT REGIONAL NATIONAL AND GLOBAL SCALES INCLUDING THE GLOBAL CARBON PROJECT S ANNUAL CARBON BUDGET. OVER LONGER TIME SCALES THE 17-YEAR MODERATE RESOLUTION IMAGING SPECTROMETER (MODIS) DATA RECORD NOW CAPTURES IMPORTANT YEAR-TO-YEAR VARIABILITY AND SECULAR TRENDS IN GLOBAL FIRE ACTIVITY FROM CHANGING LAND USE AND CLIMATE. HERE WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A SUITE OF GFED PRODUCTS TO BETTER INTEGRATE FIRE EMISSIONS INFORMATION INTO EXISTING CARBON MONITORING SYSTEMS. NEW PRODUCTS SPECIFICALLY TARGET CARBON MONITORING SYSTEM AND STAKEHOLDER NEEDS FOR LOW-LATENCY DATA PRODUCTS IMPROVED ESTIMATES OF GLOBAL BURNING AND TRENDS AND A DETAILED ASSESSMENT OF THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT CONTRIBUTIONS FROM FIRE TO THE GLOBAL METHANE BUDGET. FIRST WE WILL CREATE A NEAR-REAL TIME GFED EMISSIONS PRODUCT USING NEW 375 M RESOLUTION VISIBLE INFRARED IMAGING RADIOMETER SUITE (VIIRS) ACTIVE FIRE DETECTIONS. IN PARALLEL WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AND RELEASE GFED VERSION 5 BUILDING ON IMPROVEMENTS TO COLLECTION 6 MODIS BURNED AREA VIIRS ACTIVE FIRE DETECTIONS AND NOVEL CONSTRAINTS ON FUEL LOADS FROM BIOMASS DATASETS DEVELOPED BY PRIOR NASA CARBON MONITORING SYSTEM (CMS) PROJECTS. THIRD WE WILL RUN GEOS-CHEM ATMOSPHERIC MODEL SIMULATIONS TO ESTIMATE THE INFLUENCE OF GLOBAL FIRE ACTIVITY ON METHANE EMISSIONS AND METHANE LIFETIMES BASED ON CHANGING HYDROXYL RADICAL (OH) CONCENTRATIONS. FOURTH SATELLITE DATA SUGGEST A STRONG DECLINE IN SAVANNA AND GRASSLAND FIRES OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES; WE PROPOSE TO EVALUATE CHANGING FIRE DYNAMICS USING INDIVIDUAL FIRE INFORMATION AND HIGHER RESOLUTION LANDSAT 8 AND SENTINEL-2 DATA FOR CASE STUDY REGIONS WITH DECLINING FIRE ACTIVITY. FINALLY WE WILL UPDATE AND EXPAND THE ONLINE GFED ANALYSIS TOOL TO SERVE NEARREAL TIME GFED5 PRODUCTS AND SUPPORT STAKEHOLDER INTEREST IN FIRE ACTIVITY AND REPORTING AT A RANGE OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SCALES. THIS SUITE OF GFED5 PRODUCTS SPECIFICALLY TARGETS DATA NEEDS FOR ONGOING CMS-FLUX RESEARCH GLOBAL ANALYSIS OF CO2 AND CH4 BY THE GLOBAL CARBON PROJECT AND NOAA S CARBON TRACKER AND SCIENTIFIC AND MEDIA INTEREST IN LARGE WILDFIRE COMPLEXES AS THEY DEVELOP. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH DIRECTLY RESPONDS TO THREE COMPONENTS OF THE ROSES A.7 CMS RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT INCLUDING THE NEED TO ADVANCE REMOTE SENSING-BASED APPROACHES TO MONITORING REPORTING AND VERIFICATION EXTEND AND/OR IMPROVE EXISTING CMS PRODUCTS FOR BIOMASS OR FLUX RESULTING FROM NASA S FIRST PHASES OF CMS PILOT STUDIES AND ENHANCE NATIONAL REPORTED CARBON EMISSIONS INVENTORIES. THE PROPOSED EFFORT WILL PROVIDE CONSISTENT GLOBAL FIRE EMISSIONS DATA PRODUCTS FOR OVER TWO DECADES GROUNDED IN NASA SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS TO SUPPORT GREENHOUSE GAS MRV EFFORTS AND ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF FIRE IN THE EARTH SYSTEM. INVESTMENTS IN NEAR-REAL TIME GFED PRODUCTS AND AN ONLINE DATA DELIVERY AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM WILL HARNESS THE FULL POTENTIAL OF NASA S REMOTE SENSING OBSERVATIONS FOR STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND RESEARCH NEEDS ON FIRE CARBON LOSSES ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND ATTRIBUTION OF CHANGING FIRE DYNAMICS TO HUMAN ACTIVITY AND CLIMATE., THE EARTH SCIENCES DIVISION OF THE NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER AND THE COLLEGE OF COMPUTER MATHEMATICAL AND NATURAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND AT COLLEGE PARK SHARE COMMON RESEARCH GOALS IN THE AREAS OF METEOROLOGY OCEANOGRAPHY TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS CLIMATERESEARCH CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE AND SATELLITE RESEARCH. A COMPREHENSIVE COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT ESTABLISHED THE EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE INTERDISCIPLINARY CENTER (ESSIC) IN 1999. ESSIC IS INTENDED TO SERVE AS A MEANS TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RESEARCH ANDTEACHING THROUGH CLOSE COLLABORATION BY BOTH PARTIES AND SERVE AS A MEANS TO TRAIN PERSONNEL FOR RESEARCH IN EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE. ALL APPOINTEES TO ESSIC SHALL PARTICIPATE IN THE EDUCATIONAL MISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY BY ADVISING GRADUATE STUDENTS IN ADDITION TO CONDUCTING COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO REQUEST A CONTINUATION OF THE COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT ENABLING THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND TO CARRY OUT A COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM WITH GODDARD EARTH SCIENCES WITH THE GOAL OF FURTHERING ITS MISSION: THE EARTH SCIENCES DIVISION ATNASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER PLANS ORGANIZES EVALUATES AND IMPLEMENTS A BROAD PROGRAM OF RESEARCH ON OUR PLANET'S NATURAL SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES. MAJOR FOCUS AREAS INCLUDE CLIMATE CHANGE SEVERE WEATHER THE ATMOSPHERE THE OCEANS SEA ICE AND GLACIERS AND THE LANDSURFACE. GSFC HAS FOR OVER 50 YEARS BEEN A LEADER IN EARTH SCIENCE RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT. ESSIC SEEKS TO BUILD EVEN STRONGER PARTNERSHIPS WITH GODDARD IN THE AREAS OF METEOROLOGY OCEANOGRAPHY TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS CLIMATE RESEARCH CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH'SATMOSPHERE AND SATELLITE RESEARCH. WE ENVISION THIS LATEST COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT AS A MEANS TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RESEARCH AND TEACHING THROUGH CLOSE COLLABORATION BY BOTH PARTIES AND SERVE AS A MEANS TO TRAIN PERSONNEL FOR RESEARCH CAREERS IN EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE. THIS PROPOSAL SUMMARIZES CURRENT RESEARCH THEMES THAT CAN BE CARRIED OUT JOINTLY BY NASA/GSFC AND ESSIC RESEARCHERS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS AS WELL AS PROSPECTIVE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES LAYING A VISION INTO WHAT CAN ACCOMPLISHED IN SCIENCE THROUGH THIS COOPERATIVEAGREEMENT. AT THE DISCRETION OF NASA/GSFC RESEARCHERS AT ESSIC CAN ENGAGE IN A LARGER PORTFOLIO OF AREAS OF INTEREST TO GODDARD E.G. BIOSPHERIC SCIENCES OCEAN ECOLOGY TERRESTRIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS. UMD IS OFFICIALLY CLASSIFIED BY NASA AS A AANAPISI (ASIAN AMERICAN NATIVE AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER SERVING INSTITUTION); THE UNIVERSITY ALSO HOUSES>12% OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AND>10 %HISPANIC STUDENTS PROVIDING A VERY RICH POOL OF UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN STEM TO THIS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT. WE PROPOSE TO BOOST THE PARTICIPATION OF THESE STUDENTS IN RESEARCH THROUGH INTEGRATED RESEARCH EDUCATION AND INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES THAT CAN BE OF BENEFIT TO NASA/GSFC AND TO THEIR FUTURE CAREERS IN STEM FIELDS.
OpenAlex ID: W2890777951