A spatial database of wildfires in the United States, 1992-2011

Short, Karen C.

doi:10.5194/essd-6-1-2014

Cited by 139 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(65 reference statements)

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“…Fire databases are incomplete and have multiple sources of errors [6,8,10,[20][21][22]28]. We have highlighted some clear examples of such inaccuracies (see Sections 2.1 and 2.5).…”

Section: Potential and Limitations Of Satellite Datamentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The California fire perimeters database is provided by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection [48] and covers the entire state since 1878. Information regarding fire dates and ignitions for Alaska and California were retrieved from a comprehensive database covering the USA between 1992 and 2011 [21]. For SE Australia, we used a fire database from the New South Wales (NSW) Office of Environment and Heritage (unpublished data), containing fire perimeters, dates and ignitions since 1977.…”

Section: Study Areas and Fire Databasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Determining Fire Dates and Locating Ignition Points With Satellite Data

Benali

Russo

et al. 2016

Remote Sensing

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Each wildfire has its own "history", burns under specific conditions and leads to unique environmental impacts. Information on where and when it has started and its duration is important to improve understanding on the dynamics of individual wildfires. This information is typically included in fire databases that are known to have: (i) multiple error sources; (ii) limited spatial coverage and/or time span, and; (iii) often unknown accuracy and uncertainty. Satellite data have a large potential to reduce such limitations. We used active fire data from the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to estimate fire start/end dates and ignition location(s) for large wildfires that occurred in Alaska, Portugal, Greece, California and southeastern Australia. We assessed the agreement between satellite-derived estimates and data from fire databases, and determined the associated uncertainty. Fire dates and ignition location(s) were estimated for circa 76% of the total burnt area extent for the five study regions. The ability to estimate fire dates and ignitions from satellite data increased with fire size. The agreement between reported and estimated fire dates was very good for start dates (Model efficiency index, MEF = 0.91) and reasonable for end dates (MEF = 0.73). The spatio-temporal agreement between reported and satellite-derived wildfire ignitions showed temporal lags and distances within 12 h and 2 km, respectively. Uncertainties associated with ignition estimates were generally larger than the disagreements with data reported in fire databases. Our results show how satellite data can contribute to improve information regarding dates and ignitions of large wildfires. This contribution can be particularly relevant in regions with scarce fire information, while in well-documented areas it can be used to complement, potentially detect, and correct inconsistencies in existing fire databases. Using data from other existing and/or upcoming satellites should significantly contribute to reduce errors and uncertainties in satellite-derived fire dates and ignitions, as well as improve coverage of small fires.

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“…Fire databases are incomplete and have multiple sources of errors [6,8,10,[20][21][22]28]. We have highlighted some clear examples of such inaccuracies (see Sections 2.1 and 2.5).…”

Section: Potential and Limitations Of Satellite Datamentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Study Areas and Fire Databasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining Fire Dates and Locating Ignition Points With Satellite Data

Benali

Russo

et al. 2016

Remote Sensing

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“…The extent of these fires is mapped using handheld GPS units or aerial reconnaissance over multiple days to map daily growth and a final area burned [35]. Nonfederal landholders also maintain information on fire start locations and extent, but this is not a coordinated effort and the data is cumbersome to compile [36]. Spaceborne remote sensing offers spatially continuous fire detection and observation at sub-daily temporal resolution without jurisdictional barriers.…”

Section: Retrospective Vulnerability Assessment Measuring Exposure Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3). The FOD is the most complete accounting of wildfire ignition locations across the USA with over 1.7 million fires mapped and attributed with, at a minimum, ignition location, discovery date, and final fire size [36]. MTBS is a joint effort between the USDA Forest Service and the US Geological Survey to map the extent of all large wildfires and prescribed fires (>405 ha in the west and >202 ha in the east) [41].…”

Section: Retrospective Vulnerability Assessment Measuring Exposure Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Landscape Vulnerability to Wildfire in the USA

2016

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Wildfire is an ever present, natural process shaping landscapes. Having the ability to accurately measure and predict wildfire occurrence and impacts to ecosystem goods and services, both retrospectively and prospectively, is critical for adaptive management of landscapes. Landscape vulnerability is a concept widely utilized in the ecosystem management literature that has not been explicitly defined, particularly with regard to wildfire. Vulnerability more broadly is defined by three primary components: exposure to the stressor, sensitivity to a range of stressor variability, and resilience following exposure. In this synthesis, we define vulnerability in the context of wildfire. We first identify the components of a guiding framework for a vulnerability assessment with respect to wildfire. We then address retrospective assessments of wildfire vulnerability and the data that have been developed and utilized to complete these assessments. Finally, we review the modeling efforts that allow for predictive and probabilistic assessment of future vulnerability. Throughout the synthesis, we highlight gaps in the research, data availability, and models used to complete vulnerability assessments.

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“…The model uses empirically derived relationships between energy release component (ERC) and historical fire size and ignition location data (11,618 ignitions between 1992-2009) obtained from the spatial wildfire database of the U.S. (Short 2014). Energy release component is an index in the national fire danger rating system (Bradshaw et al 1984) used for fuel moisture.…”

Section: Wildfirementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of accelerated wildfire on future fire regimes and implications for the United States federal fire policy

Ager¹,

Barros²,

Preisler³

et al. 2017

E&S

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. 2017. Effects of accelerated wildfire on future fire regimes and implications for the United States federal fire policy. Ecology and Society 22 (4) ABSTRACT. Wildland fire suppression practices in the western United States are being widely scrutinized by policymakers and scientists as costs escalate and large fires increasingly affect social and ecological values. One potential solution is to change current fire suppression tactics to intentionally increase the area burned under conditions when risks are acceptable to managers and fires can be used to achieve long-term restoration goals in fire adapted forests. We conducted experiments with the Envision landscape model to simulate increased levels of wildfire over a 50-year period on a 1.2 million ha landscape in the eastern Cascades of Oregon, USA. We hypothesized that at some level of burned area fuels would limit the growth of new fires, and fire effects on the composition and structure of forests would eventually reduce future fire intensity and severity. We found that doubling current rates of wildfire resulted in detectable feedbacks in area burned and fire intensity. Area burned in a given simulation year was reduced about 18% per unit area burned in the prior five years averaged across all scenarios. The reduction in area burned was accompanied by substantially lower fire severity, and vegetation shifted to open forest and grass-shrub conditions at the expense of old growth habitat. Negative fire feedbacks were slightly moderated by longer-term positive feedbacks, in which the effect of prior area burned diminished during the simulation. We discuss trade-offs between managing fuels with wildfire versus prescribed fire and mechanical fuel treatments from a social and policy standpoint. The study provides a useful modeling framework to consider the potential value of fire feedbacks as part of overall land management strategies to build fire resilient landscapes and reduce wildfire risk to communities in the western U.S. The results are also relevant to prior climate-wildfire studies that did not consider fire feedbacks in projections of future wildfire activity.

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A spatial database of wildfires in the United States, 1992-2011

Cited by 139 publications

References 41 publications

Determining Fire Dates and Locating Ignition Points With Satellite Data

Determining Fire Dates and Locating Ignition Points With Satellite Data

Assessing Landscape Vulnerability to Wildfire in the USA

Effects of accelerated wildfire on future fire regimes and implications for the United States federal fire policy

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