Use of Real-Time Multisatellite and Radar Data to Support Forest Fire Management

Abstract

Combined digital data from multiple satellites and Doppler radar can provide fire weather meteorologists and resource managers with accurate information on forest fire location, intensity, growth, smoke plumes, and associated mesoscale weather. An integrated application using real-time satellite and radar is described for the Miller's Reach forest fire that occurred in south-central Alaska in June 1996. Generated data and products were made available immediately on-scene via point-to-point high-speed portable satellite communications. This fire consumed over 15 000 ha and destroyed 344 structures.

Environmental controls on pyrocumulus and pyrocumulonimbus initiation and development

“…These 10 cm radars are sensitive to large ash and precipitation particles in the convective column but insensitive to cloud droplets and sub-micron smoke. Radars have been used in numerous wildfires studies (Banta et al, 1992;Hufford et al, 1998;Fromm et al, 2006;Rosenfeld et al, 2007;Jones and Christopher, 2010a, b). Recently, dual-polarization radars have been used to examine the microphysics of wildfire plumes and clouds (Melnikov et al, 2008(Melnikov et al, , 2009Lang et al, 2014).…”

A Discriminant Analysis Model of Alaskan Biomes Based on Spatial Climatic and Environmental Data

“…Within each frame, the biotic and abiotic factors used to determine a switch from one frame to another are modeled. Ruppʼs simulations show that upland tundra and broad-leaved deciduous forest (with relatively low flam ma bil i ty) generally support only small fires, but that the white spruce forest (with relatively high flammability) produces not only many small fires, but also large fires that can account for as much as 60% of the total area Lightning is the primary causal agent for fires in the remote and largely unpopulated areas of Alaska and ad ja cent areas of Canada (Hess et al, 2001), although man-made fires have increased in frequency (Wein, 1976;Hufford et al, 1998). Interannual climatic variability, largely associated with El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, also has a significant impact on fire conditions, lightning-related fire frequency, and the extent of burns in Alaska (Hess et al, 2001).…”

Improving Fire Behaviour Data Obtained from Wildfires

“…A relatively recent set of methods used in research but not yet in operational fire management is the 3D visualisation and measurement of wildfire smoke plumes and the atmosphere using LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) [62][63][64], SODAR (SOnic Detection And Ranging) [65,66] and RADAR (RAdio Detection and Ranging) [63,[67][68][69][70]. These methods extract vertical profiles of the smoke plumes, as well as record the movement of winds and hot gases from the fire.…”

“…Weather RADAR [67][68][69][70] and LIDAR [62][63][64] have also been used for visualizing active fires in context of dynamic broad scale weather events, understanding plume formation and estimation of it characteristics. As weather RADARs are maintained over large parts of Australia as part of rain monitoring, they have very broad coverage and scan at a high frequency.…”