Abstract
Large forest fires have repeatedly affected Europe, in particular the Mediterranean countries. It is now crucial to continue the effort to feed the several layers of prediction models and understand how wildfire spreads in order to develop modern preventative and mitigation methods. The present study evaluates the performance of Sentinel 5-P TROPOMI for the monitoring of carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH4) during extreme fire events in Portugal, focusing on the Monchique (2018) and Vila de Rei/Mação (2019) wildfires, which devastated 27,154 ha and 9249 ha, respectively. The spatial distribution and trend of CO and CH4 prior to, during, and following the fire event were accessed and linked with in situ data in a qualitative and quantitative exploration. Large CO plumes were observed with CO columns exceeding 4.5 × 1018 and 6 × 1018 molecules/cm2 on 21 July 2019, and 7 August 2018, respectively. CO distribution profiles after consecutive digital processing steps showed the ability to follow CO fluctuations according to the fire spread. Furthermore, statistically significant differences were found between CO emissions inside and outside the burning area in both fire events. Finally, the CO2 estimated through CO column data presented an emission of 7.6 × 1019 molecules/cm2 for the uppermost emission day on 7 August 2018. Although CH4 monitoring is still unwavering to draw exact conclusions, the CO patterns during extreme fire events show promising and consistent data when compared with in situ data.
Highlights
Forests cover over a third of the total land area of Europe [1]
The fuel consists of the vegetation in the area covered by the fire and influences the type of combustion during the wildfire event and, the carbon monoxide (CO) and CH4 emissions [26]
In order to build a solid understanding of wildfire incidents requires consideration of these factors and a body of knowledge correlating in situ and remote sensing data
Summary
Climate change is drastically intensifying the threats to the forests, which are more pronounced in the Mediterranean climate-intense rain in winter and drier summers [2]. Such factors foster higher levels of vegetation growth and the accumulation of fuel, which both contribute to extreme wildfires. The environmental impact of events between 2000 and 2017 in Europe resulted in losses of 8.5 million burned ha, approximately 480,000 ha/year [3]. In terms of economic fire impact on the most affected countries, Portugal, for example, may see an increase in losses of over EUR 5 billion/year by 2070–2100
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