Abstract
Land surface variables such as surface soil moisture are recognized as important wildfire indicators. However, quantifying wildfire fuel combustibility through only satellite-retrieved soil moisture remains challenging, because soil moisture does not provide information about vegetation (fuel) moisture and water availability to plants is complicated by another factor of soil properties. Thus, to enhance the wildfire prediction ability of the soil moisture active passive (SMAP) mission, this study examines a canopy stress index (CSI) retrieved from 1 km SMAP level 2 products. The strong relationship between prefire CSI and fire severity is demonstrated over two large-scale (greater than 1000 ha) wildfires in Gang-won Province, South Korea. CSI can effectively predict the severity of large-scale wildfires one week before fire events, differentiating dry soils from wildfire hazards. SMAP L2 data with a temporal resolution of 5–7 d over the study sites are suitable for supporting aerial firefighting activities and reducing false fire warnings.
Highlights
W ILDFIRES, out-of-control fires in areas with “combustible vegetation” [1], are becoming increasingly frequent and larger in scale worldwide
For timely and prompt fire suppression, this study suggests use of the canopy stress index (CSI) retrieved from 1 km soil moisture active passive (SMAP) L2 products, on the basis of the rationale that the energy state prereads the combustibility of biomass leading to wildfires later
The SMAP surface soil moisture is very low on March 28th, before the fires
Summary
W ILDFIRES, out-of-control fires in areas with “combustible vegetation” [1], are becoming increasingly frequent and larger in scale worldwide. In the Amazon, more than 40 000 wildfires burned 906 000 ha, in 2019 These fires have common traits, and the burned areas are increasing according to several reports from the US National Climate Assessment, European Environment Agency, and National Forestry Database of Canada. This increasing fire occurrence and severity are not Manuscript received March 18, 2020; revised December 14, 2020; accepted December 23, 2020.
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