Abstract
The detection of wildland fires by satellites began in the 1980s. Since them, satellite images have been used as an early wildfire detection system, for estimate burnt area and for assist the development of strategies focused on wildfires prevention. This study aims to analyse, spatially and temporally, the hot spots detected by the AQUA satellite (MODIS sensor), processed by the INPE using the “Collection 5” detection algorithm, in all South America for the years 2003 to 2017. A total of 4,953,769 hot spots where analysed and Brazil had the highest hot spot incidence while Paraguay presented the highest hot spots occurrence per area (density). The year of 2004 had the highest number of hot spots detected, while 2013 the lowest. Significant linear trend was observed only in two countries: Peru and Chile, in both cases indicating an uptrend during the assessed period. The month with the highest fire activity in South America was September, the least May. Each country presented differences regarding the months with higher and lower hot spots detected, mainly due to different rainfall patterns. The annual changes in the wildland fire occurrence observed in this study are mostly due to human behaviour linked with climate variations caused by the El Nino and La Nina.
Highlights
Fire is an ancient technique used by farmers for clearing land, reduce pests, diseases, costs and other purposes
Taking into consideration the size of the South America countries, Paraguay was the nation with the highest hot spot occurrence per area, with an annual mean of one hot spot detected for each 20 km2, followed by Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Equator, Guyana, Chile, Uruguay, French Guiana and Suriname
According to the classification proposed by White and White (2016), Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil and Venezuela can be classified as countries with “Very High” wildland fire incidence
Summary
Fire is an ancient technique used by farmers for clearing land, reduce pests, diseases, costs and other purposes. Wildland fires (non-structure fires that occur in vegetation and natural fuels including planned and unplanned fires) can represent a threat to the preservation of biodiversity. In fire sensitive ecosystems, such as Atlantic or Tropical Forests, wildland fires are responsible for major environmental impacts that can lead to extinction of rare and endemic species. They leave the soil more susceptible to erosion while releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases (SOARES; BATISTA, 2007). The smoke often causes problems for human health, especially respiratory complications and represents, in some locations, a public health issue
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