Fire Distribution Research Articles

MONITORING OF FOREST FIRES IN THE TERRITORY OF THE VOLGA FEDERAL DISTRICT IN RECENT DECADES

The distribution of forest fires across the territory of the Volga Federal District (VFD) in the period 1992-2020 is considered. The distribution of the number of fires in the subjects of the Volga Federal District is shown depending on their forest cover and season. The peak of the number of fires was revealed in 2010, when the entire territory of the region was covered by a severe drought, which led to a multiple increase in the area of forests covered by fire. An increase in the number of forest fires in recent years due to the active phase of climate warming has been noted.

Forest Fire Segmentation from Aerial Imagery Data Using an Improved Instance Segmentation Model

In recent years, forest-fire monitoring methods represented by deep learning have been developed rapidly. The use of drone technology and optimization of existing models to improve forest-fire recognition accuracy and segmentation quality are of great significance for understanding the spatial distribution of forest fires and protecting forest resources. Due to the spreading and irregular nature of fire, it is extremely tough to detect fire accurately in a complex environment. Based on the aerial imagery dataset FLAME, this paper focuses on the analysis of methods to two deep-learning problems: (1) the video frames are classified as two classes (fire, no-fire) according to the presence or absence of fire. A novel image classification method based on channel domain attention mechanism was developed, which achieved a classification accuracy of 93.65%. (2) We propose a novel instance segmentation method (MaskSU R-CNN) for incipient forest-fire detection and segmentation based on MS R-CNN model. For the optimized model, the MaskIoU branch is reconstructed by a U-shaped network in order to reduce the segmentation error. Experimental results show that the precision of our MaskSU R-CNN reached 91.85%, recall 88.81%, F1-score 90.30%, and mean intersection over union (mIoU) 82.31%. Compared with many state-of-the-art segmentation models, our method achieves satisfactory results on forest-fire dataset.

Comparative analysis on temperature characteristics of hydrogen-powered and traditional fossil-fueled vehicle fires in the tunnel under longitudinal ventilations

Vehicle fires in the tunnel are a great threat to the safe operation of the tunnel. Due to the rapid development of the hydrogen economy, the fire due to the hydrogen leakage could not be avoided and may bring great damage to the passengers and infrastructure. Due to the large difference between pool fires of traditional fossil-fueled and jet fires of hydrogen-powered vehicles, it is in doubt whether the existing longitudinal ventilation design could still be effective for the safety issue of hydrogen powered vehicles. To solve this problem, it is necessary to compare temperature characteristics of hydrogen-powered and traditional vehicle fires with and without longitudinal ventilations. In present work, we conducted a numerical investigation to discuss the different temperature distributions of traditional and hydrogen-fueled vehicle fires. Results indicate that the high temperature zone of the pool fire only exists above the ceiling of the vehicle. For hydrogen-powered vehicle fire, the high-speed hydrogen jet with the strong inertial force could push the hot smoke flows back to the ground. The ceiling temperature of hydrogen-powered vehicle fire is larger since hydrogen-powered vehicle has a larger heat release rate and the fire hazard of jet fires bring more danger compared with the pool fire. Although the temperature stratification is also obvious for the hydrogen-powered vehicle fire, the air temperature in the lower region could be heated and still high enough to bring a great damage to the passengers’ lives. This is quite different with the traditional pool fire. In addition, the critical ventilation velocity is also discussed. The theoretical equation could well predicted the critical ventilation velocity of traditional vehicle fires. For hydrogen-powered vehicle fires, the critical ventilation velocity could reach up to 6 m/s. The theoretical equation could not well predict the critical ventilation velocity of hydrogen-powered vehicle fires due to exist of hydrogen jet fires.

Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Forest Fires and their Environmental and Socio-economic Implications in Nepal

Forest fire is a global phenomenon, resulting in devastation across regions. Nepal is not an exception where forest ecosystems and environment are vulnerable to forest fires, causing loss of properties and lives. While a range of studies have been conducted on the causes of forest fire and its impact, temporal and spatial dimensions along with ecological and socio-economic implications are largely overlooked. This paper aims to identify the temporal and spatial distribution of forest fire, and its implications on forest ecology, environmental, and socio-economic sectors of Nepal. Data on fire incidences and burnt areas were obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and information pertaining to environmental and socio-economic implications were collected from various secondary sources. The 2001-2020 data revealed increasing forest fire incidences. Seasonally, pre-monsoon appeared to have higher frequencies of forest fires. By province, the Tarai and Siwalik regions of the Sudurpaschim Province, Madhesh Province, Lumbini Province, and Bagmati Province are susceptible to fire. In terms of fire risk, the Tarai-Siwalik region of Sudurpaschim and Madhesh Province are at very high forest fire risk. In terms of environmental loss and damage, every year on an average, 3,098 fire incidences occur resulting in damage to 172,040.65 hectares (ha) of forest and biomass loss of 7.07 million tons per year accounting to emission of 3.30 million tons of carbon per year. During 2020-2021 period, a total of Nepalese Rupees (NPR) 1890000 (USD 15240.70) was lost due to the damage incurred by forest fire. Likewise, from 2007 to 2021, 71 human casualties have been recorded. Both natural and anthropogenic factors are responsible for the occurrence of forest fire in Nepal. Thus, for the protection of forests, properties and lives, strict forest fire mitigation policies and practices ensuring sustainable forest fire management is crucial.

Temperature Distribution of Coal Mine Tunnel Fire During Dynamic Sealing Process: A Numerical Study

ABSTRACT Implementing a sealing measure on both ends of the mine tunnel fire is an important approach for fire extinguishing. In order to explore the effect of different sealing velocities on the temperature distribution of mine tunnel fire during dynamic sealing, a series of full-scale mine tunnel fire models were built using Pyrosim, and Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) was carried out to investigate the smoke temperature beneath the tunnel ceiling in symmetrical sealing on both ends. The results show the sealing method led to a substantial increasement of the mine tunnel ceiling temperature when the HRR was relatively small (2 MW). And with the acceleration of the sealing velocity, the time to reach the maximum temperature was earlier. However, the HRR was greater than 6 MW, the sealing velocities have less impact on the maximum ceiling temperature. Due to dynamic sealing of the mine tunnel fire with natural ventilation conditions, the ceiling temperature expressed an exponential decay along the longitudinal direction. Meanwhile, with the increase of the HRR, fire extinguishing time was generally advanced. When the sealing velocity was relatively slow, the maximum ceiling temperature exhibited a hysteresis, and the temperature of outside the sealing wall declined slowly. The research has great significance for mine tunnel fire control and rescue.

Environmental factors affecting wildfire-burned areas in southeastern France, 1970–2019

Abstract. Forest fires burn an average of about 440 000 ha each year in southern Europe. These fires cause numerous casualties and deaths and destroy houses and other infrastructure. In order to elaborate on suitable firefighting strategies, complex interactions between human and environmental factors must be taken into account. In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal evolution in the burned area over a 50-year period (1970–2019) and its interactions with topography (slope aspect and inclination) and vegetation type in southeastern France by exploiting the geographic information system (GIS) databases. Data were analyzed for two 25-year periods (1970–1994 and 1995–2019), since a new fire suppression policy was put into place after 1994, which focused on rapid extinction of fires in their early phase. In the last 25 years, the burned area decreased sharply, and the geographic distribution of fires also changed, especially in regions where large fires occur (Var administrative division). Elsewhere, even though forest fires remain frequent, the total extent of the burned area decreased substantially. Fire hotspots appear closer to built-up areas in the west, are randomly distributed in the east, and they almost completely disappear in the central region of the study area where there is a history of large fires. Slope orientation presents an increasingly important role in the second period; south-facing slopes are preferred the most by fire, and north-facing slopes are preferentially avoided. Even though the slope inclination is less affected by the new firefighting strategy, low slope inclinations are even more avoided after 1994. The greatest proportion of the burned area is strongly associated with the location of sclerophyllous vegetation clusters which exhibit highly fire prone and expand in area over time. Natural grasslands are also preferred by fire, while broadleaved, coniferous, and mixed forest are increasingly avoided by fire.

Evaluation of low-resolution remotely sensed datasets for burned area assessment within the wildland-urban interface

The impacts of wildfires are often intensified within the wildland-urban interface (WUI) where built structures intermingle with wildland vegetation. Because fire impacts in the WUI are high, detailed fire occurrence information is especially valuable to fire scientists and risk managers. While it is known that burned area datasets with coarse spatial resolution frequently underestimate burned area due to the omission of small fires, the extent to which they do so has not been quantified in states such as Oklahoma in the south-central United States. Here, we explore how much burned area low-resolution datasets miss, where they miss burned area, and how different datasets detect burned area within the wildland-urban interface in Oklahoma, USA. We compare the MODIS MCD64A1 burned area product, the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) product and a higher-resolution dataset developed using Sentinel-2 imagery and find that the low-resolution datasets underestimate burned area by approximately 46% and were unable to detect major hotspots of fire occurrence. Overall, our study provides an estimate of the extent to which large-scale, low-resolution burned area datasets underestimate the number and distribution of small fires in Oklahoma.

Противопожарные расстояния от наземных автостоянок до жилых зданий

Проанализированы нормативные требования к противопожарным разрывам от жилых зданий до границ открытых автостоянок. Рассмотрены особенности горения легковых автомобилей. На основе полевого моделирования изучены особенности распространения опасных факторов пожара (ОФП) и их воздействие на жилые здания при одновременном горении двух автомобилей. Моделирование проводилось при различных расстояниях до автостоянок и с учетом воздействия ветровой нагрузки. Показано, что на расстоянии от жилых зданий до автостоянок менее 10 м может потребоваться устройство огнестойких наружных стен здания с противопожарной защитой оконных проемов и применением негорючей облицовки фасада. The problem of parking lots and parking spaces is relevant in many large cities, which leads to the need to optimize parking space. The analysis of the regulatory framework in the field of fire safety of open parking lots has shown that the values of quenching distances from residential buildings to the boundaries of parking lots are associated with the fire hazard of the building, its number of storeys, fire resistance limits and characteristics of load-bearing and enclosing structures. In accordance with the new regulatory requirements, quenching distances from open storage areas, car parking to buildings and structures are not normalized. At the same time, when developing fire-fighting measures, it is necessary to take into account that the intensity of the fire impact on the building can significantly increase, for example, with the simultaneous ignition of two or more cars in the event of fuel spills, as well as arson. The purpose of this research is to study the peculiarities of fire hazards spread during simultaneous ignition of two or more cars on the basis of field modeling and to assess the possibility of fire-safe placement of an open parking lot in residential areas. To achieve the purpose of the study, field (CFD) modeling of fire dynamics using the FDS computer program was used. When modeling, calculations of fire hazards spread from an open parking lot and their impact on a residential building were carried out. As a result of modeling the fire development, temperature distributions, smoke and heat flows were obtained at different points in time at the window openings of a residential building at different points in time. The simulation was carried out at different distances and taking into account the impact of wind load. The results of the study showed that with the simultaneous ignition of two cars, the value of quenching distance of 10 m to open parking lots provides a condition for non-proliferation of fire on a residential building. With a decrease in the distance of less than 10 m, the values of the heat flux density and temperature at the window openings of apartments in the lower floors of the building under the influence of wind load may exceed critical values. In the residential areas of the lower floors, there may also be an excess of the values of fire hazards. To exclude this effect it is necessary to install fire-resistant exterior walls of the building with fire protection of window openings, as well as the use of finishes, facade cladding made of non-combustible materials. The simulation also showed that for residential buildings with a stylobate with a width of at least 5 m, quenching distances may not be observed when applying appropriate fire protection to the exterior walls and openings of the stylobate.

Predicting the potential impact of forest fires on runoff and sediment loads using a distributed hydrological modeling approach

Forest fires profoundly affect the nature of watershed responses to precipitation, increases in runoff rate and volume, and post-fire sediment discharge. A post-fire watershed assessment to identify potential trouble spots for soil erosion and flooding can help land managers for decision-making on deploy mitigation, remediation measures, and restoration action plans. Predicting the potential impact of fires on runoff and soil erosion requires distributed hydrological modeling methods. This study used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), a rainfall-runoff model, to investigate the hydrological consequences of forest fires and their impact on sediment load under different burnt scenarios. For the pre-fire (baseline) scenario, the watershed is calibrated by using the measured discharge and suspended sediment concentration data from the weather station during the time step to estimate post-fire changes at the sub-catchment scale. The total water and sediment yield for the selected sub-catchment in the post-fire scenario with the highest spatial distribution of forest fire, due to the excessive surface runoff (an increase of 14.5%) increased significantly, resulted in 6.5 times increase in sediment yield. The results obtained from the study indicate a significant increase in sediment transport into the stream in the post-fire scenario. A large volume of soil losses occurred during the time step. In contrast, due to removing trees and vegetation from the ground, less evapotranspiration and infiltration occurred in selected sub-catchment areas after forest fires. In terms of watershed management, understanding the consequences of forest fires on hydrological services will be an effective method for sediment budget control. Therefore, applying the rainfall-runoff and erosion models for the watershed with developing plausible forest fire scenarios can be a productive method to deal with the threats and hydrological risks such as soil erosion and sediment transfer to the downstream environment.

Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Climate Influence of Forest Fires in Fujian Province, China

Climate determines the spatiotemporal distribution pattern of forest fires by affecting vegetation and the extent of drought. Thus, analyzing the dynamic change of the forest fire season and its response to climate change will play an important role in targeted adjustments of forest fire management policies and practices. In this study, we studied the spatiotemporal variations in forest fire occurrence in Fujian Province, China using the Mann–Kendall trend test and correlation analysis to analyze Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data from 2001 to 2016 and meteorological data. The results show that forest fire occurrence rose first and then declined over the years, but the proportion of forest fires during the fire prevention period decreased. The forest fires increased significantly in spring and summer, exceeding the forest fires occurring in the fire prevention period in 2010. The spatial distribution of forest fires decreased from northwest to southeast coastal areas, among which the number of forest fires in the northwest mountainous areas was large in autumn and winter. The fire risk weather index was strongly and positively correlated with forest fire occurrence across various sites in the province. The findings accentuate the need for properly adjusting the fire prevention period and resource allocation, strengthening the monitoring and early warning of high fire risk weather, and publicizing wildfire safety in spring and summer. As the forest fire occurrence frequency is high in the western and northwest mountainous areas, more observation towers and forest fire monitoring facilities should be installed.

Environmental Factors Driving Seed Hydration Status of Soil Seed Banks and the Implications for Post-fire Recruitment.

Changes in fire regimes due to climate change and fire management practices are affecting the timing, length, and distribution of vegetation fires throughout the year. Plant species responses and tolerances to fire differ from season to season and are influenced by species-specific phenological processes. The ability of seeds to tolerate extreme temperatures associated with fire is one of these processes, with survival linked to seed moisture content at the time of exposure. As fire is more often occurring outside historic dry fire seasons, the probability of fire occurring when seeds are hydrated may also be increasing. In this study, we set out to understand the seasonal dynamics of seed hydration for seeds of Banksia woodland species, and how certain seed traits interact with environmental conditions to influence survival of high temperatures associated with fire. We measured the moisture content of seeds buried to 2 cm in the soil seed bank for four common native species and one invasive species on a weekly basis throughout 2017, along with soil moisture content and environmental correlates. We determined water sorption isotherms at 20°C for seeds of each species and used these functions to model weekly variation in seed water activity and predict when seeds are most sensitive to soil heating. Using Generalised additive models (GAMs), we were able to describe approximately 67% of the weekly variance in seed water activity and explored differences in seed hydration dynamics between species. Seed water activity was sufficiently high (i.e., ≥ 0.85 aw) so as to have created an increased risk of mortality if a fire had occurred during an almost continuous period between May and November in the study period (i.e., 2017). There were brief windows when seeds may have been in a dry state during early winter and late spring, and also when they may have been in a wet state during summer and late autumn. These data, and the associated analyses, provide an opportunity to develop approaches to minimize seed mortality during fire and maximize the seed bank response.

Daily Burned Area Mapping for Prescribed Rangeland Burning in the Flint Hills Region Using MODIS Data

Highlights Average burn frequency and fire size were larger in the center part of the Flint Hills region. The maximum daily burned area was 0.2 million ha. Even distribution of fires can reduce smoke impact. Fires were concentrated on days with high solar radiation. Changing this pattern can reduce the impact on O 3 . Abstract. Smoke from prescribed burning in the Flint Hills region impacts air quality and contributes to the exceedances of ozone (O3). The objectives of this study were 1) to map the daily burned area in this region from 2003 to 2019 using the combination of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) highest resolution imagery and standard active fire data from satellite, and 2) to identify the spatial and temporal distributions and patterns of daily fire activities. Red and near-infrared images were combined, and supervised minimum distance classification of the bi-spectral images was applied to map the daily burned area. Results showed that fire activities were highly concentrated in a few days in mid-April. The annual burned percentage (ranged from 11% to 52%) and the average fire size (ranged from 160 to 400 ha) were larger in the central part of the Flint Hills region than in the Southern part and at the edge. On average, the preferred weather conditions by landowners only occurred in around 10 days in one spring burning season. The maximum daily burned area in the Flint Hills study region was as high as 0.2 million ha, about 1/6 of the total burned area in the whole spring burning season. Based on analysis of historical daily burned area and weather data, most fires occurred on days with high solar radiation, favoring O3 production. Changing this pattern or more evenly distributed fires can reduce the smoke impact on daily O3. The results of this study provided a solid foundation for the ongoing development of O3 regression models using daily burned area and meteorological factors as predictor variables. Keywords: MODIS, Ozone, Prescribed burning, Remote sensing, Smoke impact.

Distribution and influence of forest fires on the ecological and radiation situation in radioactively contaminated areas

The article discusses the main causes of forest fires in radioactively contaminated areas and the factors affecting the spread of fires and radioactive substances. It is certain that the main elements of influence on the ecological and radiation situation are the intensity and direction of migration of radioactive combustion products. It is proposed to use a model based on deflation parameters, such as radioactivity, maximum wind speed, using the results of experimental studies. The results obtained were verified by calculating the surface concentration of 137Cs released into the atmosphere after a forest fire in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. For the deflation intensity factor, graphical dependencies were obtained under various meteorological conditions.

Design and Research of Virtual Simulation Experiment of Optimal Fire Escape Strategy Based on Internet of Things

With the urgent demand for Internet of Things professionals, colleges and universities are faced with the challenge of training integrated talents of Internet of Things. Combined with the social background of high incidence of fire and difficulty in escape of high-rise buildings, we designed the simulation experiment of optimal escape route selection for fire distribution prediction based on the intelligent fire virtual simulation teaching platform. The simulation experiment takes Unity3D as the tool, comprehensively utilizes computer simulation technology and big data technology of Internet of Things to establish mathematical models of fire data in various situations, and dynamically simulates the scope, intensity and spread trend of different fires. In addition, according to different fire situations, combined with the overall structure of the building and multi-sensor data, based on the optimal path planning principle, the system plans the optimal escape route for personnel in case of fire, so as to guide students to conduct fire escape drills based on different real scene simulation. The teaching system takes the three-layer structure of the Internet of Things as the main line and adopts the "bottom-up" teaching concept to enable students to master the theoretical knowledge and key technologies of the Internet of Things. By completing the simulation experiment designed by us, students should be able to solve practical problems by comprehensively applying Internet of Things engineering technology. The simulation experiment has been put into practical teaching, which has received positive response from students and achieved good teaching effect.

A new optimization model based on minimum risk and cost - UAV monitoring and early warning system

The forest fire in 2019-2020 has brought devastating damage to every state in Australia, causing many casualties and huge property losses, among which the impact on New South Wales and eastern Victoria is the largest. We design a monitoring and early warning system from the perspective of emergency capacity, safety and economy, combined with the use of the model and terrain restrictions, in order to deal with the possible future forest fires. A "hierarchical structure model" is established to study the optimal combination scheme. Based on it, the penalty function is used to construct the auxiliary function, and the original constrained problem is transformed into the minimum auxiliary unconstrained problem. According to the topographic map and fire distribution map of Victoria, how to optimize the monitoring and early warning system is calculated under the condition that full coverage error can not be achieved.

Remote spatial analysis lacking ethnographic grounding mischaracterizes sustainability of Indigenous burning regime

Abstract: Scientific research that purports to evaluate Indigenous fire regimes in the absence of ethnographically contextualized ecological data runs the risk of exacerbating the fire blame game and providing evidence to support distorted narratives advanced by anti-Indigenous advocates. Spatial analysis of fire scars in Indigenous territories can be an effective tool for characterizing cultural fire regimes in terms of distribution and frequency, especially when qualified by linkages to different local ecosystems. A recently published article drew on fire scar mapping from satellite imagery to assess anthropogenic fire distribution and frequency in the Pimentel Barbosa Indigenous Land, Central Brazil. The authors use their findings to characterize A'uwẽ (Xavante) use of fire as unmanaged and a model of unsustainable use of cerrado resources. In this article, we discuss Aguiar & Martins's recent paper in light of our long-term research on A'uwẽ hunting with fire in the Pimentel Barbosa Indigenous Land, arguing that A'uwẽ hunters do burn according to established cultural protocols, manage their use of fire for conservationist purposes, and do not cause environmental degradation by burning.

ГЕОДЕЗІЯ, КАРТОГРАФІЯ І АЕРОФОТОЗНІМАННЯ

Earth remote sensing and using the satellite images play an important role when monitoring the effects of forest fires and assessing damage. Applying different methods of multispectral space images processing, we can determine the risk of fire distribution, define hot spots and determine thermal parameters, mapping the damaged areas and assess the consequences of fire. The purpose of the work is the severity assessment connected with the post-fire period on the example of the forests in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. The tasks of the study are to define the area of burned zones using space images of different time which were obtained from the Sentinel-2 satellite applying the method of a normalized burn ratio (NBR) and method of supervised classification. Space images taken from the Sentinel-2 satellite before and after the fire were the input data for the study. Copernicus Open Access Hub service is a source of images and its spatial resolution is 10 m for visible and near infrared bands of images, and 20 m for medium infrared bands of images. We used method of Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) and automatically calculated the area damaged with fire. Using this index we were able to identify areas of zones after active combustion. This index uses near and middle infrared bands for the calculations. In addition, a supervised classification was performed on the study area, and signature files were created for each class. According to the results of the classification, the areas of the territories damaged by the fire were also calculated. The scientific novelty relies upon the application of a method of using the normalized combustion coefficient (NBR) and supervised classification for space images obtained before and after the fire in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The practical significance lies in the fact that the studied methods of GIS technologies can be used to identify territories and calculate the areas of vegetation damaged by fires. These results can be used by local organizations, local governments and the Ministry of Emergency Situations to monitor the condition and to plan reforestation. The normalized burned ratio (NBR) gives possibility efficiently and operatively to define and calculate the area which were damaged by fires, that gives possibility operatively assess the consequences of such fires and estimate the damage. The normalized burned ratio allows to calculate the area of burned forest almost 2 times more accurately than the supervised classification. The calculation process itself also takes less time and does not require additional procedures (set of signatures). Supervised classification in this case gives worse accuracy, the process itself is longer, but allows to determine the area of several different classes.

RETRACTED: The Temporal-Spatial Distribution and Information-Diffusion-Based Risk Assessment of Forest Fires in China

As forest fires are becoming a recurrent and severe issue in China, their temporal-spatial information and risk assessment are crucial for forest fire prevention and reduction. Based on provincial-level forest fire data during 1998–2017, this study adopts principal component analysis, clustering analysis, and the information diffusion theory to estimate the temporal-spatial distribution and risk of forest fires in China. Viewed from temporality, China’s forest fires reveal a trend of increasing first and then decreasing. Viewed from spatiality, provinces characterized by high population density and high coverage density are seriously affected, while eastern coastal provinces with strong fire management capabilities or western provinces with a low forest coverage rate are slightly affected. Through the principal component analysis, Hunan (1.33), Guizhou (0.74), Guangxi (0.51), Heilongjiang (0.48), and Zhejiang (0.46) are found to rank in the top five for the severity of forest fires. Further, Hunan (1089), Guizhou (659), and Guanxi (416) are the top three in the expected number of general forest fires, Fujian (4.70), Inner Mongolia (4.60), and Heilongjiang (3.73) are the top three in the expected number of large forest fires, and Heilongjiang (59,290), Inner Mongolia (20,665), and Hunan (5816) are the top three in the expected area of the burnt forest.

Characteristics of Spatiotemporal Changes in the Occurrence of Forest Fires

The purpose of this study is to understand the characteristics of the spatial distribution of forest fire occurrences with the local indicators of temporal burstiness in Korea. Forest fire damage data were produced in the form of areas by combining the forest fire damage ledger information with VIIRS-based forest fire occurrence data. Then, detrended fluctuation analysis and the local indicator of temporal burstiness were applied. In the results, the forest fire occurrence follows a self-organized criticality mechanism, and the temporal irregularities of fire occurrences exist. When the forest fire occurrence time series in Gyeonggi-do Province, which had the highest value of the local indicator of temporal burstiness, was checked, it was found that the frequency of forest fires was increasing at intervals of about 10 years. In addition, when the frequencies of forest fires and the spatial distribution of the local indicators of forest fire occurrences were compared, it was found that there were spatial differences in the occurrence of forest fires. This study is meaningful in that it analyzed the time series characteristics of the distribution of forest fires in Korea to understand that forest fire occurrences have long-term temporal correlations and identified areas where the temporal irregularities of forest fire occurrences are remarkable with the local indicators of temporal burstiness.

Landfill fires in Romania

Multiple hazards to human health and the environment are associated with a lacking waste management. Among them, landfill fires suddenly release large amounts of various chemicals, leading to environmental pollution and to potential impacts upon human health in the affected areas. The low level of separate collection and recycling of municipal waste in Romania leads to the accumulation of biowaste and other combustible waste (paper, plastic and textiles) in landfills, increasing the risk of landfill fires. Inventorying and monitoring the effects of such inadvertent events is a necessary step towards a thorough assessment of the environmental pollution at regional level. By using a waste fires database and reviewing press reports on large landfill fires, we have identified the spatial distribution of landfill fires in Romania, between 2016 and 2020. While the national annual average is rather low (around 35 fires per year), we were able to identify several hotspots of frequent landfill fires. Such sites draw attention to the ineffective municipal waste management in Romania and to the need for a better environmental monitoring in areas affected by landfill fires.