MODIS-based smoke detection shows that daily smoke cover dampens fire severity in initial burns but not reburns in complex terrain
Lucas B. Harris
A C * and Alan H. Taylor B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University, 302 Walker Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
B Department of Geography, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, 302 Walker Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
C Present address: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 308 Aiken Center, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405, USA.
* Correspondence to: lucas.harris@uvm.edu
International Journal of Wildland Fire 31(11) 1002-1013 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF22061
Submitted: 28 April 2022 Accepted: 25 September 2022 Published: 13 October 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF.
Abstract
Background: Wildfire smoke may dampen fire severity through effects on weather and the persistence of atmospheric inversions, but empirical work on the link between smoke and fire severity is scarce.
Aims: To assess the influence of daily smoke characteristics on wildfire severity in complex terrain.
Methods: A customised smoke detection algorithm based on MODIS imagery was integrated into statistical models of fire severity across 106 wildfires between 2002 and 2018 in the Klamath Mountains, USA.
Key results: Smoke characteristics improved predictions of fire severity in non-reburn areas but not in reburns. Maximum daily smoke cover interacted with elevation, showing a strong dampening effect of high smoke cover on fire severity at low elevations consistent with prior work and a weaker amplifying effect on fire severity at middle elevations with low smoke cover.
Conclusions: Feedbacks between smoke and atmospheric inversions dampen fire severity in valleys but may amplify fire severity at middle elevations above inversion layers.
Implications: The influence of smoke on fire severity may strengthen in the future as large fires and extreme fire weather become more common, yet may also weaken as reburns become more prevalent.
Keywords: fire severity, inversions, Klamath Mountains, MODIS, reburn, smoke, terrain, wildfire.
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