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International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
International Journal of Wildland Fire

International Journal of Wildland Fire

Volume 32 Number 5 2023

WF22154Fires and their key drivers in Mexico

Laura E. Montoya, Rogelio O. Corona-Núñez and Julio E. Campo 0000-0002-7595-8593
pp. 651-664

We aimed to assess the climate and human factors that explain burnt area in Mexico. The largest burned area occurred in temperate forests, grasslands and hydrophilic vegetation, followed by fires in croplands, tropical forests and shrublands. Burnt area was related to temperature, precipitation, poverty, altitude and distance to water bodies.

WF22022Quantifying burned area of wildfires in the western United States from polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite active-fire detections

Melinda T. Berman 0000-0002-7340-3076, Xinxin Ye, Laura H. Thapa, David A. Peterson, Edward J. Hyer, Amber J. Soja, Emily M. Gargulinski, Ivan Csiszar, Christopher C. Schmidt and Pablo E. Saide
pp. 665-678

We propose a new method to estimate burned area of wildfires. Using fire detections from multiple types of satellites, burned area can be estimated reasonably well when compared with burned area measurements from aircraft. This method worked well for large and small wildfires when tested on a variety of wildfires.

Graphical Abstract Image

We propose an integrated framework that combines temporal classification and spatial clustering to extract fire footprints. This framework will provide more complete descriptive information than ground-based survey fire records from publicly available remote-sensing-based burn pixel products, which will assist in formulating a targeted and informed wildfire management plan and accurately account for fire-induced carbon emissions.

WF22048Consistent, high-accuracy mapping of daily and sub-daily wildfire growth with satellite observations

Crystal D. McClure 0000-0001-7477-5528, Nathan R. Pavlovic 0000-0003-2127-3940, ShihMing Huang, Melissa Chaveste and Ningxin Wang
pp. 694-708
Graphical Abstract Image

We developed a fire mapping method that uses active fire data from the MODIS and VIIRS instruments on board satellites to develop a high-resolution wildfire growth database. The satellite-derived fire events show excellent agreement with agency records (R2 ≥ 0.95). This method can enable many fire-weather modelling and real-time fire applications.

WF22188Projecting live fuel moisture content via deep learning

Lynn Miller 0000-0001-9899-9059, Liujun Zhu, Marta Yebra, Christoph Rüdiger and Geoffrey I. Webb
pp. 709-727

We have proposed a deep learning model that makes advance predictions of fuel (vegetation) moisture content, a major driver of wildfire ignition and propagation. This proof-of-concept model produces accurate predictions with a 3-month lead time, demonstrating a potentially useful addition to wildfire management tools, facilitating early warning of high wildfire risk.

WF22184Conifer encroachment increases foliar moisture content in a northwestern California oak woodland

Jeffrey M. Kane, Lucy P. Kerhoulas and Gabriel S. Goff
pp. 728-737

Stand conditions within a fire-excluded Oregon white oak ecosystem affected foliar moisture content. Encroached stands consistently had higher foliar moisture content, and were associated with stand density and leaf water potential. Better understanding of the role of stand conditions may contribute to improved modelling of potential crown fire behaviour.

WF22009Simulated behaviour of wildland fire spreading through idealised heterogeneous fuels

Nazmul Khan 0000-0001-8483-7171, Duncan Sutherland and Khalid Moinuddin
pp. 738-748

The effect of fuel heterogeneity was studied using physics-based grassland fire simulation. Some features, such as reduction of fire intensity, fire line length, flame length and ROS may be useful in land management and firefighting. Moreover, the non-dimensional ROS of this study is comparable with an empirical spinifex grassland model.


The buoyant plume rise and merging model within the wildfire progression model QES-Fire was adapted to account for heterogeneous terrain and fuels. The model compared well against an experimental burn in a complex forested region. Additionally, the model showed the need to capture the interaction between atmospheric and fire-induced winds.

WF22205Climate forcing of regional fire years in the upper Great Lakes Region, USA

Colleen M. Sutheimer 0000-0003-3211-3491, Jed Meunier, Igor Drobyshev 0000-0002-5980-4316, Michael C. Stambaugh, Sara C. Hotchkiss, Eric Rebitzke and Volker C. Radeloff
pp. 796-813
Graphical Abstract Image

Historically, fires were frequent across the upper Great Lakes Region, with regionally widespread, primarily late-season fires occurring in 1689, 1752, 1754, 1791, and 1891. We analysed a fire-scar network, because site-specific analyses can limit interpretations, and found regional drought synchronised fire years, with climate-driven fires likely burning millions of hectares.

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