Wildfires and the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index system for the Daxing'anling region of China

Article

<< Previous

Next >>

Contents Vol 20(8)

doi:10.1071/WF09120

Published on behalf of the International Association of Wildland Fire

	Search




	Advanced Search



	Journal Home

	About the Journal

	Editorial Board

	Contacts



	Content

	Online Early

	Current Issue

	Just Accepted

	All Issues

	Special Issues

	Sample Issue

	20-Year Author Index



	For Authors

	General Information

	Notice to Authors

	Submit Article

	Open Access



	For Referees

	Referee Guidelines

	Review Article



	For Subscribers

	Subscription Prices

	Customer Service

	Print Publication Dates

e-Alerts

Subscribe to our Email Alert or

feeds for the latest journal papers.

Connect with us

Wildfires and the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index system for the Daxing'anling region of China

Xiaorui Tian ^A ^C, Douglas J. McRae ^B, Jizhong Jin ^B, Lifu Shu ^A, Fengjun Zhao ^A and Mingyu Wang ^A

^A Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Chinese Academy of Forestry, State Forestry Administration’s Key Open Laboratory of Forest Protection, Beijing 100091, China.
^B Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Sault Ste Marie, ON, P6A 2E5, Canada.
^C Corresponding author. Email: tianxr@caf.ac.cn

International Journal of Wildland Fire 20(8) 963-973 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF09120
Submitted: 27 October 2009 Accepted: 2 May 2011 Published: 5 October 2011





	PDF (748 KB) $25



	Export Citation

Print

Abstract

The Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) system was evaluated for the Daxing'anling region of northern China for the 1987–2006 fire seasons. The FWI system reflected the regional fire danger and could be effectively used there in wildfire management. The various FWI system components were classified into classes (i.e. low to extreme) for fire conditions found in the region. A total of 81.1% of the fires occurred in the high, very high and extreme fire danger classes, in which 73.9% of the fires occurred in the spring (0.1, 9.5, 33.3 and 33.1% in March, April, May and June). Large wildfires greater than 200 ha in area (16.7% of the total) burnt 99.2% of the total burnt area. Lightning was the main ignition source for 57.1% of the total fires. Result show that forest fires mainly occurred in deciduous coniferous forest (61.3%), grass (23.9%) and deciduous broad leaved forest (8.0%). A bimodal fire season was detected, with peaks in May and October. The components of FWI system were good indicators of fire danger in the Daxing'anling region of China and could be used to build a working fire danger rating system for the region.

Additional keywords: fire management support systems, fire regime, fire weather.

References

Alexander ME, St. John P, Thorburn RW, Simons P, MacMillan A (2002) Understanding the fire weather index (FWI) system now available. In ‘Forest fire research and wildland fire safety. Proceedings of the IV International Conference on Forest Fire Research/2002 Wildland Fire Safety Summit’, 18–23 November 2002, Luso, Coimbra, Portugal. (Ed. DX Viegas) (CD-ROM) (Millpress: Rotterdam, the Netherlands)

Amiro BD, Logan KA, Wotton BM, Flannigan MD, Todd JB, Stocks BJ, Martell DL (2004) Fire weather index system components for large fires in the Canadian boreal forest. International Journal of Wildland Fire 13, 391–400.
| CrossRef |

Cahoon DR, Levine JS, Cofer WR, Miller JE, Minnis P, Tennille GM, Yip TW, Stocks BJ, Heck PW (1991) The Great Chinese Fire of 1987: the view from space. In ‘Global biomass burning: atmospheric, climatic and biospheric implications’. (Ed. JS Levine) pp. 61–66. (MIT Press: Cambridge, MA)

Canadian Forestry Service (1984) Tables for the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. 4th edn. Environment Canada, Canadian Forest Service Forestry, Technical Report 25. (Ottawa, ON)

Chen B, Wang Y, Qi M (1987) Report on forest restoration after the catastrophic fire in 1987 in the northern slopes of Daxing'anling Mountains. Journal of Northeast Forestry University 15, 13–25..

Countryman CM (1966) Rating fire danger by the multiple basic index system. Journal of Forestry 64, 531–536..

de Groot WJ, Goldammer JG, Keenan T, Brady MA, Lynham TJ, Justice CO, Csiszar IA, O’Loughlin K (2006) Developing a global early warning system for wildland fire. In ‘Proceedings of the V International Conference on Forest Fire Research’, 24 November–1 December 2006, Figueira da Foz, Portugal. (Eds DX Viegas, BV Elsevier) (CD-ROM) (Millpress: Rotterdam)

de Groot WJ, Field RD, Brady MA, Roswintiarti O, Mohamad M (2007) Development of the Indonesian and Malaysian fire danger rating systems. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 12, 165–180.
| CrossRef |

Forestry Canada Fire Danger Group (1992) Development and structure of the Canadian forest fire behavior prediction system. Forestry Canada, Forestry Canada Science and Sustainable Development Directorate, Information Report ST-X-3. (Ottawa, ON)

Fujioka FM, Gill AM, Veigas DX, Wotton BM (2009) Fire danger and fire behavior modeling systems in Australia, Europe and North America. In ‘Development in environmental science’. (Eds A Bytenerowicz, M Arbaugh, A Riebau, C Andersen) pp. 471–497. (Elsevier: Amsterdam)

Harvey DA, Alexander ME, Janz B (1986) A comparison of fire weather severity in northern Alberta during the 1980 and 1981 fire seasons. Forestry Chronicle 62, 507–513..

Jin J, Han S, Zhou W (1985) Application of Canadian forest fire weather index system in Daxing'anling region. Fire Prevention 3, 20–24..

Lawler M (2004) Analysis of the American National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) v. the Canadian Fire Weather Index System (FWI) for the Superior National Forest. US Forest Service, Tofte Ranger District, Superior National Forest, Technical Fire Management-17. (Tofte, MN) Available at http://www.washingtoninstitute.net/ftpFiles/StudentFinalProjectReports/TFM17/MarkLawler.pdf [Verified 18 August 2011]

Lawson BD, Armitage OB (2008) Weather guide for the Canadian forest fire danger rating system. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre. (Edmonton, AB) Available at http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/pubwarehouse/pdfs/29152.pdf [Verified 18 August 2011]

Liang Y, Zhao X, Zhang P, Wang L (2004) Preliminary assessment on major ecological benefits of Daxing'anling forests, Heilongjiang. Forest Byproduct and Specialty in China 4, 46–47..

Liu C (2002) ‘Overview of Daxing'anling region.’ (Press of China: Beijing)

Lynham TJ, Stocks BJ (1987) ‘Suitability of the Canadian forest fire danger rating system for use in the Daxing'anling forestry management bureau, Heilongjiang Province, China. In ‘10th Conference on fire and forest meteorology’, 17–21 April 1989, Ottawa, ON. (Eds DC Maciver, H Auld, R White) pp. 232–246. (Forestry Canada and Environment Canada: Ottawa, ON)

Mo R (1989) Interannual oscillations of precipitation and temperature for China and the links with El Nino. Acta Oceanologica Sinica 11, 143–148..

Palheiro PM, Fernandes P, Cruz MG (2006) A fire behavior based fire danger classification for maritime pine stands: comparison of two approaches. In ‘Proceedings of the V International Conference on Forest Fire Research’, 24 November–1 December 2006, Figueira da Foz, Portugal. (Eds DX Viegas, BV Elsevier) (CD-ROM) (Millpress: Rotterdam)

Qin X, Zhang Z, Yi H (2008) Forecasting methodology of national level forest fire risk rating. Remote Sensing Technology and Application 23, 1–6..
| CAS |

Stocks BJ (1971) Fire severity index distribution in Ontario 1963 to 1968. Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Canadian Forestry Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Information Report O-X-151. (Sault Ste Marie, ON)

Stocks BJ (1974) Wildfires and the fire weather index system in Ontario. Department of the Environment, Canadian Forestry Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Information Report O-X-213. (Sault Ste Marie, ON)

Stocks BJ, Lawson BD, Alexander ME, van Wagner CE, McAlpine RS, Lynham TJ, Dube DE (1989) The Canadian forest fire danger rating system: an overview. Forestry Chronicle 65, 450–457..

Stocks BJ, Mason JA, Todd JB, Bosch EM, Wotton BM, Amiro BD, Flannigan MD, Hirsch KG, Logan KA, Martell DL, Skinner WR (2002) Large forest fires in Canada, 1959–1997. Journal of Geophysical Research 108, 8149
| CrossRef |

Taylor SW, Alexander ME (2006) Science, technology and human factors in fire danger rating: the Canadian experience. International Journal of Wildland Fire 15, 121–135.
| CrossRef |

Thomas B (1990) The Jiagedaqi project: forest fire control in China. Forestry Chronicle 66, 266–270..

van Wagner CE (1970a) New development in forest fire danger rating. Canada Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Canadian Forest Service, Petawawa Forest Experiment Station, Information Report PS-X-19. (Chalk River, ON)

van Wagner CE (1970b) Conversion of William’s severity rating for use with the fire weather index. Canadian Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Canadian Forestry Service, Petawawa Forest Experiment Station, Information Report PS-X-21. (Chalk River, ON)

van Wagner CE (1987) Development and structure of the Canadian forest fire weather index system. Environment Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Petawawa Forest Experiment Station, Forest Technical Report 35. (Chalk River, ON)

van Wagner CE, Pickett TL (1985) Equations and FORTRAN program for the Canadian forest fire weather index system. Agriculture Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Petawawa Forest Experiment Station, Forest Technical Report 33. (Ottawa, ON)

Viegas DX, Bovio G, Ferreira A, Nosenzo A, Sol B (1999) Comparitive study of various methods of fire danger evaluation in southern Europe. International Journal of Wildland Fire 9, 235–246.
| CrossRef |

Wang X, Liu Zh, Wu Sh (1995) ‘National forest fire weather danger rating. LY/T, 1172–1995.’ (Standards Press of China: Beijing)

White RA, Rush MF (1990) The Jiagedaqui fire management project (JIAPRO): an example of international assistance. In ‘The art and science of fire management’. (Eds ME Alexander, GF Bisgrove) Forestry Canada, Canadian Forestry Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Information Report NOR-X-309, pp. 287–296. (Edmonton, AB)

Williams DE (1959) Fire season severity rating. Canada Department of Northern Affairs, Natural Resources, Forest Research Division, Technical Note 73. (Ottawa, ON)

Wotton BM, Alexander ME, Taylor SW (2009) Updates and revisions to the 1992 Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction System. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Information Report GLC-X-10. (Sault Ste Marie, ON)

Xu HC (1998) ‘Da Hinggan Ling mountains forests in China.’ (Science Press: Beijing)

Zhang LJ, Zheng H, Zheng K, Yu FW (2004) Influence of El Nino on precipitation in Heilongjiang province in spring and autumn. Journal of Natural Disasters 13, 103–107..

Zhao FJ, Shu LF, Tian XR, Wang MY (2009) The changes of forest fuel dryness conditions under global warming in Inner Mongolia Daxing'anling forest region. Acta Ecologica Sinica 29, 1914–1920..

Zhou YL (1991) ‘Vegetation in Daxinganling in China.’ (Science Press: Beijing)

Subscriber Login

	Username: Password:

Legal & Privacy | Contact Us | Help