Satellite-based comparison of fire intensity and smoke plumes from prescribed fires and wildfires in south-eastern Australia
- 1 January 2013
- journal article
- Published by CSIRO Publishing in International Journal of Wildland Fire
- Vol. 22 (2), 121-129
- https://doi.org/10.1071/wf11165
Abstract
Smoke pollution from wildfires can adversely affect human health, and there is uncertainty about the amount of smoke pollution caused by prescribed v. wildfires, a problem demanding a landscape perspective given that air quality monitoring is sparse outside of urban airsheds. The primary objective was to assess differences in fire intensity and smoke plume area between prescribed fires and wildfires around Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. We matched thermal anomaly satellite data to databases of fires in forests surrounding both cities. For each matched fire we determined hotspot count and quantified their intensity using the fire radiative power (FRP) measurement. Smoke plumes were mapped using MODIS true colour images. Wildfires had more extreme fire intensity values than did prescribed burns and the mean size of wildfire plumes was six times greater than of prescribed fire plumes for both cities. Statistical modelling showed that the horizontal area covered by smoke plumes could be predicted by hotspot count and sum of FRP, with differences between cities and fire type. Smoke plumes from both fire types reached both urban areas, and particulate pollution was higher on days affected by smoke plumes. Our results suggested that prescribed fires produced smaller smoke plume areas than did wildfires in two different flammable landscapes. Smoke plume and FRP data, combined with air pollution data from static monitors, can be used to improve smoke management for human health.Keywords
This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- Extreme air pollution events from bushfires and dust storms and their association with mortality in Sydney, Australia 1994-2007Environmental Research, 2011
- Quantifying the influence of fuel age and weather on the annual extent of unplanned fires in the Sydney region of AustraliaInternational Journal of Wildland Fire, 2011
- The validity and utility of MODIS data for simple estimation of area burned and aerosols emitted by wildfire eventsInternational Journal of Wildland Fire, 2010
- Re-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world's most carbon-dense forestsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009
- Global characterization of biomass-burning patterns using satellite measurements of fire radiative energyRemote Sensing of Environment, 2008
- Ambient biomass smoke and cardio-respiratory hospital admissions in Darwin, AustraliaBMC Public Health, 2007
- An Enhanced Contextual Fire Detection Algorithm for MODISRemote Sensing of Environment, 2003
- Fire regimes in mountain ash forest: evidence from forest age structure, extinction models and wildlife habitatForest Ecology and Management, 1999
- Evaluation of global fire detection algorithms using simulated AVHRR infrared dataInternational Journal of Remote Sensing, 1999
- A new look at the statistical model identificationIEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 1974