Hamid Boubekraoui, Yazid Maouni, Abdelilah Ghallab, M. Draoui, A. Maouni
In recent years, changes in climate, land cover, and sociodemographic dynamics have created new challenges in wildfire management. As a result, advanced and integrated approaches in wildfire science have emerged. The objective of our study is to use geospatial analysis to identify strategic responses to wildfires in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (TTA) region, widely reputed to exhibit the most significant incidences of wildfires in Morocco. We adopted a combined approach, using burned area products (Fire_CCI51: 2002–2020) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and active fires from the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS: 2001–2022) and processing them with spatiotemporal statistical methods: optimized hotspot analysis (OHA) and emerging hotspot analysis (EHA). The main findings indicate that the TTA region recorded an average of 39.78 km2/year of burned areas, mostly located in forests (74%), mainly cork oak and matorral stands (50%). The OHA detected hotspots covering 2081 km2, with 63% concentrated in the provinces of Chefchaouen and Larache. Meanwhile, clusters of EHA extended over 740 km2 and were composed of the oscillating coldspot (OCS) and oscillating hotspot (OHS) patterns at 50% and 30%, respectively. Additionally, an average of 149 fires/year occurred, located mostly in forests (75%), mainly cork oak and matorral stands (61%). The OHA detected active fire hotspots covering 3904 km2, with 60% located in the provinces of Chefchaouen and Larache. Clusters of EHA over 941 km2 were composed of the oscillating hotspot (OHS) and new hotspot (NHS) patterns at 57% and 25%, respectively. The prevalence of the oscillating and new models mirrors, respectively, the substantial fluctuations in wildfires within the region alternating between periods of high and low wildfire activities and the marked increase in fires in recent times, which has occasioned the emergence of novel hotspots. Additionally, we identified six homogeneous wildfire zones to which we assigned three strategic responses: “maintain” (73% of the territory), “monitor and raise awareness” (14% of the territory), and “reinforce” (13% of the territory). These strategies address current wildfire management measures, which include prevention, risk analysis, preparation, intervention, and rehabilitation. To better allocate firefighting resources, strategic responses were classified into four priorities (very high, high, medium, and low). Last, the wildfire zoning and strategic responses were validated using burned areas from 2021 to 2023, and a global scheme was suggested to assess the effectiveness of future wildfire measures.
{"title":"Wildfires Risk Assessment Using Hotspot Analysis and Results Application to Wildfires Strategic Response in the Region of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, Morocco","authors":"Hamid Boubekraoui, Yazid Maouni, Abdelilah Ghallab, M. Draoui, A. Maouni","doi":"10.3390/fire6080314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080314","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, changes in climate, land cover, and sociodemographic dynamics have created new challenges in wildfire management. As a result, advanced and integrated approaches in wildfire science have emerged. The objective of our study is to use geospatial analysis to identify strategic responses to wildfires in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (TTA) region, widely reputed to exhibit the most significant incidences of wildfires in Morocco. We adopted a combined approach, using burned area products (Fire_CCI51: 2002–2020) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and active fires from the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS: 2001–2022) and processing them with spatiotemporal statistical methods: optimized hotspot analysis (OHA) and emerging hotspot analysis (EHA). The main findings indicate that the TTA region recorded an average of 39.78 km2/year of burned areas, mostly located in forests (74%), mainly cork oak and matorral stands (50%). The OHA detected hotspots covering 2081 km2, with 63% concentrated in the provinces of Chefchaouen and Larache. Meanwhile, clusters of EHA extended over 740 km2 and were composed of the oscillating coldspot (OCS) and oscillating hotspot (OHS) patterns at 50% and 30%, respectively. Additionally, an average of 149 fires/year occurred, located mostly in forests (75%), mainly cork oak and matorral stands (61%). The OHA detected active fire hotspots covering 3904 km2, with 60% located in the provinces of Chefchaouen and Larache. Clusters of EHA over 941 km2 were composed of the oscillating hotspot (OHS) and new hotspot (NHS) patterns at 57% and 25%, respectively. The prevalence of the oscillating and new models mirrors, respectively, the substantial fluctuations in wildfires within the region alternating between periods of high and low wildfire activities and the marked increase in fires in recent times, which has occasioned the emergence of novel hotspots. Additionally, we identified six homogeneous wildfire zones to which we assigned three strategic responses: “maintain” (73% of the territory), “monitor and raise awareness” (14% of the territory), and “reinforce” (13% of the territory). These strategies address current wildfire management measures, which include prevention, risk analysis, preparation, intervention, and rehabilitation. To better allocate firefighting resources, strategic responses were classified into four priorities (very high, high, medium, and low). Last, the wildfire zoning and strategic responses were validated using burned areas from 2021 to 2023, and a global scheme was suggested to assess the effectiveness of future wildfire measures.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42443743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
F. de Sales, Zackary Werner, João Gilberto de Souza Ribeiro
This study uses a combined research approach based on remote-sensing and numerical modeling to quantify the effects of burned areas on the surface climate in the two Brazilian biomes most affected by fires: the tropical savanna and the Amazon rainforest. Our estimates indicate that between 2007 and 2020, approximately 6% of the savanna and 2% of the rainforest were burned on average. Non-parametric regressions based on 14-year climate model simulations indicate that latent heat flux decreases on average by approximately 0.17 W m−2 in the savanna and 0.60 W m−2 in the rainforest per each 1 km2 burned, with most of the impacts registered during the onset of the wet season. Sensible and ground heat fluxes are also impacted but at less intensity. Surface air is also warmer and drier, especially over rainforest burned sites. On average, fire reduced gross primary production in the savanna and rainforest by 12% and 10%, respectively, in our experiments.
本研究采用基于遥感和数值模拟的综合研究方法，量化了受火灾影响最严重的两个巴西生物群落:热带稀树草原和亚马逊雨林的燃烧面积对地表气候的影响。我们的估计表明，在2007年至2020年间，平均约有6%的热带草原和2%的雨林被烧毁。基于14年气候模式模拟的非参数回归表明，每燃烧1 km2，热带草原的潜热通量平均减少约0.17 W m−2，雨林的潜热通量平均减少0.60 W m−2，其中大部分影响记录在雨季开始期间。感热通量和地热通量也受到影响，但强度较小。地表空气也变得更加温暖和干燥，尤其是在雨林被烧毁的地方。在我们的实验中，火灾平均使热带稀树草原和雨林的总初级生产分别减少了12%和10%。
{"title":"Quantifying Fire-Induced Surface Climate Changes in the Savanna and Rainforest Biomes of Brazil","authors":"F. de Sales, Zackary Werner, João Gilberto de Souza Ribeiro","doi":"10.3390/fire6080311","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080311","url":null,"abstract":"This study uses a combined research approach based on remote-sensing and numerical modeling to quantify the effects of burned areas on the surface climate in the two Brazilian biomes most affected by fires: the tropical savanna and the Amazon rainforest. Our estimates indicate that between 2007 and 2020, approximately 6% of the savanna and 2% of the rainforest were burned on average. Non-parametric regressions based on 14-year climate model simulations indicate that latent heat flux decreases on average by approximately 0.17 W m−2 in the savanna and 0.60 W m−2 in the rainforest per each 1 km2 burned, with most of the impacts registered during the onset of the wet season. Sensible and ground heat fluxes are also impacted but at less intensity. Surface air is also warmer and drier, especially over rainforest burned sites. On average, fire reduced gross primary production in the savanna and rainforest by 12% and 10%, respectively, in our experiments.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47492342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Roman Berčák, J. Holuša, J. Kaczmarowski, Łukasz Tyburski, R. Szczygieł, Alexander C. Held, H. Vacik, J. Slivinský, Ivan Chromek
Forest fires are becoming a more significant problem in Central Europe, but their danger is not as high as that in Southern Europe. The exception, however, is forest fires occurring in disturbed areas (windthrow and bark beetle outbreak areas), which are comparable in severity and danger to the most serious forest fires. In this study, we describe the current situation in Central European countries in terms of fire protection for disturbed areas in managed forests and forest stands left to spontaneously develop (secondary succession). If a country has regulations and strategies in this area, they are often only published in the local language. In this review, we combine information from all Central European countries and summarize it in a unified international language, provide an opportunity for local authorities to express their own experiences, and integrate data from worldwide scientific research. Thus, this paper may be considered a universal guide for managing fire protection and preparedness in disturbed areas and can serve as a reference for the establishment of strict legislative rules at the state level. These laws must be obligatory for all stakeholders in individual countries. The motivation for this study was two large forest fires in an area left to spontaneously develop in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic and Harz Mountains in Germany in the summer of 2022. These incidents revealed that fire prevention legislation was inadequate or nonexistent in these areas. The strategy of the European Union is to increase the size of protected areas and spontaneous development areas. Therefore, we consider it necessary to provide governments with relevant information on this topic to create conditions for better management of these destructive events.
{"title":"Fire Protection Principles and Recommendations in Disturbed Forest Areas in Central Europe: A Review","authors":"Roman Berčák, J. Holuša, J. Kaczmarowski, Łukasz Tyburski, R. Szczygieł, Alexander C. Held, H. Vacik, J. Slivinský, Ivan Chromek","doi":"10.3390/fire6080310","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080310","url":null,"abstract":"Forest fires are becoming a more significant problem in Central Europe, but their danger is not as high as that in Southern Europe. The exception, however, is forest fires occurring in disturbed areas (windthrow and bark beetle outbreak areas), which are comparable in severity and danger to the most serious forest fires. In this study, we describe the current situation in Central European countries in terms of fire protection for disturbed areas in managed forests and forest stands left to spontaneously develop (secondary succession). If a country has regulations and strategies in this area, they are often only published in the local language. In this review, we combine information from all Central European countries and summarize it in a unified international language, provide an opportunity for local authorities to express their own experiences, and integrate data from worldwide scientific research. Thus, this paper may be considered a universal guide for managing fire protection and preparedness in disturbed areas and can serve as a reference for the establishment of strict legislative rules at the state level. These laws must be obligatory for all stakeholders in individual countries. The motivation for this study was two large forest fires in an area left to spontaneously develop in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic and Harz Mountains in Germany in the summer of 2022. These incidents revealed that fire prevention legislation was inadequate or nonexistent in these areas. The strategy of the European Union is to increase the size of protected areas and spontaneous development areas. Therefore, we consider it necessary to provide governments with relevant information on this topic to create conditions for better management of these destructive events.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41392936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There is a complex interaction between lightning-caused fire behavior and the flora and fauna of the forest, which involves the influence of a large number of ecological factors. However, more comprehensive simulation studies under multi-system interactions between lightning ignition, forest fire spread, and animal behavior are not well developed. In this paper, we propose a forest ecosystem model based on the Agent-based modelling approach to explore the detailed linkages between different forms of lightning-caused fires and forest biodiversity. The model simulates the lightning ignition, fire spread, vegetation burning and recovery, and multi-species-survival dynamics. The experimental results show the sensitivity between environmental parameters and the magnitude of lightning-caused fires, and the beneficial ecological consequences of lightning-caused fires on forest ecosystems. By exploring detailed linkages between different forms of lightning-caused fires and forest biodiversity, we provide theoretical insights and reference suggestions for forest system governance and biodiversity conservation.
{"title":"Simulation Study of an Abstract Forest Ecosystem with Multi-Species under Lightning-Caused Fires","authors":"O. Zhi, Shiying Wang, Nisuo Du","doi":"10.3390/fire6080308","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080308","url":null,"abstract":"There is a complex interaction between lightning-caused fire behavior and the flora and fauna of the forest, which involves the influence of a large number of ecological factors. However, more comprehensive simulation studies under multi-system interactions between lightning ignition, forest fire spread, and animal behavior are not well developed. In this paper, we propose a forest ecosystem model based on the Agent-based modelling approach to explore the detailed linkages between different forms of lightning-caused fires and forest biodiversity. The model simulates the lightning ignition, fire spread, vegetation burning and recovery, and multi-species-survival dynamics. The experimental results show the sensitivity between environmental parameters and the magnitude of lightning-caused fires, and the beneficial ecological consequences of lightning-caused fires on forest ecosystems. By exploring detailed linkages between different forms of lightning-caused fires and forest biodiversity, we provide theoretical insights and reference suggestions for forest system governance and biodiversity conservation.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45700327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Ding, Lingfeng He, Zijian Yan, Yuyao Li, Shuangyang Ma, Yan Jiao
A fire whirl, a unique fire behavior, occurs when a vertical vortex of flames skyrockets due to specific surrounding temperatures and thermal gradient conditions during a fire. Compared with conventional fire plumes, fire whirls exhibit a higher air entrainment rate, tangential velocity, and axial velocity, thus presenting greater risks and destructive capabilities. Thus, studying the combustion characteristics of fire whirls becomes necessary. This experiment employed a small-scale, fixed-frame fire whirl generator. We investigated how varying air-inlet widths and fuel pan diameters influence the fire whirl’s combustion characteristics. Experimental images indicated a negative correlation between the fire whirl’s flame height and the air-inlet width, and a positive correlation with the fuel pan diameter. Our findings showed that the burning rate of the fire whirl during the quasi-steady-state combustion phase initially increased and then decreased as the air-inlet width expanded, peaking at a width of 7 cm. The data demonstrated a corresponding power-law relationship between the fire whirl’s dimensionless flame height and excess temperature. Ultimately, our results indicated a positive correlation between the 2/5 power of the fire whirl’s dimensionless heat release rate and the dimensionless flame height. The ratios of maximum to mean flame height and mean to continuous flame height are 1.35 and 1.5, respectively. Significantly, these ratios remain unaffected by the air-inlet width, fuel pan diameter, environmental temperature, and heat release rate.
{"title":"Experimental Investigation on the Impact of Varying Air-Inlet Widths and Fuel Pan Diameters on Fire Whirls’ Combustion Characteristics","authors":"C. Ding, Lingfeng He, Zijian Yan, Yuyao Li, Shuangyang Ma, Yan Jiao","doi":"10.3390/fire6080309","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080309","url":null,"abstract":"A fire whirl, a unique fire behavior, occurs when a vertical vortex of flames skyrockets due to specific surrounding temperatures and thermal gradient conditions during a fire. Compared with conventional fire plumes, fire whirls exhibit a higher air entrainment rate, tangential velocity, and axial velocity, thus presenting greater risks and destructive capabilities. Thus, studying the combustion characteristics of fire whirls becomes necessary. This experiment employed a small-scale, fixed-frame fire whirl generator. We investigated how varying air-inlet widths and fuel pan diameters influence the fire whirl’s combustion characteristics. Experimental images indicated a negative correlation between the fire whirl’s flame height and the air-inlet width, and a positive correlation with the fuel pan diameter. Our findings showed that the burning rate of the fire whirl during the quasi-steady-state combustion phase initially increased and then decreased as the air-inlet width expanded, peaking at a width of 7 cm. The data demonstrated a corresponding power-law relationship between the fire whirl’s dimensionless flame height and excess temperature. Ultimately, our results indicated a positive correlation between the 2/5 power of the fire whirl’s dimensionless heat release rate and the dimensionless flame height. The ratios of maximum to mean flame height and mean to continuous flame height are 1.35 and 1.5, respectively. Significantly, these ratios remain unaffected by the air-inlet width, fuel pan diameter, environmental temperature, and heat release rate.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43442030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jun Guo, Yanping Quan, H. Wen, Xuezhao Zheng, Guobin Cai, Yani Jin
The functional group structures of coal molecules are one of the most important factors affecting spontaneous combustion. However, it is difficult to determine the exact effects of such structures. Extraction technology is able to modify the functional groups in coal as a means of inhibiting spontaneous combustion reactions. The present work extracted coal from the Caojiatan mine in northern Shaanxi, China, with various solvents. The extraction effectiveness of these solvents was found to decrease in the order of dioctyl sulfosuccinate (AOT) > water > n-hexane > cyclohexane + AOT + ethanol > cyclohexane > ethanol > methanol. With the exception of the AOT, the concentration of functional groups in the extracted coal was decreased compared with that in a control specimen extracted using only water. Ethanol, n-hexane, and methanol provided the optimal extraction efficiencies in terms of capturing coal molecules with aromatic structures, aliphatic structures, and oxygen-containing groups, respectively. The results of this work are expected to assist in future research concerning the extraction of coal molecules with specific functional groups. This work also suggests new approaches to the active prevention and control of spontaneous combustion during the mining, storage, and transportation of coal.
{"title":"The Effects of Solvent Extraction on the Functional Group Structure of Long-Flame Coal","authors":"Jun Guo, Yanping Quan, H. Wen, Xuezhao Zheng, Guobin Cai, Yani Jin","doi":"10.3390/fire6080307","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080307","url":null,"abstract":"The functional group structures of coal molecules are one of the most important factors affecting spontaneous combustion. However, it is difficult to determine the exact effects of such structures. Extraction technology is able to modify the functional groups in coal as a means of inhibiting spontaneous combustion reactions. The present work extracted coal from the Caojiatan mine in northern Shaanxi, China, with various solvents. The extraction effectiveness of these solvents was found to decrease in the order of dioctyl sulfosuccinate (AOT) > water > n-hexane > cyclohexane + AOT + ethanol > cyclohexane > ethanol > methanol. With the exception of the AOT, the concentration of functional groups in the extracted coal was decreased compared with that in a control specimen extracted using only water. Ethanol, n-hexane, and methanol provided the optimal extraction efficiencies in terms of capturing coal molecules with aromatic structures, aliphatic structures, and oxygen-containing groups, respectively. The results of this work are expected to assist in future research concerning the extraction of coal molecules with specific functional groups. This work also suggests new approaches to the active prevention and control of spontaneous combustion during the mining, storage, and transportation of coal.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47407194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Targeting the challenges in the risk analysis of laboratory fire accidents, particularly considering fire accidents in Chinese universities, an integrated approach is proposed with the combination of association rule learning, a Bayesian network (BN), and fuzzy set theory in this study. The proposed approach has the main advantages of deriving conditional probabilities of BN nodes based on historical accident data and association rules (ARs) and making good use of expert elicitation by using an augmented fuzzy set method. In the proposed approach, prior probabilities of the cause nodes are determined based on expert elicitation with the help of an augmented fuzzy set method. The augmented fuzzy set method enables the effective aggregation of expert opinions and helps to reduce subjective bias in expert elicitations. Additionally, an AR algorithm is applied to determine the probabilistic dependency between the BN nodes based on the historical accident data of Chinese universities and further derive conditional probability tables. Finally, the developed fuzzy Bayesian network (FBN) model was employed to identify critical causal factors with respect to laboratory fire accidents in Chinese universities. The obtained results show that H4 (bad safety awareness), O1 (improper storage of hazardous chemicals), E1 (environment with hazardous materials), and M4 (inadequate safety checks) are the four most critical factors inducing laboratory fire accidents.
{"title":"Risk Analysis of Laboratory Fire Accidents in Chinese Universities by Combining Association Rule Learning and Fuzzy Bayesian Networks","authors":"Fuqiang Yang, X. Li, Shuaiqi Yuan, G. Reniers","doi":"10.3390/fire6080306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080306","url":null,"abstract":"Targeting the challenges in the risk analysis of laboratory fire accidents, particularly considering fire accidents in Chinese universities, an integrated approach is proposed with the combination of association rule learning, a Bayesian network (BN), and fuzzy set theory in this study. The proposed approach has the main advantages of deriving conditional probabilities of BN nodes based on historical accident data and association rules (ARs) and making good use of expert elicitation by using an augmented fuzzy set method. In the proposed approach, prior probabilities of the cause nodes are determined based on expert elicitation with the help of an augmented fuzzy set method. The augmented fuzzy set method enables the effective aggregation of expert opinions and helps to reduce subjective bias in expert elicitations. Additionally, an AR algorithm is applied to determine the probabilistic dependency between the BN nodes based on the historical accident data of Chinese universities and further derive conditional probability tables. Finally, the developed fuzzy Bayesian network (FBN) model was employed to identify critical causal factors with respect to laboratory fire accidents in Chinese universities. The obtained results show that H4 (bad safety awareness), O1 (improper storage of hazardous chemicals), E1 (environment with hazardous materials), and M4 (inadequate safety checks) are the four most critical factors inducing laboratory fire accidents.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45318149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
U. Cosgun, Mücahit Coşkun, Ferhat Toprak, Damla Yıldız, S. Coşkun, Enes Taşoğlu, Ahmet Öztürk
The effectiveness of fire towers in combating forest fires relies on their appropriate observation angles, enabling a swift and efficient response to fire incidents. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of 49 fire towers located within the Antalya Forestry Regional Directorate, situated in the Mediterranean basin—a region prone to frequent forest fires. The assessment encompasses the visibility of the entire study area, including forested regions, as well as the visibility of 2504 forest fires recorded by the towers between 2008 and 2021. Furthermore, the evaluation considers the objectives based on Forest Management Directorates and conducts a location suitability analysis for the six towers with the lowest visibility. We utilized the Viewshed Tool in the ArcGIS application and employed the Best–Worst approach. Two scenarios were devised, considering smoke height at 0 m or 100 m, to determine the visibility of fire lookout towers. In Scenario I, assuming a smoke height of 100 m, only three towers exhibited visibility above 70%. However, in Scenario II, assuming a smoke height of 0 m, no towers achieved visibility above 70%. Scenario I indicated that only two towers possessed a view of more than 70% of the forested region, while Scenario II suggested that no towers met this criterion. For the visibility of forest fires, Scenario I identified seven towers capable of observing more than 70%, whereas Scenario II indicated that no towers possessed such capability. In the tower suitability analysis, the visibility rates varied from 41.18% to 1016.67%. Based on the evaluation results, the current visibility capacities of the 49 fire towers proved insufficient for effective preventive measures.
{"title":"Visibility Evaluation and Suitability Analysis of Fire Lookout Towers in Mediterranean Region, Southwest Anatolia/Türkiye","authors":"U. Cosgun, Mücahit Coşkun, Ferhat Toprak, Damla Yıldız, S. Coşkun, Enes Taşoğlu, Ahmet Öztürk","doi":"10.3390/fire6080305","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080305","url":null,"abstract":"The effectiveness of fire towers in combating forest fires relies on their appropriate observation angles, enabling a swift and efficient response to fire incidents. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of 49 fire towers located within the Antalya Forestry Regional Directorate, situated in the Mediterranean basin—a region prone to frequent forest fires. The assessment encompasses the visibility of the entire study area, including forested regions, as well as the visibility of 2504 forest fires recorded by the towers between 2008 and 2021. Furthermore, the evaluation considers the objectives based on Forest Management Directorates and conducts a location suitability analysis for the six towers with the lowest visibility. We utilized the Viewshed Tool in the ArcGIS application and employed the Best–Worst approach. Two scenarios were devised, considering smoke height at 0 m or 100 m, to determine the visibility of fire lookout towers. In Scenario I, assuming a smoke height of 100 m, only three towers exhibited visibility above 70%. However, in Scenario II, assuming a smoke height of 0 m, no towers achieved visibility above 70%. Scenario I indicated that only two towers possessed a view of more than 70% of the forested region, while Scenario II suggested that no towers met this criterion. For the visibility of forest fires, Scenario I identified seven towers capable of observing more than 70%, whereas Scenario II indicated that no towers possessed such capability. In the tower suitability analysis, the visibility rates varied from 41.18% to 1016.67%. Based on the evaluation results, the current visibility capacities of the 49 fire towers proved insufficient for effective preventive measures.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45934765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Large areas of forests burn annually in Siberia. Pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) generated by wildfires acts as a stable carbon deposit and plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. Little is known about the properties of PyOM formed during fires in Siberian forests. In this work, we report the results of thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy applied to the study of the chemical composition, structure, and thermal stability of PyOM formed during surface and crown fires of moderate to high severity in southern Siberia. We studied the PyOM produced from the forest floor, down wood, cones, and outer bark of tree stems in Scots pine, larch, spruce, and birch forests. We calculated the thermal recalcitrance indexes (R50, Q3) based on TG/DSC data. We found that wildfires resulted in a strong decrease in thermolabile components in burned fuels, enrichment by aromatic structures, and a significant increase in thermal stability (T50) compared to unburned samples. In all the studied forests, bark PyOM revealed the highest value of T50 while forest floor PyOM had the lowest one. At the same time, our results indicated that the properties of PyOM were more strongly driven by wildfire severity than by fuel type. Overall, the thermal recalcitrance R50 index for PyOM samples increased by 9–29% compared to unburned plant residues, indicating a shift from low to intermediate carbon sequestration potential class in the majority of cases and hence less susceptibility of PyOM to biodegradation.
{"title":"Alteration of Organic Matter during Wildfires in the Forests of Southern Siberia","authors":"O. Shapchenkova, S. Loskutov, E. Kukavskaya","doi":"10.3390/fire6080304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080304","url":null,"abstract":"Large areas of forests burn annually in Siberia. Pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) generated by wildfires acts as a stable carbon deposit and plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. Little is known about the properties of PyOM formed during fires in Siberian forests. In this work, we report the results of thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy applied to the study of the chemical composition, structure, and thermal stability of PyOM formed during surface and crown fires of moderate to high severity in southern Siberia. We studied the PyOM produced from the forest floor, down wood, cones, and outer bark of tree stems in Scots pine, larch, spruce, and birch forests. We calculated the thermal recalcitrance indexes (R50, Q3) based on TG/DSC data. We found that wildfires resulted in a strong decrease in thermolabile components in burned fuels, enrichment by aromatic structures, and a significant increase in thermal stability (T50) compared to unburned samples. In all the studied forests, bark PyOM revealed the highest value of T50 while forest floor PyOM had the lowest one. At the same time, our results indicated that the properties of PyOM were more strongly driven by wildfire severity than by fuel type. Overall, the thermal recalcitrance R50 index for PyOM samples increased by 9–29% compared to unburned plant residues, indicating a shift from low to intermediate carbon sequestration potential class in the majority of cases and hence less susceptibility of PyOM to biodegradation.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42302138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Benjamin Bleiman, T. Rolinski, E. Hoffman, E. Kelsey, David Bangor
Efforts to delineate the influence of atmospheric variability on regional wildfire activity have previously been complicated by the stochastic occurrence of ignition and large fire events, particularly for Southern California, where anthropogenic modulation of the fire regime is extensive. Traditional metrics of wildfire activity inherently contain this stochasticity, likely weakening regional fire–climate relationships. To resolve this complication, we first develop a new method of quantifying regional wildfire activity that aims to more clearly capture the atmospheric fire regime component by aggregating four metrics of fire activity into an annual index value, the Annual Fire Severity Index (AFSI), for the 27-year period of 1992–2018. We then decompose the AFSI into trend and oscillatory components using singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and relate each component to a set of five climate predictors known to modulate macroscale fire activity in Southern California. These include the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and Santa Ana wind (SAW) events, and marine layer frequency. The results indicate that SSA effectively isolates the individual influence of each predictor on AFSI quantified by generally moderate fire–climate correlations, |r|>0.4, over the full study period, and |r|>0.5 over select 13–15-year periods. A transition between weaker and stronger fire–climate relationships for each of the oscillatory PC–predictor pairs is centered around the mid-2000s, suggesting a significant shift in fire–climate variability at this time. Our approach of aggregating and decomposing a fire activity index yields a straightforward methodology to identify the individual influence of climatic predictors on macroscale fire activity even in fire regimes heavily modified by anthropogenic influence.
{"title":"Refining Fire–Climate Relationship Methodologies: Southern California","authors":"Benjamin Bleiman, T. Rolinski, E. Hoffman, E. Kelsey, David Bangor","doi":"10.3390/fire6080302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6080302","url":null,"abstract":"Efforts to delineate the influence of atmospheric variability on regional wildfire activity have previously been complicated by the stochastic occurrence of ignition and large fire events, particularly for Southern California, where anthropogenic modulation of the fire regime is extensive. Traditional metrics of wildfire activity inherently contain this stochasticity, likely weakening regional fire–climate relationships. To resolve this complication, we first develop a new method of quantifying regional wildfire activity that aims to more clearly capture the atmospheric fire regime component by aggregating four metrics of fire activity into an annual index value, the Annual Fire Severity Index (AFSI), for the 27-year period of 1992–2018. We then decompose the AFSI into trend and oscillatory components using singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and relate each component to a set of five climate predictors known to modulate macroscale fire activity in Southern California. These include the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and Santa Ana wind (SAW) events, and marine layer frequency. The results indicate that SSA effectively isolates the individual influence of each predictor on AFSI quantified by generally moderate fire–climate correlations, |r|>0.4, over the full study period, and |r|>0.5 over select 13–15-year periods. A transition between weaker and stronger fire–climate relationships for each of the oscillatory PC–predictor pairs is centered around the mid-2000s, suggesting a significant shift in fire–climate variability at this time. Our approach of aggregating and decomposing a fire activity index yields a straightforward methodology to identify the individual influence of climatic predictors on macroscale fire activity even in fire regimes heavily modified by anthropogenic influence.","PeriodicalId":36395,"journal":{"name":"Fire-Switzerland","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46716167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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