Land and Atmosphere Precursors to Fuel Loading, Wildfire Ignition and Post‐Fire Recovery
Name
Geophysical Research Letters - 2024 - Alizadeh - Land and Atmosphere Precursors to Fuel Loading Wildfire Ignition and.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.75 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b57c2011327392fc36f8664eed780eaf
Author(s)
Alizadeh, Mohammad Reza
Adamowski, Jan
Entekhabi, Dara
Date Issued
January 19, 2024
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Alizadeh, M. R., Adamowski, J., & Entekhabi, D. (2024). Land and atmosphere precursors to fuel loading, wildfire ignition and post-fire recovery. Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2023GL105324.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Land surface‐atmosphere coupling and soil moisture memory are shown to combine into a distinct temporal pattern for wildfire incidents across the western United States. We investigate the dynamic interplay of observed soil moisture, vegetation water content, and atmospheric dryness in relation to fuel loading, fire ignition and post‐fire recovery. We find that positive soil moisture anomalies around 5 months before fire ignition increase biomass growth in the subsequent months, thereby shaping fire‐prone vegetation conditions. Then, concurrent decrease in soil moisture, vegetation dehydration, and atmospheric dryness collectively contribute to the occurrence of fire ignition events. This is followed by a rapid recovery in both soil and atmospheric moisture within several weeks after the fire incidents. Our findings provide insights into understanding of wildfire ignition dynamics, supporting fire modeling and enabling improved fire predictions, early warning systems, and mitigation strategies.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
10.1029/2023gl105324
