Insights provided by a new searchable repository for post-fire hydrology studies and associated data

Background

As the number and size of wildfires increase worldwide, so too has the realization that wildfires and hydrology are closely linked. The field of post-fire hydrology has been growing in recent decades, but the resultant datasets and studies are spread across disparate repositories and can be difficult for researchers and decision-makers to access.

Results

To help address this issue, we have created searchable lists of literature, datasets, and models related to post-fire hydrology which can be accessed—and added to—by any interested members of the community. Analysis of these lists demonstrates trends in publications over time and the diversity of specific topics covered. We identify geographic areas (e.g., CA, USA) and specific topics (e.g., surface runoff and erosion) which have received the most attention from researchers. Some of the least studied topics (e.g., evapotranspiration and snow) are receiving increased attention in recent years. We also note that most studies cover no more than 5 years post-fire.

Conclusions

The field of post-fire hydrology would be more complete if it included more long-term studies, as well as research across a wider geographic range and covering under-studied topics including water quality, soil moisture, snow, and evapotranspiration. In order to simplify further explorations into post-fire hydrology by researchers and decision-makers, all literature and datasets discussed here are assembled in a publicly available and searchable database (ufdp.dri.edu).