Research Database
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2
Projections of Lightning-Ignited Wildfire Risk in the Western United States
Year: 2025
Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning is a major source of summer wildfire ignition in the western United States (WUS). However, future projections of lightning are uncertain since lightning is not directly simulated by most global climate models. To address this issue, we use convolutional neural network (CNN)-based parameterizations of daily June-September CG lightning. CNN parameterizations of daily CG lightning occurrence at each grid cell use fields of three thermodynamic variables—ratio of surface Moist Static Energy (MSE) to 500 hPa saturation MSE, 700–500 hPa lapse rate, and 500…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Major changes in climate, vegetation, and ecological resilience in recent decades suggest climate smart management strategies for western US dryland shrublands and woodlands
Year: 2025
BackgroundCatastrophic wildfire has escalated across the globe in recent decades with devastating consequences for human communities and native ecosystems. Global change processes, including climate warming and land use practices, are altering fuels, fire risk, and ecosystem recovery. Managing ecosystems to reduce fire risk and prevent conversion to undesirable alternative states requires knowledge of the ecological conditions of ecosystems, trajectories of change, and drivers of those changes. We developed an approach for evaluating ongoing changes in climate and vegetation and using that…
Publication Type: Journal Article