Downslope wind-driven fires have resulted in many of the wildfire disasters in the western United States and represent a unique hazard to infrastructure and human life. We analyze the co-occurrence of wildfires and downslope winds across the western United States (US) during 1992–2020.
Wildfire occurrence varies among regions and through time due to the long-term impacts of climate on fuel structure and short-term impacts on fuel flammability.
Background: Reliable wildfire prediction and efficient controlled burns require a comprehensive understanding of physical mechanisms controlling fire spread behaviour. Earlier studies explored the intermittent nature of free-burning fires, but the influence of flame intermittency on fire spread requires further attention.
Background: Accurately estimating burned area from satellites is key to improving biomass burning emission models, studying fire evolution and assessing environmental impacts. Previous studies have found that current methods for estimating burned area of fires from satellite active-fire data do not always provide an accurate estimate.
Aim Ecological disturbances are increasing as climate warms, and how multiple disturbances interact spatially to drive landscape change is poorly understood.
Background Maximizing the effectiveness of fuel treatments at landscape scales is a key research and management need given the inability to treat all areas at risk from wildfire. We synthesized information from case studies that documented the influence of fuel treatments on wildfire events.
Since the 1930s, California’s Sierra Nevada has warmed by an average of 1.2∘∘C. Warming directly primes forests for easier wildfire ignition, but the change in climate also affects vegetation species composition.
Recent increases in Douglas-fir (Psuedotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) mortality in the Klamath Mountains ecoregion raise concerns about the long-term resilience of Douglas-fir in the ecoregion and increased potential for uncharacteristic wildfire.
Background: Embers, also known as firebrands, are the leading cause of building ignition during wildland–urban fires.
For most of the 20th century and beyond, national wildland fire policies concerning fire suppression and fuels management have primarily focused on forested lands. Using summary statistics and landscape metrics, wildfire spatial patterns and trends for non-forest and forest burned area over the past two decades were examined across the U.S, and federal agency jurisdictions.