Large-scale, dynamic transformations in fuel moisture drive wildfire activity across southeastern Australia

Nolan, RH; Boer, MM; Resco De Dios, V; Caccamo, G; Bradstock, RA

Large-scale, dynamic transformations in fuel moisture drive wildfire activity across southeastern Australia

Nolan, RH

Boer, MM Resco De Dios, V Caccamo, G Bradstock, RA

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Geophysical Research Letters, 2016, 43 (9), pp. 4229 - 4238
Issue Date:: 2016-05-16

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Nolan, RH https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9277-5142	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Boer, MM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Resco De Dios, V	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Caccamo, G	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Bradstock, RA	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016-05-16	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Geophysical Research Letters, 2016, 43 (9), pp. 4229 - 4238	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0094-8276	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/122743
dc.description.abstract	© 2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. The occurrence of large, high-intensity wildfires requires plant biomass, or fuel, that is sufficiently dry to burn. This poses the question, what is "sufficiently dry"? Until recently, the ability to address this question has been constrained by the spatiotemporal scale of available methods to monitor the moisture contents of both dead and live fuels. Here we take advantage of recent developments in macroscale monitoring of fuel moisture through a combination of remote sensing and climatic modeling. We show there are clear thresholds of fuel moisture content associated with the occurrence of wildfires in forests and woodlands. Furthermore, we show that transformations in fuel moisture conditions across these thresholds can occur rapidly, within a month. Both the approach presented here, and our findings, can be immediately applied and may greatly improve fire risk assessments in forests and woodlands globally.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Geophysical Research Letters	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1002/2016GL068614	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences	en_US
dc.title	Large-scale, dynamic transformations in fuel moisture drive wildfire activity across southeastern Australia	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	9	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	43	en_US
utslib.for	050104 Landscape Ecology	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	9	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	43	en_US

Abstract:

© 2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. The occurrence of large, high-intensity wildfires requires plant biomass, or fuel, that is sufficiently dry to burn. This poses the question, what is "sufficiently dry"? Until recently, the ability to address this question has been constrained by the spatiotemporal scale of available methods to monitor the moisture contents of both dead and live fuels. Here we take advantage of recent developments in macroscale monitoring of fuel moisture through a combination of remote sensing and climatic modeling. We show there are clear thresholds of fuel moisture content associated with the occurrence of wildfires in forests and woodlands. Furthermore, we show that transformations in fuel moisture conditions across these thresholds can occur rapidly, within a month. Both the approach presented here, and our findings, can be immediately applied and may greatly improve fire risk assessments in forests and woodlands globally.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/122743