Understanding Changes in Modeled Land Surface Characteristics Prior to Lightning-Initiated Holdover Fire Breakout

Schultz, Christopher J ; Case, Jonathan L ; Hain, Christopher R ; White, Kristopher ; Wachter, J Brent ; Nauslar, Nicholas ; MacNamara, Brittany

关键词: DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS;    DYNAMIC MODELS;    EARTH SURFACE;    FOREST FIRES;    LIGHTNING;    PRECIPITATION (METEOROLOGY);    REMOTE SENSING;    EARTH OBSERVATIONS (FROM SPACE);    ENVIRONMENT MODELS;    LAND MANAGEMENT;    MODIS (RADIOMETRY);   

RP-ID  :  MSFC-E-DAA-TN51351

美国|英语

来源: NASA Technical Reports Server

【 摘 要 】

Lightning initiated wildfires are only 16% of the total number of wildfires within the United States, but account for 56% of the acreage burned. One of the challenges with lightning-initiated wildfires is their ability to "holdover" which means smolder for up to 2+ weeks before breaking out into a full fledged fire. This work helps characterize the percentage of holdover events due to lightning, and helps quantify changes in the land surface characteristics to help understand trends in soil moisture and vegetation stress that potentially contribute to the fire breaking out into a full wildfire.