Spatial heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana wildfires in Southern California with implications for fire risk modeling
In Southern California, the Santa Ana winds are famous for their role in spreading large wildfires during the fall/winter season. Combined with Southern California's complex topography, Santa Anas create challenges for modeling wind-fire relationships in this region. Here, we assess heterogenei...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020310033 |
| _version_ | 1818885859583197184 |
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| author | Alex W. Dye John B. Kim Karin L. Riley |
| author_facet | Alex W. Dye John B. Kim Karin L. Riley |
| author_sort | Alex W. Dye |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In Southern California, the Santa Ana winds are famous for their role in spreading large wildfires during the fall/winter season. Combined with Southern California's complex topography, Santa Anas create challenges for modeling wind-fire relationships in this region. Here, we assess heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana days, on days with and without large-fire ignitions, across a modern high-density observational network of 30 meteorological stations. Wind speeds on Santa Ana days with a large fire ignition (mean windspeed = 5.19 m/s) are significantly higher than on Santa Ana days without large fire ignitions (3.96 m/s), while on non-Santa Ana days winds are generally weaker, during both fire (2.30 m/s) and non-fire (2.38 m/s) days. Hierarchical clustering of meteorological stations during both Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana days reveals groups of stations with consistently similar wind speed and directions. All stations clearly exhibit high wind speeds on Santa Ana days, and most record contrasting wind characteristics during Santa Ana versus non-Santa Ana ignitions. Additionally, our analysis revealed that key geographic siting traits are not represented in the network, including few stations with northwest aspect and upper slope in the southern mountains. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T16:12:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-24aa64f44fec43538eef1430c81828e2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T16:12:08Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-24aa64f44fec43538eef1430c81828e22022-12-21T20:14:43ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402020-06-0166e04159Spatial heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana wildfires in Southern California with implications for fire risk modelingAlex W. Dye0John B. Kim1Karin L. Riley2Corvallis Forestry Sciences Laboratory, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, ORISE Fellow, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA; Corresponding author.Corvallis Forestry Sciences Laboratory, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331, USAFire Sciences Laboratory, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 5775 US Highway 10 W, Missoula, MT 59808, USAIn Southern California, the Santa Ana winds are famous for their role in spreading large wildfires during the fall/winter season. Combined with Southern California's complex topography, Santa Anas create challenges for modeling wind-fire relationships in this region. Here, we assess heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana days, on days with and without large-fire ignitions, across a modern high-density observational network of 30 meteorological stations. Wind speeds on Santa Ana days with a large fire ignition (mean windspeed = 5.19 m/s) are significantly higher than on Santa Ana days without large fire ignitions (3.96 m/s), while on non-Santa Ana days winds are generally weaker, during both fire (2.30 m/s) and non-fire (2.38 m/s) days. Hierarchical clustering of meteorological stations during both Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana days reveals groups of stations with consistently similar wind speed and directions. All stations clearly exhibit high wind speeds on Santa Ana days, and most record contrasting wind characteristics during Santa Ana versus non-Santa Ana ignitions. Additionally, our analysis revealed that key geographic siting traits are not represented in the network, including few stations with northwest aspect and upper slope in the southern mountains.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020310033WildfireFire modelingSouthern CaliforniaSanta Ana windsRemote access weather stationsMeteorology |
| spellingShingle | Alex W. Dye John B. Kim Karin L. Riley Spatial heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana wildfires in Southern California with implications for fire risk modeling Heliyon Wildfire Fire modeling Southern California Santa Ana winds Remote access weather stations Meteorology |
| title | Spatial heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana wildfires in Southern California with implications for fire risk modeling |
| title_full | Spatial heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana wildfires in Southern California with implications for fire risk modeling |
| title_fullStr | Spatial heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana wildfires in Southern California with implications for fire risk modeling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatial heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana wildfires in Southern California with implications for fire risk modeling |
| title_short | Spatial heterogeneity of winds during Santa Ana and non-Santa Ana wildfires in Southern California with implications for fire risk modeling |
| title_sort | spatial heterogeneity of winds during santa ana and non santa ana wildfires in southern california with implications for fire risk modeling |
| topic | Wildfire Fire modeling Southern California Santa Ana winds Remote access weather stations Meteorology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020310033 |
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