2019–2020 Australia Fire and Its Relationship to Hydroclimatological and Vegetation Variabilities
Wildfire is a major concern worldwide and particularly in Australia. The 2019–2020 wildfires in Australia became historically significant as they were widespread and extremely severe. Linking climate and vegetation settings to wildfires can provide insightful information for wildfire prediction, and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-11-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/11/3067 |
| _version_ | 1797549109500968960 |
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| author | Mohammad Reza Ehsani Jorge Arevalo Christoforus Bayu Risanto Mostafa Javadian Charles John Devine Alireza Arabzadeh Hector L. Venegas-Quiñones Ambria Paige Dell’Oro Ali Behrangi |
| author_facet | Mohammad Reza Ehsani Jorge Arevalo Christoforus Bayu Risanto Mostafa Javadian Charles John Devine Alireza Arabzadeh Hector L. Venegas-Quiñones Ambria Paige Dell’Oro Ali Behrangi |
| author_sort | Mohammad Reza Ehsani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wildfire is a major concern worldwide and particularly in Australia. The 2019–2020 wildfires in Australia became historically significant as they were widespread and extremely severe. Linking climate and vegetation settings to wildfires can provide insightful information for wildfire prediction, and help better understand wildfires behavior in the future. The goal of this research was to examine the relationship between the recent wildfires, various hydroclimatological variables, and satellite-retrieved vegetation indices. The analyses performed here show the uniqueness of the 2019–2020 wildfires. The near-surface air temperature from December 2019 to February 2020 was about 1 °C higher than the 20-year mean, which increased the evaporative demand. The lack of precipitation before the wildfires, due to an enhanced high-pressure system over southeast Australia, prevented the soil from having enough moisture to supply the demand, and set the stage for a large amount of dry fuel that highly favored the spread of the fires. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:09:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-737ae9874c6b4ba282f90b411739c0eb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:09:05Z |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-737ae9874c6b4ba282f90b411739c0eb2023-11-20T19:28:39ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412020-11-011211306710.3390/w121130672019–2020 Australia Fire and Its Relationship to Hydroclimatological and Vegetation VariabilitiesMohammad Reza Ehsani0Jorge Arevalo1Christoforus Bayu Risanto2Mostafa Javadian3Charles John Devine4Alireza Arabzadeh5Hector L. Venegas-Quiñones6Ambria Paige Dell’Oro7Ali Behrangi8Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USASchool of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USAWildfire is a major concern worldwide and particularly in Australia. The 2019–2020 wildfires in Australia became historically significant as they were widespread and extremely severe. Linking climate and vegetation settings to wildfires can provide insightful information for wildfire prediction, and help better understand wildfires behavior in the future. The goal of this research was to examine the relationship between the recent wildfires, various hydroclimatological variables, and satellite-retrieved vegetation indices. The analyses performed here show the uniqueness of the 2019–2020 wildfires. The near-surface air temperature from December 2019 to February 2020 was about 1 °C higher than the 20-year mean, which increased the evaporative demand. The lack of precipitation before the wildfires, due to an enhanced high-pressure system over southeast Australia, prevented the soil from having enough moisture to supply the demand, and set the stage for a large amount of dry fuel that highly favored the spread of the fires.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/11/3067Australia wildfiresextreme eventshydroclimatologyecologyremote sensingclimate change |
| spellingShingle | Mohammad Reza Ehsani Jorge Arevalo Christoforus Bayu Risanto Mostafa Javadian Charles John Devine Alireza Arabzadeh Hector L. Venegas-Quiñones Ambria Paige Dell’Oro Ali Behrangi 2019–2020 Australia Fire and Its Relationship to Hydroclimatological and Vegetation Variabilities Water Australia wildfires extreme events hydroclimatology ecology remote sensing climate change |
| title | 2019–2020 Australia Fire and Its Relationship to Hydroclimatological and Vegetation Variabilities |
| title_full | 2019–2020 Australia Fire and Its Relationship to Hydroclimatological and Vegetation Variabilities |
| title_fullStr | 2019–2020 Australia Fire and Its Relationship to Hydroclimatological and Vegetation Variabilities |
| title_full_unstemmed | 2019–2020 Australia Fire and Its Relationship to Hydroclimatological and Vegetation Variabilities |
| title_short | 2019–2020 Australia Fire and Its Relationship to Hydroclimatological and Vegetation Variabilities |
| title_sort | 2019 2020 australia fire and its relationship to hydroclimatological and vegetation variabilities |
| topic | Australia wildfires extreme events hydroclimatology ecology remote sensing climate change |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/11/3067 |
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