‘Fires Raging in the Amazon Rainforest Are Compounding the Stress on Global Climate and Environment Already Unleashed by Exceptional Fires in the Arctic’

WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch Programme earlier this year released a short animation which highlights the risks and explains how advances in satellite technology make it possible to detect and monitor fire dangers.

Improving forecasting systems is important for predictions and warnings around fire danger and related air pollution hazards.

Satellites are often the first to detect fires burning in remote regions. NASA’s primary tool for fire detections since 2002 has been the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on  the Terra and Aqua satellites.

CAMS, which is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the EU, incorporates observations of wildfires from the MODIS instruments on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites into its Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) to monitor the fires and estimate the emission of pollutants from them.

It assimilates fire radiative power observations from satellite-based sensors to produce daily estimates of biomass burning emissions which are part of the extensive measurements performed by many stations of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme.

These measurements are essential for forecasts, research on atmospheric composition and to develop warning systems. Measurements from GAW stations are also used for verification of the model employed by the CAMS for global forecasts and analyses of emissions from wildfires and biomass burning.

At this point in the fire season, MODIS active fire detections in 2019 are higher across the Brazilian Amazon than in any year since 2010. The state of Amazonas is on track for record fire activity in 2019.

MODIS fire detections are analyzed by the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED) project, which includes NASA Goddard, the University of California, Irvine, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Over the years, the GFED team has processed 17 years of NASA satellite data to better understand the role of fire for changes in the Earth system. Their analysis of the southern Amazon includes parts of Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia that typically see fires between July and October. Their data plots are available online here.

WMO has initiated a Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution Warning and Advisory System (VFSP-WAS). Arising from the keen interest of WMO Members in several impacted regions, the note provides guidance for addressing the issues of vegetation fire and smoke pollution.

It also proposes the establishment of a Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution Warning and Advisory System (VFSP-WAS) and to support the potential foundation of regional centers on the topic.

Further information can also be obtained at NASA Fire Information for Resource Management (FIRMS) Active Fire Data

*SOURCE: World Meteorological Organization. Go to ORIGINAL.

2019 Human Wrongs Watch