Download or read book IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL PATTERNS OF WILDFIRES IN CALIFORNIA IN RELATION TO SOIL MOISTURE USING REMOTE SENSING written by Adam J. Link and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this study is determining a potential correlation between soil moisture and burn severity as well as examining potential correlations between slope, elevation, wind speed, wind direction and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) value and burn severity within the Mendocino Complex Fire, California, which occurred in 2018. A time-series of the difference Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR), the difference between pre- and intra-fire NBR values, was calculated via Sentinel-2, soil moisture was mapped using SMAP, and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from ASTER was used to derive elevation and slope values. The imagery was obtained from USGS and USDA websites. Images were processed and reprojected to the same spatial resolution (60 m) and projection (UTM Zone 10N, WGS-87). dNBR imagery was subdivided in newly burned areas for each consecutive day for ten days from 29 July 2018 to 31 August 2018. The findings suggested that there was no strong correlation trend consistently found over the proposed period of time between dNBR values and soil moisture content (R ≈ -0.20 to 0.39), slope (R ≈ -0.35 to 0.46), elevation (R ≈ -0.24 to 0.56), wind speed (R ≈ -0.15 to 0.36), and wind direction (R ≈ -0.42 to 0.24). However, a positive correlation between NDVI values and dNBR values was found to be strong and consistent (R ≈ -0.48 to 0.57). This implies that burn severity increased more significantly and frequently with NDVI, a surrogate for vegetation biomass and leaf area index. It can be surmised that soil moisture must reach some higher values before having a possible impact upon burn severity. Considering that the summer of 2018 was one of the warmest and driest summers in the study area's recent history, soil moisture content was relatively low while, simultaneously, vegetation was dry and more prone to burning.

Download or read book Modeling Spatial Patterns of Wildfire Susceptibility in Southern California written by Philipp Schneider and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation investigates the potential of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery and mesoscale numerical weather models for mapping wildfire susceptibility in general and for improving the Fire Potential Index (FPI) in southern California in particular.

Download or read book Wildland Fire Danger written by Emilio Chuvieco and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2003 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book presents a wide range of techniques for extracting information from satellite remote sensing images in forest fire danger assessment. It covers the main concepts involved in fire danger rating, and analyses the inputs derived from remotely sensed data for mapping fire danger at both the local and global scale. The questions addressed concern the estimation of fuel moisture content, the description of fuel structural properties, the estimation of meteorological danger indices, the analysis of human factors associated with fire ignition, and the integration of different risk factors in a geographic information system for fire danger management.

Download or read book Remote Sensing Modeling and Applications to Wildland Fires written by John J. Qu and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-12-12 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientists and managers alike need timely, cost-effective, and technically appropriate fire-related information to develop functional strategies for the diverse fire communities. "Remote Sensing Modeling and Applications to Wildland Fires" addresses wildland fire management needs by presenting discussions that link ecology and the physical sciences from local to regional levels, views on integrated decision support data for policy and decision makers, new technologies and techniques, and future challenges and how remote sensing might help to address them. While creating awareness of wildland fire management and rehabilitation issues, hands-on experience in applying remote sensing and simulation modeling is also shared. This book will be a useful reference work for researchers, practitioners and graduate students in the fields of fire science, remote sensing and modeling applications. Professor John J. Qu works at the Department of Geography and GeoInformation Science at George Mason University (GMU), USA. He is the Founder and Director of the Environmental Science and Technology Center (ESTC) and EastFIRE Lab at GMU.

Download or read book Spatial and Temporal Variation in Biomass Accumulation in Southern California Chaparral written by Kellie Ann Uyeda and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wildfires are a common occurrence in chaparral shrublands, and post-fire patterns of biomass accumulation are important for understanding ecosystem productivity and fuel available for future fires. In this research, I examine patterns of biomass accumulation in southern California chaparral shrublands at early and late stages of post-fire recovery using a combination of detailed field work and remote sensing. Using field measurements of a site with adjacent stands of varying ages and high spatial resolution imagery, I examine patterns of species composition and associated levels of biomass to characterize long-term patterns in biomass accumulation. I also evaluate the potential for utilizing shrub growth ring widths to track annual biomass accumulation in the first decade of post-fire recovery, and test for the relationship between biomass and spatial variation in factors related to the energy and water balance. In addition, I examine the potential for extending the use of shrub growth rings to track biomass across larger spatial extents using satellite-based growth metrics. The study of stands of varying ages reveals that biomass shows substantial variation even within stands of the same age, and that species composition is different in younger stands of chaparral compared to the more mature stands. In the study of growth rings, I find that while measuring growth rings widths is a valuable method for tracking biomass accumulation in the first decade following a fire, there is no apparent relationship between biomass and factors related to the energy and water balance. Annual biomass growth, as estimated from shrub growth ring widths, shows a promising relationship with satellite-based metrics of annual growth, indicating the potential for further study of the relationship over larger spatial extents.

Download or read book Comparative Spatiotemporal Statistical Analysis of Southern California Wildfire Regimes written by Gina M. Gerlich and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drought and wildfire occurrences are predicted to compound due to global climate change, especially in Mediterranean climates. Therefore, researching potential wildfire determinants is imperative in preparing for and managing future wildfires. The primary goal of this research was to determine if specific environmental, spatial, and human-based variables can explain large wildfire occurrences in Southern California during four designated wildfire regimes, which are drought and post-drought years within the two fire seasons (i.e., dry and Santa Ana (SA) wind fire seasons), between 2012 and 2019 utilizing binary logistic regression models. The secondary goal was to map the predictive patterns of large wildfire occurrences in Southern California. This research used remotely sensed land surface temperature (LST), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and evapotranspiration (ET) datasets. This research also used other raster datasets, such as precipitation, wind, aspect, slope, and digital elevation model (DEM). Various vector derived raster datasets were also used, such as distance to roads, powerlines, cities, and campgrounds, ecoregions, and the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Wildfire occurrences are influenced by anthropogenic, environmental, and spatial factors; however, once ignition occurs and wildfires begin to spread, the environmental factors become more significant in fueling large wildfires. The results indicated that lower NDVI values were the strongest predictor when wildfires were smaller in terms of area burned and when less wildfires occurred. Higher wind speeds were the strongest predictor when wildfires were larger. However, higher LST values were the strongest predictor when wind was not a significant contributor to the model. These conclusions determine that large wildfires are mostly explained by wind, and when wind is not a significant contributor, then LST takes on that role, as these two variables have the ability to dry vegetation and to spread wildfires. This research further establishes the potential for early detections of large wildfires based on wildfire prediction patterns, provides useful information for resource issuance and wildfire management, and enhances general knowledge of the predicted extreme wildfire events in Southern California.

Download or read book Permafrost Ecosystems written by Akira Osawa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-01-04 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing from a decade-long collaboration between Japan and Russia, this important volume presents the first major synthesis of current knowledge on the ecophysiology of the coniferous forests growing on permafrost at high latitudes. It presents ecological data for a region long inaccessible to most scientists, and raises important questions about the global carbon balance as these systems are affected by the changing climate. Making up around 20% of the entire boreal forests of the northern hemisphere, these ‘permafrost forest ecosystems’ are subject to particular constraints in terms of temperature, nutrient availability, and root space, creating exceptional ecosystem characteristics not known elsewhere. This authoritative text explores their diversity, structure, dynamics and physiology. It provides a comparison of these forests in relation to boreal forests elsewhere, and concludes with an assessment of the potential responses of this unique biome to climate change. The book will be invaluable to advanced students and researchers interested in boreal vegetation, forest ecology, silviculture and forest soils, as well as to researchers into climate change and the global carbon balance.

Download or read book Fire Effects on Soil Properties written by Paulo Pereira and published by CSIRO PUBLISHING. This book was released on 2019-02-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wildland fires are occurring more frequently and affecting more of Earth's surface than ever before. These fires affect the properties of soils and the processes by which they form, but the nature of these impacts has not been well understood. Given that healthy soil is necessary to sustain biodiversity, ecosystems and agriculture, the impact of fire on soil is a vital field of research. Fire Effects on Soil Properties brings together current research on the effects of fire on the physical, biological and chemical properties of soil. Written by over 60 international experts in the field, it includes examples from fire-prone areas across the world, dealing with ash, meso and macrofauna, smouldering fires, recurrent fires and management of fire-affected soils. It also describes current best practice methodologies for research and monitoring of fire effects and new methodologies for future research. This is the first time information on this topic has been presented in a single volume and the book will be an important reference for students, practitioners, managers and academics interested in the effects of fire on ecosystems, including soil scientists, geologists, forestry researchers and environmentalists.

Download or read book Remote Sensing Techniques Aid in Preattack Planning for Fire Management written by Lucy Anne Salazar and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Remote sensing techniques were investigated as an alternative for documenting selected preattack fire planning information. Locations of fuel models, road systems, and water i sources were recorded by Landsat satellite imagery and aerial photography for a portion of the Six Rivers National Forest in northwestern California. The two fuel model groups used were from the 1978 National Fire Danger Rating System and the Northern Forest Fire Laboratory. Landsat-derived fuel model data were digitized and computer analyzed by unsupervised and guided clustering techniques to produce a fuel model map of the area. Overall Landsat classification accuracies of fuel models were moderate-71 percent. This was mainly due to the incompatibilities found between fuel model descriptions and remote sensing capabilities. The results suggest, however, that a basic preattack plan that is moderately reliable, quickly attainable, and easily updated is feasible by applying remote sensing techniques.

Download or read book Spatial and Temporal Variation in Biomass Accumulation in Southern California Chaparral written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wildfires are a common occurrence in chaparral shrublands, and post-fire patterns of biomass accumulation are important for understanding ecosystem productivity and fuel available for future fires. In this research, I examine patterns of biomass accumulation in southern California chaparral shrublands at early and late stages of post-fire recovery using a combination of detailed field work and remote sensing. Using field measurements of a site with adjacent stands of varying ages and high spatial resolution imagery, I examine patterns of species composition and associated levels of biomass to characterize long-term patterns in biomass accumulation. I also evaluate the potential for utilizing shrub growth ring widths to track annual biomass accumulation in the first decade of post-fire recovery, and test for the relationship between biomass and spatial variation in factors related to the energy and water balance. In addition, I examine the potential for extending the use of shrub growth rings to track biomass across larger spatial extents using satellite-based growth metrics. The study of stands of varying ages reveals that biomass shows substantial variation even within stands of the same age, and that species composition is different in younger stands of chaparral compared to the more mature stands. In the study of growth rings, I find that while measuring growth rings widths is a valuable method for tracking biomass accumulation in the first decade following a fire, there is no apparent relationship between biomass and factors related to the energy and water balance. Annual biomass growth, as estimated from shrub growth ring widths, shows a promising relationship with satellite-based metrics of annual growth, indicating the potential for further study of the relationship over larger spatial extents.

Download or read book Understanding the Ecological Challenges in California Protected Areas Through the Lens of Remote Sensing Technologies written by Shenyue Jia and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Protected area (PA), usually built to address the potential ecological pressure from different sources, aims to sustain, protect, and maintain the wilderness of nature for ecological, economic, and scenic purposes. Establishing, maintaining, and expanding the monitor network of PAs helps to enhance the ecological and biological value of these areas, especially in the light of species decline and habitat degradation. Intensively monitored and regulated through various administrative agencies, California keeps one of the best maintained network of PAs in the world, which supports various studies to address the significant threats to the preservation of wilderness from the projected warming climate and pressure from human development, including water deficit and prolonged drought, abnormality in wildfires, urban sprawl, and light pollution. With the help of satellite remote sensing technologies and geospatial analysis, we can overcome the limitation of data availability in traditional ecological studies and expand the study of PAs to a continuous gradient both in time and space. This dissertation aims to develop a comprehensive understanding through remote sensing technologies on three signi cant and linked ecological disturbance in California PAs, including the change of land cover, the dynamic of wildfire, and the extent and intensity of human activity reflected by stable nighttime light. Exploiting various of remote sensing observation and its derivatives, this study investigated the three topics through trend, seasonality, abnormality, spatial distribution, and hotspot of change to provide a cost-effective and repeatable studying paradigm for PA managers to better understand the past and present situation, as well as the ecological challenges of PAs. In addition, it also supplemented the study of PAs as a case study focusing on a non-tropic ecosystem, which usually involves greater interaction with human thus faces ecological pressure at a higher level. The analysis on land cover dynamics and change from 2000 to 2015 found that many protected areas in California have experienced an increase of brownness since 2000. PAs with a higher coverage of greenness are associated with a higher temporal variability, mostly because of the more complex life cycle of green vegetation and the sensitivity to the disturbance, possibly due to a drying climate regime. Partly linked to the gradual influence from the drying climate, the change in the regime of wildfire may cause a more drastic change in land cover, through the removal of aboveground biomass and its in uence on the post-wild re regrowth. In the study focusing on California PAs from 2000 to 2013, a shift in wildfire-prone land cover and season was observed starting from 2008, while the wildfires southern California shrubland during the fall season became nearly extinct and the northern California evergreen forest wildfires in the late spring increased, partly explained by the recent loss of available fuel in biomass and the increase of potential of ignition in evergreen forest as a result of prolonged drought. Most burned areas experienced a signi cant weakening of the immediate growing season, although the in uence from re on local landscape decayed over time, which became irrelevant after ve years on average. The lower fuel moisture and a more intensive removal of aboveground biomass makes shrubs more sensitive in time, with a shorter period for biomass removal by re and a greater delay in the start and peak of post- re growing season. The long-enduring and sometimes intensive disturbance from human activity, especially from the development can be even more disastrous than wild re in damaging the aboveground biomass by interrupting the natural nutrient and mass circulation,thus brings more fundamental and sometimes irreversible consequences to ecosystems. However, after decades of protection, especially the removal of settlements in side PAs, land management strategies may have bored beneficial fruits to reduce the negative effects from historical human disturbance. As a good proxy of human activity and development, the historical records of stable nighttime light from 1992 to 2012 tracked the temporal change and spatial migration of hotspot of human activity inside California PAs. A decrease of lit area at night inside PAs occurred from 1992 to 2012, with a turning point around 2004 when the relatively sharp decrease started from became more gradual thereafter. Besides, area covered by higher stable nighttime light not only shrank, but also retreated from the area with high wilderness. If solidly con rmed by other socioeconomic variable, the above nding demonstrated the e ectiveness of PA establishment and the fruits of multiple conservation strategies kept for decades. The investigation of three major disturbances to the wilderness of California PAs provided an example of exploiting the cost-e ective and continuously available observation of the Earth surface at a regional level to understand the ecological challenges of PAs. The findings can help the National Park Service and other related agencies of PA administration in the review, adjustment, and proposal of regulations and policies regarding to PAs. Future work and analysis can be focused on improving the accuracy of predictive models involved the analysis, either by concentrating on the di erence between categories of protection, or through a better understanding on the related ecological process and mechanisms to identify or develop better explanatory variables. In addition, when conducting analysis on PAs, the bu er area adjacent to PAs cannot be ignored, which is an important source of disturbance to PAs as well as an ecological corridor that links nearby PAs into clusters. Considering the great diversity in the landscape of PAs, the analytical results can be aggregated and interpreted by different ecoregions to derive more accessible guidance to local policy makers.

Download or read book Soil Moisture and Vegetation Patterns in Northern California Forests written by James R. Griffin and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Remote Sensing of Chaparral Fire Potential written by Austin E. Sullivan and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Urban expansion into areas of chaparral vegetation has greatly increased the danger of wildland fires in settled areas, particularly in southern California. Fires in Topanga Canyon, for example, have been especially severe. Reliable methods of predicting the potential hazard for chaparral fires to man and his settlements in such areas are needed. Aerial photography, using color infrared film, was examined to determine potential fire hazard in Topanga Canyon, and maps indicating potential fire hazard were constructed. A subsequent field survey verified the accuracy of these maps, though the failure to obtain stereoscopic coverage of the study area resulted in a general underestimation of slope as a factor in fire hazard analysis. Remote sensing techniques, especially the use of color infrared aerial photography, provide a useful tool for fire hazard analysis, including interpetive information about fuel volumes, physiognomic plant groupings, the relationships of buildings to both natural and planted vegetation, and fire vulnerability of roofing materials. In addition, the behavior of the September, 1970 Wright Fire in the Topanga study area suggested the validity of the fire potential analysis which had been made prior to that conflagration. (Author).

Download or read book Advancing the Use of Remote Sensing Data and Models to Understand Hydrologic Processes in California written by Aakash Ahamed and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Satellite remote sensing has emerged as a powerful tool in water resources management. However, the extent to which remote sensing data and models can be used to derive novel insights about groundwater systems remains unclear, and the full spectrum of applications for remote sensing in water resources management remains unrealized. In this thesis, we use remote sensing data and models, integrating on-the-ground datasets where appropriate, to recover hydrologic properties related to groundwater systems -- (1) the change in groundwater storage, estimated across three spatial orders of magnitude through a mass balance approach and compared to independent estimates for each spatial scale, and (2) the source areas where rainfall and snowmelt strongly influence downstream baseflow, determined through application of baseflow separation, baseflow recession, signal processing and information theoretic methods. Remote sensing data describing precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and snow-water-equivalent within California are used, for the first time, in a mass balance approach to estimate changes in stored groundwater for study regions spanning ~1,000 km2 to > 100,000 km2. Results of the remotely sensed mass balance agree across scales with independent estimates of changes in groundwater storage derived from (1) the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites, (2) well-based measurements of the water table, and (3) regional groundwater flow models. The method is an appealing supplementary tool to estimate changes in groundwater storage relative to traditional methods for a number of key factors: (a) the ability to produce low-latency estimates -- well and model-based methods lag years behind the present due to extensive on-the-ground data requirements and model calibration, (b) quantification of uncertainty, both for estimates of changes in groundwater storage and among water balance components -- traditional methods produce only a single estimate of changes in storage, and (c) a growing number of satellite-based datasets which can be used to accurately estimate the required parameters, as well as capture the uncertainty in water balance components and mass balance results. Promising results were obtained for three out of four study areas, but mass balance results obtained at the finest spatial scale do not agree well with independent estimates, suggesting there are important scale-dependent limitations associated with the remotely sensed mass balance approach. Baseflow, the persistent component of streamflow fed by groundwater discharge to stream channels, is critical for water supply, hydropower generation, and habitat for ecosystems. For these reasons, it is of great interest to identify the areas which strongly influence baseflow through the processes of rainfall and snowmelt. To accomplish this, we combined remotely sensed data describing rainfall and snowmelt with ground-based streamflow estimates in a physics-guided statistical analysis in order to identify the areas in California's Sierra Nevada which have a prevailing influence on baseflow. An important finding suggests that the areas with the highest annual rates of rainfall and snowmelt do not necessarily exhibit the greatest influence on downstream baseflow, and that snowmelt occurring in the 3000-meter to 3700-meter elevation range has the strongest overall influence on baseflow. Our findings provide novel ways to utilize remote sensing data and models to recover essential properties of groundwater systems, and generally support the combined use of remote sensing data and models with on the ground measurements in order to address problems in groundwater hydrology and water resources management. As new sensors are launched into orbit, such as the Surface Water Ocean Topography satellite in late 2022, the spectrum of possible hydrologic applications widens, and the potential for remote sensing in water resources management will broaden.

Download or read book Remote Sensing of Large Wildfires written by Emilio Chuvieco and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides a systematic review of the different applications for remote sensing and geographical information system techniques in research and management of forest fires. The authors have been involved in this field of research for several years. The book also benefits from data generated within the Megafires project, founded under the DG-XII of the European Union. A clear integration of research and experience is provided. New data gathered from fires affecting European countries between 1991 and 1997 are included as well as satellite images and auxiliary cartographic information. Geographic Information System files have been included in the attached CD-ROM depicting land cover, elevation, Koeppen classification climates and NOAA-AVHRR data of all European Mediterranean Europe at 1 sq km resolution. All these files are in Idrisi format and can be easily accessed from any GIS program. An Idrisi viewer has also been included in the CD-ROM.

Download or read book Ecosystems of California written by Harold Mooney and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2016-01-19 with total page 1008 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This long-anticipated reference and sourcebook for CaliforniaÕs remarkable ecological abundance provides an integrated assessment of each major ecosystem typeÑits distribution, structure, function, and management. A comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge about this biologically diverse state, Ecosystems of California covers the state from oceans to mountaintops using multiple lenses: past and present, flora and fauna, aquatic and terrestrial, natural and managed. Each chapter evaluates natural processes for a specific ecosystem, describes drivers of change, and discusses how that ecosystem may be altered in the future. This book also explores the drivers of CaliforniaÕs ecological patterns and the history of the stateÕs various ecosystems, outlining how the challenges of climate change and invasive species and opportunities for regulation and stewardship could potentially affect the stateÕs ecosystems. The text explicitly incorporates both human impacts and conservation and restoration efforts and shows how ecosystems support human well-being. Edited by two esteemed ecosystem ecologists and with overviews by leading experts on each ecosystem, this definitive work will be indispensable for natural resource management and conservation professionals as well as for undergraduate or graduate students of CaliforniaÕs environment and curious naturalists.

Download or read book Earth Observation of Wildland Fires in Mediterranean Ecosystems written by Emilio Chuvieco and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-09-25 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wildland fires are becoming one of the most critical environmental factors affecting a wide range of ecosystems worldwide. In Mediterranean ecosystems (including also South-Africa, California, parts of Chile and Australia), wildland fires are recurrent phenomena every summer, following the seasonal drought. As a result of changes in traditional land use practices, and the impact of recent climate warming, fires have more negative impacts in the last years, threatening lives, socio-economic and ecological values. The book describes the ecological context of fires in the Mediterranean ecosystems, and provides methods to observe fire danger conditions and fire impacts using Earth Observation and Geographic Information System technologies.