Disentangling the Roles of Climate Variables in Forest Fire Occurrences in China
In the context of global warming, climate strongly affects forest fires. With long-term and strict fire prevention policies, China has become a unique test arena for comprehending the role of climatic variables in affecting forest fires. Here, using GIS spatial analysis, Pearson correlation, and geo...
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MDPI AG
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/1/88 |
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| author | Chenqin Lian Zhiming Feng Hui Gu Beilei Gao |
| author_facet | Chenqin Lian Zhiming Feng Hui Gu Beilei Gao |
| author_sort | Chenqin Lian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the context of global warming, climate strongly affects forest fires. With long-term and strict fire prevention policies, China has become a unique test arena for comprehending the role of climatic variables in affecting forest fires. Here, using GIS spatial analysis, Pearson correlation, and geographical detector, the climate drivers of forest fires in China are revealed using the 2003–2022 active fire data from the MODIS C6 and climate products from CHELSA (Climatologies at high resolution for the Earth’s land surface areas). The main conclusions are as follows: (1) In total, 82% of forest fires were prevalent in the southern and southwestern forest regions (SR and SWR) in China, especially in winter and spring. (2) Forest fires were mainly distributed in areas with a mean annual temperature and annual precipitation of 14~22 °C (subtropical) and 800~2000 mm (humid zone), respectively. (3) Incidences of forest fires were positively correlated with temperature, potential evapotranspiration, surface downwelling shortwave flux, and near-surface wind speed but negatively correlated with precipitation and near-surface relative humidity. (4) Temperature and potential evapotranspiration dominated the roles in determining spatial variations of China’s forest fires, while the combination of climate variables complicated the spatial variation. This paper not only provides new insights on the impact of climate drives on forest fires, but also offers helpful guidance for fire management, prevention, and forecasting. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2bd12f7506084dc8aff1de8052ea7ab5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-2bd12f7506084dc8aff1de8052ea7ab52025-01-10T13:20:11ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922024-12-011718810.3390/rs17010088Disentangling the Roles of Climate Variables in Forest Fire Occurrences in ChinaChenqin Lian0Zhiming Feng1Hui Gu2Beilei Gao3School of Public Affairs, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, ChinaInstitute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaSchool of Public Affairs, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, ChinaSchool of Public Affairs, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, ChinaIn the context of global warming, climate strongly affects forest fires. With long-term and strict fire prevention policies, China has become a unique test arena for comprehending the role of climatic variables in affecting forest fires. Here, using GIS spatial analysis, Pearson correlation, and geographical detector, the climate drivers of forest fires in China are revealed using the 2003–2022 active fire data from the MODIS C6 and climate products from CHELSA (Climatologies at high resolution for the Earth’s land surface areas). The main conclusions are as follows: (1) In total, 82% of forest fires were prevalent in the southern and southwestern forest regions (SR and SWR) in China, especially in winter and spring. (2) Forest fires were mainly distributed in areas with a mean annual temperature and annual precipitation of 14~22 °C (subtropical) and 800~2000 mm (humid zone), respectively. (3) Incidences of forest fires were positively correlated with temperature, potential evapotranspiration, surface downwelling shortwave flux, and near-surface wind speed but negatively correlated with precipitation and near-surface relative humidity. (4) Temperature and potential evapotranspiration dominated the roles in determining spatial variations of China’s forest fires, while the combination of climate variables complicated the spatial variation. This paper not only provides new insights on the impact of climate drives on forest fires, but also offers helpful guidance for fire management, prevention, and forecasting.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/1/88forestactive firesGISMODIS C6geographical detectorclimate drivers |
| spellingShingle | Chenqin Lian Zhiming Feng Hui Gu Beilei Gao Disentangling the Roles of Climate Variables in Forest Fire Occurrences in China Remote Sensing forest active fires GIS MODIS C6 geographical detector climate drivers |
| title | Disentangling the Roles of Climate Variables in Forest Fire Occurrences in China |
| title_full | Disentangling the Roles of Climate Variables in Forest Fire Occurrences in China |
| title_fullStr | Disentangling the Roles of Climate Variables in Forest Fire Occurrences in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disentangling the Roles of Climate Variables in Forest Fire Occurrences in China |
| title_short | Disentangling the Roles of Climate Variables in Forest Fire Occurrences in China |
| title_sort | disentangling the roles of climate variables in forest fire occurrences in china |
| topic | forest active fires GIS MODIS C6 geographical detector climate drivers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/1/88 |
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