Title

National database for calculating fuel available to wildfires

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-7-2012

Abstract

In recent years, wildfires have emerged as an important part of the global environment. Carbon released from fires during combustion alters the global carbon balance. Smoke emissions are a health hazard to nearby communities [Wegesser et al., 2009], can impair air quality and visibility for hundreds of kilometers downwind (Interagency Modeling of Protected Visual Environments;http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve/Data/IMPROVE/improve_data.htm , 2004), and contribute substantially to the global aerosol budget [van der Werf et al., 2006]. As understanding about fire as a global ecosystem process improves [Bowman et al., 2009] and as more and more global fire databases are being built [Giglio et al., 2009], wildfires are increasingly emerging as an important component of Earth system models, particularly those that involve emissions from fires and their effects on climate.

Publisher's Statement

© 2015 American Geophysical Union. Publisher's version of record: http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2012EO060002

Publication Title

EOS

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