Title

Management and climate contributions to satellite-derived active fire trends in the contiguous United States

Authors

Hsiao-Wen Lin, University of California - Irvine
Jessica L. McCarty, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Dongdong Wang, University of Maryland - College Park
Brendan M. Rogers, University of California - Irvine
Douglas C. Morton, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
G. James Collatz, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Yufang Jin, University of California - Irvine
James T. Randerson, University of California - Irvine

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-28-2014

Abstract

Fires in croplands, plantations, and rangelands contribute significantly to fire emissions in the United States, yet are often overshadowed by wildland fires in efforts to develop inventories or estimate responses to climate change. Here we quantified decadal trends, interannual variability, and seasonality of Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations of active fires (thermal anomalies) as a function of management type in the contiguous U.S. during 2001–2010. We used the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity database to identify active fires within the perimeter of large wildland fires and land cover maps to identify active fires in croplands. A third class of fires defined as prescribed/other included all residual satellite active fire detections. Large wildland fires were the most variable of all three fire types and had no significant annual trend in the contiguous U.S. during 2001–2010. Active fires in croplands, in contrast, increased at a rate of 3.4% per year. Cropland and prescribed/other fire types combined were responsible for 77% of the total active fire detections within the U.S and were most abundant in the south and southeast. In the west, cropland active fires decreased at a rate of 5.9% per year, likely in response to intensive air quality policies. Potential evaporation was a dominant regulator of the interannual variability of large wildland fires, but had a weaker influence on the other two fire types. Our analysis suggests it may be possible to modify landscape fire emissions within the U.S. by influencing the way fires are used in managed ecosystems.

Publisher's Statement

© 2014 The Authors. Publisher's version of record: https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JG002382

Publication Title

Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Lin, H., McCarty, J. L., Wang, D., Rogers, B. M., Morton, D. C., Collatz, G. J., Jin, Y., & Randerson, J. T. (2014). Management and climate contributions to satellite-derived active fire trends in the contiguous United States. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 119(4), 645-660. http://doi.org/10.1002/2013JG002382
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/mtri_p/10