Spatial and temporal variability of forest floor moisture characteristics and their influence on wildfires in Western Siberia over 2016-2021
E.V. Kharyutkina, E.I. Moraru
Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk, Russia
Keywords: forest floor moisture, soil moisture, wildfire, Western Siberia, reanalysis data, satellite data
Abstract
The spatial and temporal variability of forest floor moisture characteristics is analyzed on the basis of the Canadian Fire Forest Weather Indices (CFFWIS) for the territory of Western Siberia (45-75° N, 60-90° E) over 2016-2021 for the first time. The floor moisture effect on the number of wildfires (hotspots) during the warm season (March-October) is assessed. The results are given for different natural zones. Statistically significant correlations are found between hotspots and floor moisture at a depth of 7 cm only in some spring and summer months (correlation coefficient is up to 0.54). The strongest effect (correlation coefficient is up to 0.60) on wildfires is observed for floor moisture at a depth of 1.2 cm in the south of Western Siberia in April. Thus, it can be concluded that the forest floor moisture is an important parameter in description of conditions for fire initiation and development. However, the question about its effect on the wildfire behavior remains open and requires additional research accounting meteorological and atmospheric conditions. The results can be used in future for solving problems of forecasting the potential fire danger.
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