Estimating the influence of external environmental factors on fire radiative power using satellite imagery

In this work the influence of external environmental factors (prevailing forest stands, intensity of the fire season, and weather conditions) on power released by fire (fire radiative power (FRP)) has been studied. The data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are used to characterize variations of the FRP. Our studies show that, during periods of high fire activity, the FRP is 10% higher than during periods of low fire activity. The correlation level between the FRP and weather fire danger is determined. In particular, the fire weather index (FWI) of the Canadian weather fire-danger-assessment system shows a closer relationship with the FRP than the Russian PV-1 index. Based on the results, it is found that fires in forests with a predominance of larch have higher FRP values (by 20–25%) for the forest zone of Siberia than fires in deciduous and pine forests.