Wie oft brannte der Walliser Wald im 20. Jahrhundert? | Forest fire occurrences in Canton Valais in the 20th century

In August 2003, a disastrous fire destroyed some 300 ha of forest near Leuk in the Swiss Canton of Valais. This extreme event heightened, for a time at least, public awareness of forest fires and triggered various research activities. Forest fires play an important part in the forest dynamics of the Valais. In this article we present a historical database, which contains data on outbreaks of fire over the past 100 years. The temporal variability of forest fires is analysed and possible relations to climate change and changes in forest use discussed. Three of the largest fires are presented as case studies (Ochsenboden in July 1921, Aletschwald/Riederhorn in May 1944 and Pfynwald in July 1962). Although wide areas of forest have been burnt in past fires, no outbreak in the last 100 years reached the extent of the forest fire of Leuk in 2003.

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Global warming and forest fires in Canada

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc69290-3 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 69 (3) ◽

pp. 290-293 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Brian J. Stocks

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Forest Fire ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Fire Management ◽

Warming Trend ◽

Research Activities ◽

Forest Fire Management ◽

The Future ◽

Innovative Thinking ◽

The Impact

The looming possibility of global warming raises legitimate concerns for the future of the forest resource in Canada. While evidence of a global warming trend is not conclusive at this time, governments would be wise to anticipate, and begin planning for, such an eventuality. The forest fire business is likely to be affected both early and dramatically by any trend toward warmer and drier conditions in Canada, and fire managers should be aware that the future will likely require new and innovative thinking in forest fire management. This paper summarizes research activities currently underway to assess the impact of global warming on forest fires, and speculates on future fire management problems and strategies.

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The spatio-temporal characteristics of forest fires in China: observations from hybrid remote sensing data

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-2281 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lei Fang ◽

Zeyu Qiao ◽

Jian Yang

Keyword(s):

Forest Fire ◽

Forest Fires ◽

High Frequency ◽

Fire Management ◽

Hot Spot ◽

Landsat Imagery ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Burned Area ◽

Prevention Policy ◽

The Past

<p>Forest fire is a natural disaster threatening global human well-beings as well as a crucial disturbance agent driving forest landscape changes. The remotely sensed burned area (BA) products can provide spatially and temporally continuous monitoring of global fires, but the accuracies remain to be improved. We firstly developed a hybrid burned area mapping approach, which integrated the advantages of a 250 m global BA product (CCI_Fire) and a 30 m global forest change (GFC) product, to generate an improved 250 m BA product (so-called CCI_GFC product). Based on 248 fire patches derived from Landsat imagery, the results showed that the CCI_GFC product improved the CCI_Fire product substantially, which are significantly better than MCD64A1 product. According to the CCI_GFC, we found the total BA in the past 17 years was about 12.1 million ha in China, which approximately covered 6.1% of the total forested areas with a significantly decreased trend through Mann-Kendall test (Tau= -0.47, P<0.05) . We conducted a grid analysis (0.05&#176;&#215;0.05&#176;) to determine the hot spots of forest fire from 2001 to 2017. We also quantified fire characteristics on frequency, spatial distribution, and seasonality in terms of Burned Forest Rate (BFR), hot spot areas, and fire seasons, respectively. We found that low frequency burns with a 0<BFR&#8804;20% in 17 years covered 64% of total grids; the medium-low frequency burns (20%<BFR&#8804;40%), the medium frequency burns (40%<BFR&#8804;60%), the medium-high frequency burns (60%< BFR&#8804;80%) accounted for 15%, 7%, 4% respectively; the high frequency burns (80%<BFR&#8804;100%) and extremely high burns (100%<BFR&#8804;120%) together occupy 10% of total grids which mainly distributed in Xiao Hinggan mountains, south China, and southwest China. The seasonality of forest fires differed substantially among eco-regions. The fire seasons of two temperate forest eco-regions are spring and autumn. The two peak fire months are May and October, in which about 22% and 37% of the total burned area were founded respectively. As a comparison, fire seasons in tropical and subtropical eco-regions are spring and winter (i.e., November to March of the next year), which accounted 88% of the total burned area. Our study clearly illustrated the characteristics of forest fire patterns in the past 17 years, which highlighted the remarkable achievements due to a nationwide implementation of fire prevention policy. At the same time, we emphasized that it is critically important to regard the long-term forest fire dynamics to design scientific and reasonable strategies or methods for fire management and controlling, which will be of sound significance to optimize the allocation of financial resources on fire management, and to achieve sustainable management of forests.</p>

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Estimation of Smoke Plume Height from Early Burning via Simulation

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.931-932.1154 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 931-932 ◽

pp. 1154-1162

Author(s):

Panuphan Limthavorn ◽

Watcharapong Tachajapong

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Forest Fire ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Prevention Strategies ◽

Plume Height ◽

Chiang Mai ◽

The Past ◽

Pollution Problem ◽

Forest Fire Prevention ◽

The One

At present, the forest fires cause smoke and pollution problem in Chiang Mai that affects human, animal, and ecosystems. Over the past few years, air pollution from forest fire has increased. The resident in northern of Thailand faces problems with air pollution and deforestation. Protecting the forest fires and environmental is the one of top priority in solving this problem in northern of Thailand. Therefore, early burning is one of the solution that has been chosen to used in Chiang Mai forest fire prevention strategies.

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Automatic Forest Fire Detection and Suppression Smart Grid System

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology ◽

10.32628/ijsrst2183158 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 666-669

Author(s):

Gopalakrishnan G ◽

Arul Mozhi Varman S ◽

Dinessh T C ◽

Divayarupa S ◽

Benazir Begam R

Keyword(s):

Forest Fire ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Fire Detection ◽

Radical Change ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Grid System ◽

The Past ◽

Initial Stage ◽

Smart Grid System ◽

Forest Fire Detection

Over the past years, a radical change in Earth’s temperature has been recorded. It has caused global warming and severe changes in climatic conditions. Naturally, this has resulted in many natural disasters. Forest fire is one such calamity that harms the environment to a great extent. The traditional methods of controlling and suppressing the fires are ineffective as the fires spread too rapidly if it is not contained at the initial stage. Hence this paper proposes a system that aims to automatically detect forest fires and suppress them. This system will suppress and contain the forest fires long enough for the firefighters to arrive.

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Forest fire and law: an analysis of Turkish forest fire legislation based on Food and Agriculture Organization criteria

Fire Ecology ◽

10.1186/s42408-021-00102-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Osman Devrim Elvan ◽

Üstüner Birben ◽

Ulaş Yunus Özkan ◽

Hasan Tezcan Yıldırım ◽

Yavuz Özhan Türker

Keyword(s):

Forest Fire ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Fire Management ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Current Status ◽

Community Based ◽

Food And Agriculture ◽

Fire Use ◽

Food And Agriculture Organization ◽

Turkish Constitution

Abstract Background Because of climate and forest vegetation, Turkey has regions (particularly the Mediterranean and Aegean regions) that are vulnerable to forest fires. Approximately 2000 forest fires have occurred every year for the last 20 years, with at least 48% of them caused by humans. This percentage increases to 71% when the rates of fires of unknown causes are included. In this study, legislation on Turkish forest fires was analyzed based on the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO’s) guide, “Forest Fires and the Law.” The guide was prepared by expert lawyers and addresses the basic topics of definitions; institutional setup and interinstitutional coordination planning, monitoring, and assessment; prevention and preparedness; detection and early warning and suppression; participatory and community-based approaches to fire management; fire use; rehabilitation; and law enforcement. The objective of this study was to reveal the current status of Turkish forestry legislation and its practices based on the FAO guide. Results According to our analysis, Turkish forestry legislation has followed the FAO criteria 78.1% of the time. It is clear that effective regulations exist, with the Turkish Constitution being the foremost touchstone. The results illustrate that, no matter how strong the legislation is, a deficiency in administrative measures and a lack of public awareness make combating forest fires unsuccessful. Conclusions The areas that need to be improved have been determined to be definitions, participatory and community-based approaches to fire management, and creating a fire line. A focus on public participation and the social approach is needed.

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NEEM to EastGRIP Traverse – spatial variability, seasonality, extreme events and trends in common ice core proxies over the past decades

10.5194/cp-2021-99 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Helle Astrid Kjær ◽

Patrick Zens ◽

Samuel Black ◽

Kasper Holst Lund ◽

Anders Svensson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Variability ◽

Forest Fire ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Barents Sea ◽

Ice Core ◽

Flow Analysis ◽

Ice Cores ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

Anthropogenic Contamination ◽

The Past

Abstract. Greenland ice cores provide information about past climate. However, the number of firn and ice cores from Greenland are limited and thus the spatial variability of the chemical impurities used as proxies is largely unconstrained. Furthermore, few impurity records covering the past two decades exist from Greenland. We have by means of Continuous Flow analysis investigated 6 shallow firn cores obtained in Northern Greenland as part of the NEEM to EastGRIP traverse in 2015. The oldest reach back to 1966. The annual mean and quartiles of the insoluble dust, ammonium, and calcium concentrations in the 6 firn cores spanning a distance of 426 km overlap, and also the seasonal cycles have similar peaks in timing and magnitude across sites. Peroxide (H2O2) is accumulation dependent and varies from site to site and conductivity, likely influenced by sea salts, also vary spatially. The temporal variability of the records is further assessed. We find no evidence for increases in total dust concentration, but find an increase in the large dust particle fluxes that we contribute to an activation of Greenland local sources in the recent years (1998–2015). We observe the expected acid and conductivity increase in the mid 70’s as a result of anthropogenic contamination and the following decrease due to mitigation. After detrending using the five year average the conductivity and acid records several volcanic horizons were identified and associated with Icelandic eruptions and volcanic eruptions in the Barents sea region. By creating a composite based on excess ammonium compared to the five year running average, we obtain a robust forest fire proxy associated primarily with Canadian forest fires (R = 0.51). We also note that the peak ammonium in the individual firn cores appear more scattered between cores than the peak volcanic layers, suggesting that the forest fire signal is more dispersed in the atmosphere than the acid from volcanic eruptions.

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Spring arctic oscillation as a trigger of summer drought in Siberian subarctic over the past 1494 years

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-97911-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Olga V. Churakova Sidorova ◽

Rolf T. W. Siegwolf ◽

Marina V. Fonti ◽

Eugene A. Vaganov ◽

Matthias Saurer

Keyword(s):

Forest Fires ◽

Arctic Oscillation ◽

Summer Precipitation ◽

Volcanic Eruptions ◽

The Arctic ◽

Summer Drought ◽

Permafrost Degradation ◽

The Past ◽

Research Activities ◽

Carbon And Oxygen Isotope

AbstractRapid changes in the hydrological and temperature regimes over the past decades at the northern latitudes enhance significantly permafrost degradation accelerating carbon release, increase the frequency of drought events and extensive wildfires. However, the mechanisms and dynamics driving drought events and their influence on Siberian forests are currently the subject of numerous research activities. Newly developed and annually resolved stable carbon and oxygen isotope chronologies of larch tree-ring cellulose (δ13Ccell and δ18Ocell) for the period 516–2009 CE allowed the reconstruction of July precipitation and Arctic Oscillation (AO) in May, respectively. Unprecedented drought events occurred towards twentieth–twenty-first centuries as indicated by the July precipitation reconstruction. Positive AO phases in May were most pronounced during the second part of the first millennium, but also increased in frequency in the modern period of the twentieth–twenty-first centuries. Negative AO phases are associated with cold anomalies and show a remarkable decrease in the nineteenth century caused by a series of major volcanic eruptions. Our findings help explaining the increased frequency of Siberian forest fires over the past decades in Central Siberia consistent with a reduction of summer precipitation, triggered by a positive phase of the Arctic Oscillation in May.

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LEGAL RESEARCH AT AHMAD IBRAHIM KULLIYYAH OF LAWS, INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA: TRENDS AND POLICIES

IIUM Law Journal ◽

10.31436/iiumlj.v18i1.13 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hunud Abia Kadouf ◽

Umar Aimhanosi Oseini ◽

Ainul Jaria Maidin

Keyword(s):

Research Output ◽

Academic Staff ◽

Research Quality ◽

Research Progress ◽

Institutions Of Higher Education ◽

Legal Research ◽

The Past ◽

Research Institution ◽

Research Activities ◽

The Status

The primary function of Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah (Faculty) of Laws, at the very beginning of its inception, was that of teaching civil law and Sharî’ah subjects. As it matured, its vision has been varied from teaching to that of research with the aim of attaining the status of a full research institution that provides both quality research and best legal education in the region. Similar to other institutions of higher education in Malaysia, the responsibility of research is a shared function of both graduate students and the academic staff. The research output, on the part of the students is mostly composed of either Master Dissertations or PhD Theses. The academic members of the Faculty, however, are involved either in direct research, individually or jointly, supervision, and publications of their findings. By investigating and analyzing factors influencing research activities at AIKOL in the past twenty years, the researchers will be able to identify the general trends and development of research as it unfolded over years. The researchers hope that the policymakers, at both Faculty and University levels, will use the findings to improve research quality by boldly addressing the problems hampering research progress at AIKOL.

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Baumartenwechsel in den Walliser Waldföhrenwäldern verstärkt nach grossen Störungen

Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen ◽

10.3188/szf.2018.0260 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 169 (5) ◽

pp. 260-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Thomas Wohlgemuth ◽

Violette Doublet ◽

Cynthia Nussbaumer ◽

Linda Feichtinger ◽

Andreas Rigling

Keyword(s):

Scots Pine ◽

Forest Fire ◽

Tree Regeneration ◽

Fire Disturbance ◽

Pine Forests ◽

The Past ◽

Vegetation Shift ◽

Tree Demography ◽

Scots Pine Forests ◽

High Share

Vegetation shift in Scots pine forests in the Valais accelerated by large disturbances In the past dozen years, several studies have concluded a vegetation shift from Scots pine to oak (pubescent and sessile) forests in the low elevated zones of the Valais. It is, however, not fully clear in which way such a vegetation shift actually occurs and on which processes such a shift would be based. Two studies, one on the tree demography in the intact Pfynwald and the other on the tree regeneration on the large Leuk forest fire patch, serve to discuss different aspects of the shift from Scots pine to oak. The forest stands of Pfynwald consist of 67% Scots pines and 14% oaks. Regenerating trees are 2–3.5 times more frequent in small gaps than under canopy. In gaps of the Upper Pfynwald, seedlings and saplings of Scots pine are three times more abundant than oaks, while both species regenerate in similar quantities under canopy. In the Lower Pfynwald, young oaks – especially seedlings – are more frequent than Scots pines. A different process is going on at the lower part in the Leuk forest fire patch where Scots pines prevailed before the burn of 2003. While Scots pines regenerate exclusively close to the edge of the intact forest, oaks not only resprout from trunk but also profit from unlimited spreading of their seeds by the Eurasian jay. Regeneration from seeds are hence observed in the whole studied area, independent of the proximity of seed trees. After the large fire disturbance, a mixed forests with a high share of oaks is establishing, which translates to a rapid vegetation shift. The two trajectories are discussed in the light of climate change.

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A Collaborative Region Detection and Grading Framework for Forest Fire Smoke Using Weakly Supervised Fine Segmentation and Lightweight Faster-RCNN

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12060768 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 768

Author(s):

Jin Pan ◽

Xiaoming Ou ◽

Liang Xu

Keyword(s):

Forest Fire ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Learning Strategy ◽

Early Stage ◽

Fire Detection ◽

Surveillance Systems ◽

Region Detection ◽

Decision Network ◽

Fire Smoke ◽

Weakly Supervised

Forest fires are serious disasters that affect countries all over the world. With the progress of image processing, numerous image-based surveillance systems for fires have been installed in forests. The rapid and accurate detection and grading of fire smoke can provide useful information, which helps humans to quickly control and reduce forest losses. Currently, convolutional neural networks (CNN) have yielded excellent performance in image recognition. Previous studies mostly paid attention to CNN-based image classification for fire detection. However, the research of CNN-based region detection and grading of fire is extremely scarce due to a challenging task which locates and segments fire regions using image-level annotations instead of inaccessible pixel-level labels. This paper presents a novel collaborative region detection and grading framework for fire smoke using a weakly supervised fine segmentation and a lightweight Faster R-CNN. The multi-task framework can simultaneously implement the early-stage alarm, region detection, classification, and grading of fire smoke. To provide an accurate segmentation on image-level, we propose the weakly supervised fine segmentation method, which consists of a segmentation network and a decision network. We aggregate image-level information, instead of expensive pixel-level labels, from all training images into the segmentation network, which simultaneously locates and segments fire smoke regions. To train the segmentation network using only image-level annotations, we propose a two-stage weakly supervised learning strategy, in which a novel weakly supervised loss is proposed to roughly detect the region of fire smoke, and a new region-refining segmentation algorithm is further used to accurately identify this region. The decision network incorporating a residual spatial attention module is utilized to predict the category of forest fire smoke. To reduce the complexity of the Faster R-CNN, we first introduced a knowledge distillation technique to compress the structure of this model. To grade forest fire smoke, we used a 3-input/1-output fuzzy system to evaluate the severity level. We evaluated the proposed approach using a developed fire smoke dataset, which included five different scenes varying by the fire smoke level. The proposed method exhibited competitive performance compared to state-of-the-art methods.

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