Assessing the Wildfire Activity in the Protected Areas of the Amazon Basin, General Assembly EGU 2021

Despite growing concerns regarding the Amazonian wildfires, the magnitude of the problem is poorly understood. In this study, we assessed the wildfire activity in the protected natural sites (n= 428) of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, encompassing an area of 1.4 million km2 of the Amazon basin. A 250 m resolution spectroradiometer sensor imaging (MODIS) was used to obtain land-use/land-cover (MODIS land use land cover product) changes and derive the wildfire activity data (ignition locations and burned areas (MODIS active fire products)) from 2001 to 2018. First, we characterized the mean fire return interval, wildfire occurrence, and empiric burn probability. Then, we implemented a transmission analysis to assess the burned area from incoming fires. We used transmission analysis to characterize the land use and anthropic activities associated to fire ignition locations across the different countries. On average, 867 km 2 of natural forests were burned in protected natural sites annually, and about 85 incoming fires per year from neighboring areas accounted for 10.5% (9,128 ha) of the burned area. The most affected countries were Brazil (53%), Bolivia (24%), and Venezuela (16%).Considerable amount of fire ignition points were detected in open savannas (29%) and grasslands (41%) , where the fire is periodically used to clear extensive grazing properties. The incoming fires from savannas were responsible for burning the largest forest areas within protected sites, affecting as much as 9,800 ha in a single fire event. In conclusion, we discuss the potential implications of the main socioeconomic factors and environmental policies that could explain increasing trends of burned areas. Wildfire risk mitigation strategies include the fire ignition prevention in developed areas, fire use regulation in rural communities, increased fuels management efforts in the buffer areas surrounding natural sites, and the early detection system that may facilitate a rapid and effective fire control response. Our analysis and quantitative outcomes describing the fire activity represent a sound science-based approach for an well defined wildfire management within the protected areas of the Amazonian basin

A novel, post‐Soviet fire disturbance regime drives bird diversity and abundance on the Eurasian steppe

Many grassland ecosystems and their associated biodiversity depend on the interactions between fire and land-use, both of which are shaped by socioeconomic conditions. The Eurasian steppe biome, much of it situated in Kazakhstan, contains 10% of the world's remaining grasslands. The break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, widespread land abandonment and massive declines in wild and domestic ungulates led to biomass accumulation over millions of hectares. This rapid fuel increase made the steppes a global fire hotspot, with major changes in vegetation structure. Yet, the response of steppe biodiversity to these changes remains unexplored. We utilized a unique bird abundance dataset covering the entire Kazakh steppe and semi-desert regions together with the MODIS burned area product. We modeled the response of bird species richness and abundance as a function of fire disturbance variables—fire extent, cumulative burned area, fire frequency—at varying grazing intensity. Bird species richness was impacted negatively by large fire extent, cumulative burned area, and high fire frequency in moderately grazed and ungrazed steppe. Similarly, overall bird abundance was impacted negatively by large fire extent, cumulative burned area and higher fire frequency in the moderately grazed steppe, ungrazed steppe, and ungrazed semi-deserts. At the species level, the effect of high fire disturbance was negative for more species than positive. There were considerable fire legacy effects, detectable for at least 8 years. We conclude that the increase in fire disturbance across the post-Soviet Eurasian steppe has led to strong declines in bird abundance and pronounced changes in community assembly. To gain back control over wildfires and prevent further biodiversity loss, restoration of wild herbivore populations and traditional domestic ungulate grazing systems seems much needed.UK Government’s Darwin InitiativeVolkswagen Foundation http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001663University of Göttingen http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003385Peer Reviewe

Solar thermal generation of electrical power on California freeway's shoulders and median

Project (M.S., Electrical and Electronic Engineering) -- California State University, Sacramento, 2009.The major concern of the world at this time is the growing rate of energy consumption and the resulting act of increasing pollution. We are living in an era where it is not possible to stop the growth or decrease the use of energy, whether it relates to personal or commercial use. So the more energy we generate using fossil fuels, the more pollution crisis occurs. So the only way left to deal with this situation is to generate electricity with sources of renewable energy such as solar, wind and tidal waves. \ud \ud \ud This project involves the use of the solar energy to generate electricity on the freeway???s shoulders and median. We are using Solar Thermal panel units manufactured by a company called Sopogy. The Sopogy uses MicroCSP technology to transfer solar energy into thermal energy. A steam turbine converts the thermal energy into electrical energy. The solar thermal power plant has some limitations along with benefits. Due to the low efficiency and inconsistency of solar power plants, they cannot replace a power plant that uses non-renewable energy sources. However, solar power plants generate sufficient amounts of electricity to help local utility companies maintain power at peak times and sustain balance in a demand curve. \ud \ud Furthermore, this project aims to find the most economical region in California to build this power plant and estimate total revenue generation per year. As a part of our research, we have collected electrical and civil engineering parameters for the installation of the power plant. Included here, we have illustrated a structural layout of solar panel units with adequate safety clearance to avoid any hazardous situation on freeways. In addition, we have analyzed the data and performed calculations to find total energy and revenue generation per year. By using our economical analysis, one can decide which freeway of California has the highest revenue generation and the lowest revenue payback period. Therefore, we believe that the contents and results of this project will help anyone to build a real solar thermal power plant on a freeway.Electrical and Electronic Engineerin

Volumetric Analysis of Reservoirs in Drought-Prone Areas Using Remote Sensing Products

Globally, the number of dams increased dramatically during the 20th century. As a result, monitoring water levels and storage volume of dam-reservoirs has become essential in order to understand water resource availability amid changing climate and drought patterns. Recent advancements in remote sensing data show great potential for studies pertaining to long-term monitoring of reservoir water volume variations. In this study, we used freely available remote sensing products to assess volume variations for Lake Mead, Lake Powell and reservoirs in California between 1984 and 2015. Additionally, we provided insights on reservoir water volume fluctuations and hydrological drought patterns in the region. We based our volumetric estimations on the area–elevation hypsometry relationship, by combining water areas from the Global Surface Water (GSW) monthly water history (MWH) product with corresponding water surface median elevation values from three different digital elevation models (DEM) into a regression analysis. Using Lake Mead and Lake Powell as our validation reservoirs, we calculated a volumetric time series for the GSWMWH–DEMmedian elevation combinations that showed a strong linear ‘area (WA) – elevation (WH)’ (R2 > 0.75) hypsometry. Based on ‘WA-WH’ linearity and correlation analysis between the estimated and in situ volumetric time series, the methodology was expanded to reservoirs in California. Our volumetric results detected four distinct periods of water volume declines: 1987–1992, 2000–2004, 2007–2009 and 2012–2015 for Lake Mead, Lake Powell and in 40 reservoirs in California. We also used multiscalar Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) for San Joaquin drainage in California to assess regional links between the drought indicators and reservoir volume fluctuations. We found highest correlations between reservoir volume variations and the SPEI at medium time scales (12–18–24–36 months). Our work demonstrates the potential of processed, open source remote sensing products for reservoir water volume variations and provides insights on usability of these variations in hydrological drought monitoring. Furthermore, the spatial coverage and long-term temporal availability of our data presents an opportunity to transfer these methods for volumetric analyses on a global scale