Abstract
Background: Recent widely reported large tundra fires in western Greenland have focused attention on the fire regime in a region that is currently underrepresented in global fire research.
Aims: We present an analysis of fire incidence from 1995 to 2020.
Methods: A combination of satellite remote sensing and a review of reports in the online version of the national newspaper, Sermitsiaq.AG were used to identify wildfires.
Key results: Our analysis did not detect fires from 1995-2007. From 2008, 21 separate fire events were identified in selected study areas covering ~47% of ice-free western Greenland. All but four of the 21 fires ignited in July or August during periods of warm and dry weather.
Conclusions: We find no evidence of fires in our study areas until 2008, after which fires occur in most years.
Implications: Projected warming and reduced summer precipitation in this region in upcoming decades suggest the landscape will become increasingly prone to tundra fires.
Aims: We present an analysis of fire incidence from 1995 to 2020.
Methods: A combination of satellite remote sensing and a review of reports in the online version of the national newspaper, Sermitsiaq.AG were used to identify wildfires.
Key results: Our analysis did not detect fires from 1995-2007. From 2008, 21 separate fire events were identified in selected study areas covering ~47% of ice-free western Greenland. All but four of the 21 fires ignited in July or August during periods of warm and dry weather.
Conclusions: We find no evidence of fires in our study areas until 2008, after which fires occur in most years.
Implications: Projected warming and reduced summer precipitation in this region in upcoming decades suggest the landscape will become increasingly prone to tundra fires.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1033-1042 |
| Journal | International Journal of Wildland Fire |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| Early online date | 11 Oct 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2022 |
Keywords
- wildfire
- tundra
- remote sensing
- Arctic
- western Greenland