Satellite microwave measurements complementary to fire weather improve the assessment of fires among different biomes in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Microwaves have the advantage of penetrating vegetation and exhibit sensitivity to properties such as vegetation water content (VWC); yet, their potential utility in the fire domain is infrequently investigated. This study elucidates the different impacts of the microwave VWC index EDVI on fire radiative energy (FRE) across various biome types and the significant predictive power for high-severity fires (defined based on FRE) in mainland Southeast Asia. While EDVI exhibits lower predictive power for high severe fires compared to the commonly used fire weather indices (e.g., FWI), an enhancement is observed when these predictors are used in combination. Either by employing EDVI or fire weather indices, the predictability of fires is found to be highest over forests and lowest over croplands. Factors such as increasing human influence and fuel limitation in croplands are likely reducing the roles of VWC and weather on fires, contributing to the lower prediction skill of EDVI and fire weather. These results indicate the usefulness of microwave VWC index in fire studies. Although fire weather presents more considerable impacts on fires, the microwave VWC index seem to still provide some complementary information in fire danger assessment.

Keywords: Fire prediction; Fire weather; Microwave remote sensing; Vegetation water content (VWC).