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Fuel moisture sensitivity to temperature and precipitation: climate change implications

Author

Listed:
  • M. Flannigan
  • B. Wotton
  • G. Marshall
  • W. de Groot
  • J. Johnston
  • N. Jurko
  • A. Cantin

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to examine the sensitivity of fuel moisture to changes in temperature and precipitation and explore the implications under a future climate. We use the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System components to represent the moisture content of fine surface fuels (Fine Fuel Moisture Code, FFMC), upper forest floor (duff) layers (Duff Moisture Code, DMC) and deep organic soils (Drought Code, DC). We obtained weather data from 12 stations across Canada for the fire season during the 1971–2000 period and with these data we created a set of modified weather streams from the original data by varying the daily temperatures by 0 to +5 °C in increments of 1 °C and the daily precipitation from −40 to 40 % in increments of 10 %. The fuel moistures were calculated for all the temperature and precipitation combinations. When temperature increases we find that for every degree of warming, precipitation has to increase by more than 15 % for FFMC, about 10 % for DMC and about 5 % for DC to compensate for the drying caused by warmer temperatures. Also, we find in terms of the number of days equal to or above an FFMC of 91, a critical value for fire spread, that no increase in precipitation amount alone could compensate for a temperature increase of 1 °C. Results from three General Circulation Models (GCMs) and three emission scenarios suggest that this sensitivity to temperature increases will result in a future with drier fuels and a higher frequency of extreme fire weather days. Copyright The Author(s) 2016

Suggested Citation

  • M. Flannigan & B. Wotton & G. Marshall & W. de Groot & J. Johnston & N. Jurko & A. Cantin, 2016. "Fuel moisture sensitivity to temperature and precipitation: climate change implications," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 59-71, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:134:y:2016:i:1:p:59-71
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-015-1521-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Podur, Justin & Wotton, Michael, 2010. "Will climate change overwhelm fire management capacity?," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(9), pages 1301-1309.
    2. Xianli Wang & Dan Thompson & Ginny Marshall & Cordy Tymstra & Richard Carr & Mike Flannigan, 2015. "Increasing frequency of extreme fire weather in Canada with climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 130(4), pages 573-586, June.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Anuj Tiwari & Mohammad Shoab & Abhilasha Dixit, 2021. "GIS-based forest fire susceptibility modeling in Pauri Garhwal, India: a comparative assessment of frequency ratio, analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy modeling techniques," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 105(2), pages 1189-1230, January.
    4. Nobel, Anne & Lizin, Sebastien & Witters, Nele & Rineau, Francois & Malina, Robert, 2020. "The impact of wildfires on the recreational value of heathland: A discrete factor approach with adjustment for on-site sampling," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
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