Smith, Alistair: University of Idaho (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2011 - 2014
NRA: 2009 NASA: Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
In recent years, wildland fires have become more widespread with significant ecological, social, and economic impact. Fewer than 5% of all fires account for the majority of area burned and costs of suppression. We propose interdisciplinary research ''Quantifying the biogeoscientific and societal impacts of extreme wildland fires,'' from the regional to community scales in the US northern Rockies. Several challenges and uncertainties exist related to the magnitude, duration, and drivers of extreme wildland fire events, and their wider impacts (temporal trajectories and spatial characteristics) and feedbacks with biogeoscientific and societal processes.
- Challenge A: Defining Extreme Wildland Fire Events (RFP subelement 1)
- Challenge B: Evaluating the Characteristics and Trajectories of Extreme Wildland Fire Events in Changing Physical and Political Climates (RFP subelements 2 &3)
- Challenge C: Enabling Future Predictions, Mitigation, and Lessons Learning (RFP subelement 4)
Although these challenges are considerable, we propose a strategy that interconnects multiple disciplines to answer these research needs in three nested phases:
1. We first need to define 'extreme' in a cross-disciplinary manner for wildland fire events in the US northern Rockies. We will describe extreme wildland fire events using a panel of experts on social impacts of fire, as well satellite data such as MODIS and Landsat across a series of social and biophysical gradients. This will narrow our focus to fire events specifically relevant to this RFP and will result in a list of key social and biophysical characteristics of extreme fires for Phase 2.
2. From all extreme wildland fire events occurring in the past 100 years, we will select a stratified random sample of approximately 20-30 for in-depth biophysical analysis, with 7-10 recent fires, 7-10 fires from 1980, and 7-10 fires from 1950. By coupling satellite data with historical fire atlas data, we will generate a 'Fire Recovery Chronosequence', which will be validated with field data. For the recent fires, we will draw a random sample of households from nearby communities for a quantitative assessment of the economic, social, and individual impacts of the fire. Six of the other communities will be selected for in-depth social science assessments of the trajectory of social change following the fire, using key informant interviews.
3. Finally, we will evaluate the feedbacks and efficacy of past decisions in response to extreme wildland fire events. Within the case study communities, key informant interviews will be conducted to assess past community fire mitigation efforts and their effects, as well as the perceived effects of local, regional, and national policies. Following the interviews, workshops will be held with community leaders, stakeholders, and interested citizens to share findings from the chronosequence research and to discuss its implications for forests or shrublands near the communities.
We anticipate that the knowledge gained from this project will be of interest to the NASA's Earth Science Applied Science Program, because the research should enable increased use of satellite observations for ecosystem monitoring and disaster management by land managers.
2013 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)
- Quantifying the characteristics and investigating the biogeoscientific and societal impacts of extreme wildland fires in the United States northern Rockies region: Group project highlights from IDS-NNX11AO24G
-- (Alistair Matthew Stuart Smith, Karen Owens Lannom, Troy Hall, Beth Newingham, Morgan Penelope, Travis Paveglio, Chad Kooistra)
[abstract]
[poster]
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
