Satellite analysis of the role of wildfires in land-use/land-cover and surface-albedo changes and carbon emissions in Africa

Luke T. Ellison, NASA GSFC / SSAI, luke.ellison@nasa.gov (Presenter)
Charles M. Ichoku, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, charles.ichoku@nasa.gov
Charles Kironji Gatebe, Universities Space Research Association (USRA), charles.k.gatebe@nasa.gov
Poudyal Rajesh, NASA GSFC / SSAI, rajesh.poudyal@nasa.gov

Africa contributes an estimated 50% of the global carbon emissions from biomass burning annually, with the fire seasons of the regions north and south of the Equator corresponding to their respective dry (winter) seasons. This extensive biomass-burning phenomenon contributes to environmental change, whose effects on the regional climate variability can be significant, with far-reaching implications for societal adaptation. Satellite fire detections in the Northern Sub-Saharan African (NSSA) region are distributed among savannas (~40%), woody savannas (~36%), natural vegetation mosaics (~12%), croplands (~4%), evergreen broadleaf forests (~3%), grasslands (~2.5%), and other vegetation types (~1.5%). Fire activity in the NSSA region results in a net decrease in surface albedo, with an 80% recovery rate to its pre-fire value within 2 years and 99% recovery within 7 years. Analysis of change in vegetation indices shows a net greening of the Sahel belt, particularly the part dominated by grasslands, where biomass burning is quite limited. Starting in the 2006–2007 burning season through the end of the analyzed data in 2011, peak burning activity showed a net decrease of 0.2–12.2%/yr in different parts of NSSA, especially in the savanna regions. The intensive burning of savanna has resulted in its substitution by croplands in some areas and grasslands in others. Carbon emissions from African fires are estimated from the FEER v1.0 global biomass burning emissions inventory (http://feer.gsfc.nasa.gov/) to be 0.73 Pg/yr and 1.1 Pg/yr in northern and southern hemispheric Africa, respectively, although these values are associated with large uncertainties, which advancement in satellite fire remote-sensing systems can help to improve.

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Theme 2: Landscapes to coasts: understanding Earth system connections   (Mon 1:30 PM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Related Activity: Related Activity or Previously Funded CC&E Activity not listed ...details

Poster Location ID: 79