Drought-induced wildfires have increased in frequency and extent over the tropics. Yet, the long-term (greater than 10 years) responses of Amazonian lowland forests to fire disturbance are poorly known. To understand post-fire forest biomass dynamics, and to assess the time required for fire-affected forests to recover to pre-disturbance levels, we combined 16 single with 182 multiple forest census into a unique large-scale and long-term dataset across the Brazilian Amazonia. We quantified biomass, mortality and wood productivity of burned plots along a chronosequence of up to 31 years post-fire and compared to surrounding unburned plots measured simultaneously. Stem mortality and growth were assessed among functional groups. At the plot level, we found that fire-affected forests have biomass levels 24.8 ± 6.9% below the biomass value of unburned control plots after 31 years. This lower biomass state results from the elevated levels of biomass loss through mortality, which is not sufficiently compensated for by wood productivity (incremental growth + recruitment). At the stem level, we found major changes in mortality and growth rates up to 11 years post-fire. The post-fire stem mortality rates exceeded unburned control plots by 680% (i.e. greater than 40 cm diameter at breast height (DBH); 5–8 years since last fire) and 315% (i.e. greater than 0.7 g cm −3 wood density; 0.75–4 years since last fire). Our findings indicate that wildfires in humid tropical forests can significantly reduce forest biomass for decades by enhancing mortality rates of all trees, including large and high wood density trees, which store the largest amount of biomass in old-growth forests. This assessment of stem dynamics, therefore, demonstrates that wildfires slow down or stall the post-fire recovery of Amazonian forests. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on the terrestrial tropical carbon cycle: patterns, mechanisms and implications’.

Wildfires in humid tropical forests have become more common in recent years, increasing the rates of tree mortality in forests that have not co-evolved with fire. Estimating carbon emissions from these wildfires is complex. Current approaches rely on estimates of committed emissions based on static emission factors through time and space, yet these emissions cannot be assigned to specific years, and thus are not comparable with other temporally-explicit emission sources. Moreover, committed emissions are gross estimates, whereas the long-term consequences of wildfires require an understanding of net emissions that accounts for post-fire uptake of CO2. Here, using a 30 year wildfire chronosequence from across the Brazilian Amazon, we calculate net CO2 emissions from Amazon wildfires by developing statistical models comparing post-fire changes in stem mortality, necromass decomposition and vegetation growth with unburned forest plots sampled at the same time. Over the 30 yr time period, gross emissions from combustion during the fire and subsequent tree mortality and decomposition were equivalent to 126.1 Mg CO2 ha−1 of which 73% (92.4 Mg CO2 ha−1) resulted from mortality and decomposition. These emissions were only partially offset by forest growth, with an estimated CO2 uptake of 45.0 Mg ha−1over the same time period. Our analysis allowed us to assign emissions and growth across years, revealing that net annual emissions peak 4 yr after forest fires. At present, Brazil’s National Determined Contribution (NDC) for emissions fails to consider forest fires as a significant source, even though these are likely to make a substantial and long-term impact on the net carbon balance of Amazonia. Considering long-term post-fire necromass decomposition and vegetation regrowth is crucial for improving global carbon budget estimates and national greenhouse gases (GHG) inventories for tropical forest countries.

Recent research into radio propagation and large-scale channel modeling shows that frequencies can be used above 6 GHz for the new generation of mobile communications (5G). This paper provides a detailed account of measurement campaigns that use directional horn antennas in co-polarization (V-V and H-H) and cross-polarization (V-H) in line-of-sight (LOS) and obstructed-line-of-sight situations between the transmitter and receptor; they were carried out in a corridor and computer laboratory located at the Federal University of Para (UFPA). The measurement data were used to adjust path loss prediction models of radio propagation, through the minimum mean square error (MMSE) method, for indoor environments in the frequencies of 8-11 GHz. The parameters for the models that were determined are as follows: path loss exponent, polarization exponent (co-and cross-polarization), effects of shadowing and path loss exponent for wall losses. Standard deviation and standard deviation point by point are included as statistical metrics. The approximations with regard to the large-scale path loss models for frequencies of 8-11 GHz show a convergence with the measured data, owing to the method employed for the optimization of the MMSE to determine the parameters of the model.

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The feasible choice of a propagation model for a given wireless system depends on environment type among other factors. Thus, it is a crucial decision on radio network planning. This current proposal is a new methodology applied for LTE systems that includes: to find optimal parameters of a propagation model that minimizes Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and maximizes Grey Relation Grade and Mean Absolute Percentage Error, (GRG-MAPE) in a city-forest environment through the use of metaheuristic optimization such as Cuckoo Search (CS). The results, quantitatively analyzed by RMSE and GRG-MAPE, show a better accuracy of optimized model in comparison with the original version and even with Stanford University Interim (SUI) model.