Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Variability of Lightning Activity and Wildfires in Western Siberia during 2016–2021

Abstract

This research compares the spatial and temporal variability of lightning activity associated with wildfires in several natural geographical zones of Western Siberia from 2016–2021. The study was based on the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) and The Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) for the warm (April–October) season. It was revealed that areas of hotspots and lightning activity most often coincide in the southwestern part of the territory (near Khanty-Mansiysk and Tyumen), in the mountain regions (Kuznetsk Alatau, Altai), and in the northern part of Kazakhstan. Maximum values of lightning occur in July for the whole territory of Western Siberia, and maximum values of hotspots occur in April in the central and southern regions of Western Siberia. Despite the largest number of fires in the south of the territory, the probability of ignition from lightning over the whole warm season is higher in the northern parts of Western Siberia; it reaches up to 30%. Thus, the revealed lightning–fire association allows us to better understand this process in the region that will be useful in the prediction of the potential fire danger in different natural zones.

A Forest Fire Prediction Method for Lightning Stroke Based on Remote Sensing Data

“…If no candidate lightning stroke has a buffer radius of less than 1 km, the search expands incrementally (starting from less than 2 km) until reaching Smax (PerSMinT). The last method is based on the maximum spatiotemporal index "a" (MaxA) [31][32][33][34][35], which does not focus exclusively on the temporal window or buffer radius. Calculation details are as follows:…”

Lightning-Ignited Wildfires and Associated Meteorological Conditions in Western Siberia for 2016–2021

“…We searched for the most probable fire candidates to be ignited by lightning using an approach based on the formula proposed by [42]. For the first step, we calculated (as in [43]) a proximity index (A) between each observed lightning and the active fire: The choice of such a radius is based on the accuracy of the WWLLN data [20]. We searched for the most probable fire candidates to be ignited by lightning using an approach based on the formula proposed by [42].…”

“…We searched for the most probable fire candidates to be ignited by lightning using an approach based on the formula proposed by [42]. For the first step, we calculated (as in [43]) a proximity index (A) between each observed lightning and the active fire:…”

Editorial for the Special Issue “Advances in Atmospheric Electricity”

“…Lightning is the precursor of about 37% of wildfires in the Tomsk region. Kharyutkina et al [5] have found that the relationship between lightning and hotspots is positive, although the correlation coefficients are low. In addition, they reported that the fire activity caused by lightning in Western Siberia may vary from 5 to 43% during the warm seasons over the investigated period.…”

“…Lightning-ignited wildfires in the Tomsk region (Western Siberia) have been investigated by Kharyutkina et al [5] in the fifth paper of this Special Issue. They have provided an analysis of the space-time variability of lightning and wildfires in Western Siberia between 2016 and 2021 by searching for lightning candidates of detected fires.…”