Global distribution of agricultural fires in croplands from 3 years of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data

Abstract

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor offers an improved combination of spectral, temporal, and spatial resolution for global fire detection compared to previous sensors. The MODIS Terra active fire product was analyzed to investigate the spatial and temporal occurrence of fires in croplands from 2001 to 2003. Monthly fire counts were analyzed globally, within several regions and for important crop‐producing countries. The annual global total number of fire counts ranged from 1,472,367 to 1,577,952 during the 3 years. Agricultural fires were found to account for 8–11% of the annual global fire activity during the 3 years, but the contribution of agricultural burning was significantly higher on a regional basis. The Russian Federation was the largest contributor to agricultural burning globally during the 3 years, producing 31–36% of all agricultural fires. The global spatial distribution of agricultural fires was fairly similar among the 3 years, but a notable interannual change was observed in the total number of global agricultural fire events. The majority of regions showed similar magnitude and seasonality in their year‐to‐year agricultural fire activity, but in some regions, significant differences were found. At the global scale, agricultural fire activity showed two peaks, the first occurring during April to May, and was associated primarily with burning in the croplands of Eastern Europe and European Russia, and the second in August from burning mainly in the croplands across central Asia and Asiatic Russia. This timing pattern was observed both in 2001 and 2002. The August 2003 fire peak was significantly affected by reduced agricultural fire activity in European Russia. The seasonal and interannual trends in agricultural fire activity are consistent with known national and regional agricultural practices and reported crop production estimates.

Fire frequency, fire seasonality and fire intensity within the Okavango region derived from MODIS fire products

“…It is remarkable that fires do not occur in areas that are densely populated which might result from the agricultural system where fields are almost bare during the dry season. Agricultural fires might be too small to be detected by MODIS, though AF is generally able to detect small-scale agricultural fires (Roy et al 2008, Korontzi et al 2006. Contrary, short duration burns on agricultural fields that are immediately ploughed, may not be detected (Roy et al 2008).…”

Arctic smoke – record high air pollution levels in the European Arctic due to agricultural fires in Eastern Europe in spring 2006

“…3), after all the snow had disappeared. Korontzi et al (2006) (Niemi et al, 2004). In 2006, in contrast, farmers were forced to wait with the burning for the unusually late snow melt, causing a strong emission pulse at the end of April/beginning of May (see Fig.…”

A data-driven approach to identify controls on global fire activity from satellite and climate observations (SOFIA V1)

“…Certainly, our results do not imply that croplands are unimportant for the global variability of burned area. Agricultural fires account for around 10 % of all global fires (Korontzi et al, 2006) and for around 5 % of global burned area (Giglio et al, 2013) and are used to remove harvest residues or to fertilize soils. However, croplands show more small fires than large fires (Hantson et al, 2015b).…”