Meteorological drivers of extreme fire behaviour during the Waroona bushfire, Western Australia, January 2016

Peace, Mika; McCaw, Lachlan; Santos, Bradley; Kepert, Jeffrey D.; Burrows, Neil; Fawcett, Robert

doi:10.22499/3.6702.002

Cited by 15 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The fire history of the upper catchment is reasonably well known (Peace et al 2017). Remnant forest areas have not been subject to fire for several decades, with fuel age dating back to the last time broad-scale aerial fuel reduction burning was undertaken in the late 1980s and early 1990s.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of post-wildfire erosion risk and effects on water quality in south-western Australia

Blake

Nyman

Nice

et al. 2020

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Investigations of wildfire impact on water resources have escalated globally over the last decade owing to an awareness of climate-related vulnerabilities. Within Australia, research into post-wildfire erosion has focused on water supply catchments in the south-eastern region. Here, we examine post-wildfire erosion risk and its potential for water quality impacts in a catchment in south-western Australia. The catchment of the Harvey River, which drains from forested escarpments onto an agricultural coastal plain and into valuable coastal wetlands, was burnt by wildfire in 2016. The aims of this study were to determine erosion risk across contrasting landforms and variable fire severity, using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), and to determine whether post-fire water quality impacts could be detected at permanent river monitoring stations located on the coastal plain. RUSLE outputs showed erosion hot-spots at intersections of steep terrain and high fire severity and that these areas were confined to forested headwaters and coastal dunes. Monthly water quality data showed conspicuous seasonal patterns, but that sampling frequency was temporally too coarse to pick up predicted event-related effects, particularly given that the pre-existing monitoring sites were distal to the predicted zone of contamination.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of post-wildfire erosion risk and effects on water quality in south-western Australia

Blake

Nyman

Nice

et al. 2020

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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“…The burn containment line is indicated in pink in the bottom panel. The Waroona fire panels are adapted with permission from Peace et al (), and the Apsey West panels are modified from McCarthy et al ().…”

Section: Observational Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Fromm et al () and McRae et al () both examine the Canberra (Australia) conflagration and pyroCb of 2003, which inferred a pyrogenic tornado, though the lack of Doppler data prohibited the identification of vortices, limiting the analyses of storm evolution. Peace et al () analyzed the growth and structural aspects of two pyrocumulonimbus events during the Waroona bushfire (Western Australia). Analysis of the evolution with radar included initiation along a sea‐breeze boundary, surface and elevated core formation, downdraft core formation, and vertically aligned vortex imbedded within a pyroCb as shown in Figure .…”

Section: Observational Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfire and Weather Radar: A Review

et al. 2019

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Research in the pursuit of better understanding of fire behavior and fire‐atmosphere interaction has frequently encountered a dearth of observational data, especially from events that cause most impact. Here we show that meteorological radar has been demonstrated as an effective tool for profiling the microphysics, thermodynamics, and fire behavior feedback of wildfire plumes, including for cases with deep and moist convection occurring in the fire plume. A synthesis of knowledge on the use of radar for the analysis of wildfire is presented, and the new term pyrometeor is introduced to describe the range of scatterers observed by radar, the reflectivity signature of which is determined by interacting processes of wildfire behavior and atmospheric convection. The reflectivity theories of pyrometeors are compared, and it is shown that there are gaps in knowledge on the size distributions of pyrometeors as well as the complex dielectrics. Observational case studies are compared across plume microphysics, plume thermodynamics and deep pyroconvection, and operational usage of radar to monitor wildfire. The dominant hypothesis of reflectivity is scattering from ash particles, though theories for scattering such as from larger debris exist, although evidence is limited for any hypothesis. Vortices have also been identified using Doppler velocity radar data, but there is limited understanding of their cause and influence on fire‐atmosphere interactions. Recommendations are provided for methods and data sets to advance the application of radar for observing and understanding wildfires, including for plume microphysics and atmosphere‐fire interactions.

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“…For example, on the high ends of those scales, low humidity and lack of rain for several months can desiccate dead fuel, leading to more large fires and greater area burned [55]. On the low ends of those scales, outflow from a pyrocumulonimbus generated by a fire can, in turn, modify that same fire's immediate environment [56,57]. To be most effective, modeling systems for simulating wildfires and the smoke they generate (see Section 8) must account for these interactions [58][59][60].…”

Section: Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Meteorological Applications Benefiting from an Improved Understanding of Atmospheric Exchange Processes over Mountains

et al. 2018

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This paper reviews the benefits of a better understanding of atmospheric exchange processes over mountains. These processes affect weather and climate variables that are important in meteorological applications related to many scientific disciplines and sectors of the economy. We focus this review on examples of meteorological applications in hydrology, ecology, agriculture, urban planning, wind energy, transportation, air pollution, and climate change. These examples demonstrate the benefits of a more accurate knowledge of atmospheric exchange processes over mountains, including a better understanding of snow redistribution, microclimate, land-cover change, frost hazards, urban ventilation, wind gusts, road temperatures, air pollution, and the impacts of climate change. The examples show that continued research on atmospheric exchange processes over mountains is warranted, and that a recognition of the potential benefits can inspire new research directions. An awareness of the links between basic research topics and applications is important to the success and impact of new efforts that aim at better understanding atmospheric exchange processes over mountains. To maximize the benefits of future research for meteorological applications, coordinated international efforts involving scientists studying atmospheric exchange processes, as well as scientists and stakeholders representing many other scientific disciplines and economic sectors are required.

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Meteorological drivers of extreme fire behaviour during the Waroona bushfire, Western Australia, January 2016

Cited by 15 publications

References 4 publications

Assessment of post-wildfire erosion risk and effects on water quality in south-western Australia

Assessment of post-wildfire erosion risk and effects on water quality in south-western Australia

Wildfire and Weather Radar: A Review

Meteorological Applications Benefiting from an Improved Understanding of Atmospheric Exchange Processes over Mountains

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