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Spatio-temporal characterization of landscape fire in relation to anthropogenic activity and climatic variability over the Western Himalaya, India

Spatio-temporal characterization of landscape fire in relation to anthropogenic activity and climatic variability over the Western Himalaya, India
Spatio-temporal characterization of landscape fire in relation to anthropogenic activity and climatic variability over the Western Himalaya, India

The frequent occurrence of a forest fire can be detrimental to the functioning of ecologically fragile regions such as the Western Himalaya. This study assesses the spatio-temporal variability and trends of fire occurrence in forests, shrubland, and grassland in relation to anthropogenic activities and climate oscillations over Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh; the most fire-affected states in the Western Himalaya. The Pre-monsoon (March to June) temporal distribution of fire occurrence is bimodal with the first and second fire peaks occurring in the last week of April and late May/early June, respectively. The length of fire season was found to have reduced by ~ 10 days in 2010s compared to 2000s with the increasing burned area concentration over a shorter period (~110 days). The Mann-Kendall Tau (τ) and Sen’s-slope suggested an increasing trend (τ = 0.3, Sen’s slope = 46.78 km 2 year −1, p = 0.02) of burn area over Uttarakhand where most fire activity occurs. The Getis-Ords (Gi*) statistic was derived by using Fire Radiative Power (FRP) data to infer the spatial distribution of hot and cold clusters which were found to be greatest (Gi* = 1–10) in evergreen needleleaf forest which also accounted for a marginally higher mean per-pixel FRP than other land cover types. Analyses of the role of climatic variables on fire activity revealed moderate positive and negative correspondence between the burned area and average maximum-temperature (R = 0.57, p = 0.01) and total precipitation (R =–0.53, p = 0.02), respectively. Assessment of the variation of fire activity with global climatic oscillation indices found the Niño-3.4 index to have the strongest, albeit modest, relationship (R = 0.51) with burned area anomalies. This study highlights the increase in fire intensity in the fragile forests of the Western Himalayan region and the requirement for further research into the role of climate and anthropogenic activities on fire occurrence in order to best preserve regional biodiversity and develop an effective forest management strategy.

Fire radiative power, burned area, global climatic Oscillations, regional climate, western Himalaya
1548-1603
281-299
Bar, Somnath
9a818d88-927e-4bb4-91f6-dc5fe9159826
Parida, Bikash
527beb85-5dd9-4f1e-999f-e9c6fcd81778
Roberts, Gareth
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Pandey1, Arvind
05171265-7076-49b6-a7e7-b9c9996e6e1f
Acharya, Prasenjit
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Dash, Jadunandan
51468afb-3d56-4d3a-aace-736b63e9fac8
Bar, Somnath
9a818d88-927e-4bb4-91f6-dc5fe9159826
Parida, Bikash
527beb85-5dd9-4f1e-999f-e9c6fcd81778
Roberts, Gareth
fa1fc728-44bf-4dc2-8a66-166034093ef2
Pandey1, Arvind
05171265-7076-49b6-a7e7-b9c9996e6e1f
Acharya, Prasenjit
10112fa6-2292-4673-ad17-2888d5e76893
Dash, Jadunandan
51468afb-3d56-4d3a-aace-736b63e9fac8

Bar, Somnath, Parida, Bikash, Roberts, Gareth, Pandey1, Arvind, Acharya, Prasenjit and Dash, Jadunandan (2021) Spatio-temporal characterization of landscape fire in relation to anthropogenic activity and climatic variability over the Western Himalaya, India. GIScience & Remote Sensing, 58 (2), 281-299. (doi:10.1080/15481603.2021.1879495).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The frequent occurrence of a forest fire can be detrimental to the functioning of ecologically fragile regions such as the Western Himalaya. This study assesses the spatio-temporal variability and trends of fire occurrence in forests, shrubland, and grassland in relation to anthropogenic activities and climate oscillations over Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh; the most fire-affected states in the Western Himalaya. The Pre-monsoon (March to June) temporal distribution of fire occurrence is bimodal with the first and second fire peaks occurring in the last week of April and late May/early June, respectively. The length of fire season was found to have reduced by ~ 10 days in 2010s compared to 2000s with the increasing burned area concentration over a shorter period (~110 days). The Mann-Kendall Tau (τ) and Sen’s-slope suggested an increasing trend (τ = 0.3, Sen’s slope = 46.78 km 2 year −1, p = 0.02) of burn area over Uttarakhand where most fire activity occurs. The Getis-Ords (Gi*) statistic was derived by using Fire Radiative Power (FRP) data to infer the spatial distribution of hot and cold clusters which were found to be greatest (Gi* = 1–10) in evergreen needleleaf forest which also accounted for a marginally higher mean per-pixel FRP than other land cover types. Analyses of the role of climatic variables on fire activity revealed moderate positive and negative correspondence between the burned area and average maximum-temperature (R = 0.57, p = 0.01) and total precipitation (R =–0.53, p = 0.02), respectively. Assessment of the variation of fire activity with global climatic oscillation indices found the Niño-3.4 index to have the strongest, albeit modest, relationship (R = 0.51) with burned area anomalies. This study highlights the increase in fire intensity in the fragile forests of the Western Himalayan region and the requirement for further research into the role of climate and anthropogenic activities on fire occurrence in order to best preserve regional biodiversity and develop an effective forest management strategy.

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TGRS-2020-0318_R2_JD - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 14 January 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 7 February 2021
Published date: 17 February 2021
Keywords: Fire radiative power, burned area, global climatic Oscillations, regional climate, western Himalaya

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 447572
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/447572
ISSN: 1548-1603
PURE UUID: cf0085b4-f405-4352-9e34-620eb711838d
ORCID for Gareth Roberts: ORCID iD orcid.org/0009-0007-3431-041X
ORCID for Jadunandan Dash: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5444-2109

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 16 Mar 2021 17:34
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 04:01

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Contributors

Author: Somnath Bar
Author: Bikash Parida
Author: Gareth Roberts ORCID iD
Author: Arvind Pandey1
Author: Prasenjit Acharya
Author: Jadunandan Dash ORCID iD

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