Abstract

The study presented focuses on quantification of the variability in fuel consumption for the purpose of estimating carbon emissions during biomass burning. Landsat multi-spectral images are used to determine how much of the landscape is affected by fires of low, moderate, or severe consumption level within 13 forested ecoregions. Field-based measurements of fuel consumption are used to associate the remote sensing-based map of consumption level to the amount of fuel consumed (kg/m2). Fuel consumption in forested ecoregions of western and northern North America where forest fires are prevalent is the region of interest. Because data available for the boreal and temperate study regions are not the same, different approaches are used in Alaska, Canada, and the western lower-48 study regions. Preliminary results of mapping fuel consumption in Alaska shows a small percentage of the land burns in severe fires, but since this represents a substantial amount of the total carbon emissions, increases in severe fire will result in more extreme emissions events. Results of a model-based assessment of consumption in western lower-48 forested regions provides a quantitative review of the impact of fire on carbon emissions not previously available. Analysis of data provided by the Canadian Forest Service shows high levels of variability in fuel consumption in boreal North America and an uncertainty not yet quantified related to burning of boreal peatlands.

Technical Objectives

For this NASA-funded research project, biomass consumption levels in forested regions of northern and western North America are being measured and modeled with a goal of learning how variable consumption can be within a given ecoregion. The result will be a more complete view of the amount of biomass consumed during burning so that estimates of carbon emissions can be better quantified.

Technical Approach

Fuel consumption for 13 Ecoregions of North America is the focus.The different Ecoregions are shown in the map to the left. We use measured or modeled fuel consumption estimates, in kg-m^-2, combined with the spatial distribution of fire severity, which provides a measure of the amount of landscape burned at various fuel consumption levels. Due to differing types of data available for the three geopolitical regions, three different approaches are used for Alaska, Canada, and the Lower-48.

Educational Component

The intention of the education portion of the NASA-NIP grant project is to employ interns to work on the project itself, and to help promote and grow a summer internship program. The project employed three interns during its first year, two of which worked nearly full-time on the project while one contributed only a small amount of her time to the NASA-NIP project. Three interns worked on the project during its second year, and four have been involved during its third year.

The summer internship program is a program within the Institute to encourage young scientists and engineers in learning about real-world research. Through the program, MTRI recruits and hires interns for a 3 to 4-month period in the summer to work full time with a sponsor. Under the NASA-NIP grant, internship requirements and procedures will be reviewed in detail in the next year to enhance and formalize this program for future participants.

Project Goal

The study will provide:

• information on the range of biomass consumption levels for the regions studied

which will be:

• available for carbon emissions models for an accurate accounting of the levels and range of variability in fire emissions for North America.

Right: Distribution of total annual carbon emissions predictions from initial uncertainty model for fire in Alaska {Figure 2a in French et al. (2004)}. The goal of this study is to help refine our understanding of the uncertainty to improve modeled predictions.