Wildfires in Russia in 2000–2008: estimates of burnt areas using the satellite MODIS MCD45 data

Abstract

Fire activity in Russia in 2000–2008 was analysed on the basis of the newest satellite MODIS MCD45 Burned Area data. The estimated annual burned areas exhibited strong variability in magnitude, geographical location and affected vegetation, varying in total from 5.4 Mha in 2000 to 33.0 Mha in 2008. The total area burned in 2000–2008 in forests and woodlands (the areas with percent tree canopy cover >40%) was 43.4 Mha, of which about 90% was burned in the eastern Siberia and the Far East, and 53% was burned during the large fire years 2003 and 2008. The forest burned areas were mainly localized within 50–55°N, approximately along the southern edge of the area of boreal forests. The reliability of the resultant estimates was tested by comparison with the known early published results. Some applications of the results in problems of atmospheric composition and air quality are also discussed.

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges helpful discussions with K.B. Moiseenko and A.V. Eliseev from the Russian Institute of the Atmospheric Physics. The author thanks A. Stohl, S. Eckhardt and D. Hirdman from the Norwegian Institute for Air Research for the idea of the study and fruitful technical consultations. The study was partially financed by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project number 10–05–00214–a).