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Spatio-temporal trends in fire weather in the French Alps

Spatio-temporal trends in fire weather in the French Alps

Authors :
Sylvain Dupire
Sylvain Bigot
Thomas Curt
Ecosystèmes montagnards (UR EMGR)
Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)
Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])
Ecosystèmes méditerranéens et risques (UR EMAX)
Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE)
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])
Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Laboratoire d'étude des transferts en hydrologie et environnement (LTHE)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG)
Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019])
Source :
Science of the Total Environment, Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier, 2017, 595, pp.801-817. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.027⟩, Science of The Total Environment, Science of the Total Environment, 2017, 595, pp.801-817. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.027⟩
Publication Year :
2017
Publisher :
HAL CCSD, 2017.

Abstract

[Departement_IRSTEA]Territoires [TR1_IRSTEA]SEDYVIN; International audience; The Alpine area is particularly sensitive to climatic and environmental changes that might impact socio-ecosystems and modify the regime of natural hazards. Among them, wildfire is of major importance as it threatens both ecosystems and human lives and infrastructures. Wildfires result from complex interactions between available vegetation fuels, climate and weather, and humans who decide of the land use and are the main source of fire ignitions. The changes in fire weather during the past decades are rather unknown in the French Alps especially due to their complex topography. Moreover, local institutions and managers wonder if the ongoing climate changes might increase fire risk and affect the environmental quality and the different ecosystem services provided by the mountain forests. In this context, we used the national forest fires database together with daily meteorological observations from 1959 to 2015 to investigate the changes in wildfire danger in the French Alps. We analysed the spatial and temporal variations in terms of intensity, frequency, seasonality and window of opportunity of two fire weather indices: the fine fuel moisture code (FFMC) and the fire weather index (FWI) that measure the daily water content of vegetation and the potential intensity of fires, respectively. Our results showed a major contrast between Southern Alps with a high fire weather danger on average and a significant increase in the past decades, and Northern Alps with low to moderate danger on average that increased only at low elevations. This study contributes to the understanding of the consequences of ongoings climate changes on wildfires in the French Alps. It produced high resolution results that account for the topographic and climatic variability of the area. Finally, the maps of the different fire weather components have practical implications for fire management and modelling and for preventing indirect effects of fires on ecosystems and human assets.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00489697 and 18791026
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Science of the Total Environment, Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier, 2017, 595, pp.801-817. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.027⟩, Science of The Total Environment, Science of the Total Environment, 2017, 595, pp.801-817. ⟨10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.027⟩
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....5a022153f9eccec29bae5d6f775a97a2
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.027⟩