Wild guess

Sub: Env

Sec: Ecosystem

Wildfires as Major CO2 Emitters:

If wildfire-affected areas were a country, they would be the second-largest emitter of CO2, only behind China.
In 2023, global wildfires released 7,330 million tonnes of CO2, surpassing the 6,000 million tonnes of greenhouse gases emitted by the US in 2022.
Calculating wildfire emissions is challenging due to variables like temperature, wind, humidity, and drought.
Global warming has increased the frequency and intensity of wildfires, leading to higher CO2 emissions.

Measurement Uncertainties:

The margin of error for wildfire-related CO2 emissions can be as high as 20%, compared to 6% for fossil fuel combustion.
Measuring emissions requires data on burned area, biomass density, emission factors, and combustion factors.
Methods like the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) have limitations, often underestimating emissions.

Smouldering Fires and Emission Factors:

Smouldering fires emit large amounts of carbon and are difficult to detect and suppress.
Peatlands, covering 3% of the world’s landmass, store significant carbon and are prone to smouldering fires.
Emission factors vary by region and vegetation type, with limited data from the Global South.

India’s Wildfire Emissions:

India’s forest fire emissions contribute 1-1.5% of global wildfire emissions.
Climate change could increase fire-prone areas in regions like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS):

GFAS assimilates fire radiative power (FRP) observations from satellite-based sensors to produce daily estimates of emissions from wildfires and biomass burning.
FRP is a measure of the energy released by the fire and is therefore a measure of how much vegetation is burned.

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS):

MODIS is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements.
There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra (EOS AM) satellite, launched by NASA in 1999; and one on board the Aqua (EOS PM) satellite, launched in 2002.
MODIS has now been replaced by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), which was first launched in 2011 aboard the Suomi NPP satellite.

Biomass Burning Uncertainty: Reactions, Emissions, and Dynamics (BBURNED):

BBURNED aims to better quantify the current understanding of the uncertainty and variability in biomass burning emission estimation, and determine how to more accurately represent atmospheric chemistry resulting from fire.
BBURNED is an activity of the IGAC Project (International Global Atmospheric Chemistry) at the University of Colorado / CIRES.

Source: DTE