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| Biogeosciences Discuss., 5, 3091-3122, 2008 www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/5/3091/2008/ © Author(s) 2008. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Estimating carbon emissions from African wildfires 1Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystems Analysis (INES), Geobiosphere Science Centre, Lund University, Sweden 2Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Geography, University of Leicester, UK 3Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) e.V., Potsdam, Germany 4Walker Institute for Climate System Research, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, UK 5Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemisty, Jena, Germany |  |
Many recent attempts to assess the total area burnt and the amount of carbon emitted have been based on satellite remote sensing of active fires. To calculate emissions, the burned area estimates are typically multiplied with emission factors that are specific for each compound and land cover type, or used to distribute output from a biogeochemical model spatially. We developed a technique for estimating carbon emissions using a modelling approach to scale burned area estimates from L3JRC, a map recently generated from remote sensing of burn scars instead of active fires. Carbon fluxes were calculated by the novel fire model SPITFIRE embedded within the dynamic vegetation model framework LPJ-GUESS, using daily climate input.
For the time period from 2001 to 2005 an average area of 195.5±24×104 km2 was burned annually, releasing an average of 723±70 Tg C to the atmosphere; these estimates for the biomass burned are within the range of previously published estimates. Despite the fact that the majority of wildfires are ignited by humans, strong relationships with climatic conditions have been identified in savannas worldwide, driving inter-annual variability. Our investigation of the relationships amongst carbon emissions and its potential drivers, available litter and precipitation showed that burned area as well as carbon emissions show a uni-modal response to precipitation with a maximum at ca. 1000 mm annual precipitation for burned area and emissions and a maximum of ca. 1200 mm annual precipitation for litter availability.
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Citation: Lehsten, V., Tansey, K. J., Balzter, H., Thonicke, K., Spessa, A., Weber, U., Smith, B., and Arneth, A.: Estimating carbon emissions from African wildfires, Biogeosciences Discuss., 5, 3091-3122, 2008. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
