Assessing the role of climatic factors in the formation and spread of forest fires in Tomsk Oblast

The forests of our planet are severely damaged. Their area is drastically reducing and the structure is degrading, which violates the existing biodiversity. The main reason of forest degradation is wildfires which damage the ecosystem. During massive wildfires there is so much smoke in the atmosphere that it stops the work of water and air transport. In the areas of active forest protection regular monitoring of wildfires is conducted; yet about 30,000 hot spots are reported every year. Siberia is one of the most forested regions of Russia. Wildfires are a serious and growing threat for other parts of Russia too. However this hazard is most relevant in Siberia. Weather is one of the most important factors that determine the severity of wildfires. Wildfires can occur for natural causes which include such meteorological criteria as air temperature and humidity, wind speed, thunderstorm activity and some others. Many wildfires happen for anthropogenic reasons - agricultural burning, careless handling of fire. To take precautions against fire it is necessary to research a whole range of circumstances that have lead to the fire outbreak. The aim of this research is to determine the potential threat of wildfires based on the types of vegetation and climatic features of Tomsk Oblast. To achieve this aim, the dynamics of the wildfires occurrence frequency has been studied by the data of Tomsk Airbase, a branch of "Avialesookhrana" company, for the period from 1992 to 2011. It was found that the number of wildfires and the burnt-out area have a periodic component of six years in the temporal scale. Many climatic characteristics have a similar periodicity. The main cause of the numerous wildfires in Tomsk Oblast is careless handling of fire. In addition, the largest areas of forest burn out due to fires caused by lightning. This happens because it is difficult to fix the fire start and eliminate it in time in remote areas. The spatial arrangement of the wildfires in the area has also been studied by the data of the MODIS spectroradiometer mounted on a satellite of the EOS (Earth Observation System) program. The author compared the temporal and spatial distribution peculiarities of forest fires with the following parameters: thunderstorm activity, average air temperature, precipitation during the summer period and type of vegetation. During research the estimation of the fire occurrence on a five-point scale was obtained and the map of fire hazard was made for Tomsk Oblast. Information about high fire risk areas is essential for planning and implementing fire suppression strategies.

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