Earth  ID: 12667

NASA Rainfall Data and Global Fire Weather

The Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED) integrates different weather factors influencing the likelihood of a vegetation fire starting and spreading. It is based on the Fire Weather Index (FWI) System, which tracks the dryness of three general fuel classes, and the potential behavior of a fire if it were to start. Each day, FWI values are calculated from global weather data, including satellite rainfall data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The FWI System is the most widely used fire danger rating system in the world, and has been adopted for different boreal, temperate and tropical fire environments. GFWED provides a globally consistent fire weather dataset for fire researchers and managers to apply locally.

The Fire Weather Index component is suitable as a general index of fire danger. Globally, shifts in continental-scale fire activity follow seasonal changes in the FWI. Over South America and Africa, regions of high FWI and active agricultural burning shift with the tropical rain belts, seen in the GPM precipitation overlay. Over North America and Eurasia, the FWI will ‘activate’ in the spring, and shows how week-to-week surges in fire activity can be driven by high FWI values. More information on GFWED and instructions on accessing the data are available from https://data.giss.nasa.gov/impacts/gfwed/

 

Source Material


Credits

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Producer
Robert Field (Columbia University): Lead Scientist
Robert Field (Columbia University): Writer
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Writer
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Narrator
Cheng Zhang (USRA): Lead Visualizer
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Editor
Dalia B Kirschbaum (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12667

Mission:
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)

This item is part of this series:
Narrated Movies

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
DLESE >> Human geography
DLESE >> Natural hazards
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Climate Indicators >> Fire Weather Indices
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Natural Hazards >> Fires
GCMD >> Location >> Canada
GCMD >> Location >> Indonesia
NASA Science >> Earth
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Natural Hazards >> Wildfires

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0