• Atmosphere
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.131-141
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• 2013

Many studies have related the recent variations of wildfire regime such as the increasing number of occurrances, their patterns and timing changes, and the severity of their extreme cases with global warming. However, there are only a few numbers of wildfire studies to assess how the future wildfire regime will change in the interactions between land and atmosphere with climate change especially over East Asia. This study was performed to estimate the future changing aspect of wildfire danger with global warming, using Haines Index (HI). Calculated from atmospheric instability and dryness, HI is the potential of an existing fire to become a dangerous wildfire. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, two separated 5-year simulations of current (1995~1999) and far future (2095~2099) were performed and analyzed. Community Climate System Model 3 (CCSM3) model outputs were utilized for the model inputs for the past and future over East Asia; future prediction was driven under the IPCC A1B scenario. The results indicate changes of the wildfire danger regime, showing overall decreasing the wildfire danger in the future but intensified regional deviations between north and south. The overall changes of the wildfire regime seems to stem from atmospheric dryness which is sensitive to soil moisture variation. In some locations, the future wildfire danger overall decreases in summer but increases in winter or fall when the actual fire occurrence are generally peaked especially in South China.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.99 no.4
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• pp.534-545
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• 2010

To examine 1) rainfall pattern (i.e., type and intensity) regulating surface erosion on hillslopes in postwildfire area and 2) its effect on variation in sediment yield along the gradient of severity wildfire regimes and elapsed years, we surveyed the amount of sediment yield with respect to daily or net-effective rainfall in 9 plots in eastern coastal region, Republic of Korea. Before field investigation, all plots classified into three groups: low-, mixed- and high-severity wildfire regimes (3 plots in each group). We found that, with decreasing wildfire regimes and increasing elapsed years, the rainfall type regulating surface erosion changed from daily rainfall to net-effective rainfall (considering rainfall continuity) and its intensity increased continuously. In general, wildfires can destroy the stabilized forest floors, and thus rainfall interception by vegetation and litter layer should be reduced. Wildfires can also decrease soil pores in forest floors, and thus infiltration rates of soil are reduced. These two processes lead to frequent occurrence of overland flows required to surface erosion, and sediment yields in post-wildfire areas should increase linearly with increasing rainfall events. With the decreasing severity wildfire regimes and the increasing elapsed years, these processes should be stabilized, and therefore their sediment yields also decreased. Our findings on variations in sediment yields caused by the wildfire regimes and the elapsed years suggest understanding of hydrogeomorphic and ecologic diversities in post-wildfire areas, and these should be carefully examined for both watershed management and disaster prevention.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.52 no.11
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• pp.941-946
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• 2019

A wildfire could significantly alter the local hydrological regime, depending on the area and severity, and thus it is critical to understand its effect and feedback using data and simulation. For the wildfire in Gangwon-do on April 4-5, 2019, South Korea, we retrieved the Normalized-Burned Ratio (NBR) index using remote-sensing data (500-m 8-day MODIS surface reflectance data), and detect the damaged-area based on the difference in the NBR (dNBR) before and after the fire. The damaged area was $29.50km^2$ in total, taking up 1.00-6.19% of five catchments. We then used remote-sensing data (500-m 8-day MODIS evapotranspiration data) and estimated that annual evapotranspiration (AET) would decrease as 0.05-1.56% over the five catchments, as compared to the pre-fire AET (2004-2018). This study highlights the importance of improving our understanding about the impact of wildfire on the local hydrological cycle.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.4-4
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• 2020

Three wildfires severely damaged local towns and forests in Gangwon-do, South Korea in 2019 April 4-5. Local hydrological regime could be greatly altered by the wildfires, therefore it is important to assess its damage (e.g. area and severity) and also resultant changes in hydrological fluxes. We retrieved the Normalized-Burned Ratio (NBR) index using remote-sensing data (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 500-m 8-day surface reflectance data), and delineated the damaged-area based on the difference in the NBR (dNBR) before and after the wildfires. We then estimated changes in the annual evapotranspiration (AET) in 2019 using the MODIS evapotranspiration data (500-m 8-day). It was found that the damaged-area of the three wildfires was 29.50 km^2 in total, which take up 1.00-6.19% area of five catchments. It was estimated that the AET would be decreased as 0.05-1.56% over those five catchments, as compared to the pre-fire AET (2004-2018). The impact of the wildfires on the catchment AET was less severe than expected (i.e. up to 1.56%) mostly because two big wildfires were distributed across two catchments respectively (i.e. four catchments for the two wildfires) and the other wildfire was small and not severe. This study highlights the importance of assessing the area and severity of a wildfire when estimating its impact on the local hydrological cycle.