##  [Improving the Fire Weather Index System for Peatlands using Peat-Specific Hydrological Input Data](/resource/improving-fire-weather-index-system-peatlands-using-peat-specific-hydrological-input-data) 

Organization

[KU Leuven](/organization/ku-leuven)

 

 

Resource Type

[Peer reviewed article](/taxonomy/term/37)

 

 

Author(s)

Jonas Mortelmans

Anne Felsberg

Gabrielle De Lannoy

Sander Veraverbeke

Robert Field

Niels Andela

Michel Bechtold

 

 

Original Authors

Jonas Mortelmans

Anne Felsberg

Gabriëlle De Lannoy

Sander Veraverbeke

Robert Field

Niels Andela

Michel Bechtold

 

 

Contacts

[Jonas Mortelmans](/contact/jonas-mortelmans)

 

 

Resource Date:

2024

 

 

The Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) system, even though originally developed and calibrated for an upland Jack pine forest, is used globally to estimate fire danger for any fire environment. However, for some environments, such as peatlands, the applicability of the FWI in its current form, is often questioned. In this study, we replaced the original moisture codes of the FWI with hydrological estimates resulting from the assimilation of satellite-based L-band passive microwave observations into a peatland-specific land surface model. In a conservative approach that maintains the integrity of the original FWI structure, the distributions of the hydrological estimates were first matched to those of the corresponding original moisture codes before replacement. The resulting adapted FWI, hereafter called FWIpeat, was evaluated using satellite-based information on fire presence over boreal peatlands from 2010 through 2018. Adapting the FWI with model- and satellite-based hydrological information was found to be beneficial in estimating fire danger, especially when replacing the deeper moisture codes of the FWI. For late-season fires, further adaptations of the fine fuel moisture code show even more improvement due to the fact that late-season fires are more hydrologically driven. The proposed FWIpeat should enable improved monitoring of fire risk in boreal peatlands.