Third, fires are a common tool for agricultural management, including land clearing in rotational slash-and-burn cropland systems, preparation for planting, and pasture maintenance ( 12), resulting in an abundance of small or short-duration fires across the region that do not spread over multiple days ( 20). Forest fires are therefore a leading cause of regional forest degradation ( 17, 18), especially during drought years ( 19). This class of fire is particularly damaging fire-induced tree mortality often exceeds 50% of aboveground biomass ( 14), as Amazon forest trees have thin bark and other traits that make them susceptible to even low-intensity forest fires ( 15, 16). Second, forest fires occur when deforestation or agricultural fires intentionally or accidentally escape into the understory of neighboring forests. On the basis of higher fuel loads, repeated burning, and long-term conversion to nonforest land uses, deforestation fires have a large impact on net carbon emissions from Amazon forests ( 13). These fires are undertaken to prepare land for use as pasture or cropland ( 12).

First, deforestation fires include initial burning following forest clearing and subsequent fires to burn piled woody debris, stumps, and roots. Most fire detections from deforestation fires were correctly identified within 2 days (67%), highlighting the potential to improve situational awareness and management outcomes during fire emergencies.įires in the Amazon basin, nearly all of which are started by humans, can be classified into four broad categories on the basis of land cover and land management ( Fig. Multiday fires accounted for 81% of burned area and 92% of carbon emissions from the Amazon, with many forest fires burning uncontrolled for weeks. Across the southern Amazon, 19,700 deforestation fire events accounted for 39% of all satellite active fire detections and the majority of fire carbon emissions (63% 69 Tg C). Here, we describe the development of a near–real-time approach for tracking contributions from deforestation, forest, agricultural, and savanna fires to burned area and emissions and apply the approach to the 2019 fire season in South America. However, the inability to rapidly separate satellite fire detections by fire type hampered fire suppression and assessment of ecosystem and air quality impacts.

Exceptional fire activity in 2019 sparked concern about Amazon forest conservation.

Amazon tracking