Estimating carbon emissions to the atmosphere owing to wildfires can be difficult because we do not know the size of the carbon stocks that burned. For example, according to Wiedinmyer and Neff (2007), their estimates have a margin of error of about 50%, both because of inexact data about the extent of fires and varying estimates of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by different types of blazes (see: US Wildfires Release Enormous Amounts of CO2...). This is at least partly because we do not have adequate forest inventories -- our current satellite-based estimates are based on area burned. We are attempting to find ways to estimate aboveground woody biomass using MISR multiangle data that would improve C emissions estimates by taking canopy height into account. Biomass burning also contributes black carbon aerosols that also make a significant contribution to warming.
Above: Ratio of MISR/SGM outputs for May-June 2002 and May-June 2004. Left to right: height,
biomass, and fractional cover. Scale: images are approximately 75 km in lateral extent. Explanatory text on the value scales. Brighter colors
on the ROYGBIV scale indicate a decrease in values in 2004 over 2002. Compare
the MISR/SGM biomass change map (above, center) with the USFS map of Fire Severity (below).
Note that the height information is critical to obtaining the biomass map (and thus the match
with the USFS map).
Red=High Severity, Orange=Moderate Severity Green=Low
Severity White=Unburned/Under-burned
Click on the USFS map for a high resolution version (obtained from this location, or if that is bust, try this location). If that fails, the map is here.
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