A monthly gridded burned area database of national wildland fire data

Abstract

We assembled the first gridded burned area (BA) database of national wildfire data (ONFIRE), a comprehensive and integrated resource for researchers, non-government organisations, and government agencies analysing wildfires in various regions of the Earth. We extracted and harmonised records from different regions and sources using open and reproducible methods, providing data in a common framework for the whole period available (starting from 1950 in Australia, 1959 in Canada, 1985 in Chile, 1980 in Europe, and 1984 in the United States) up to 2021 on a common 1° × 1° grid. The data originate from national agencies (often, ground mapping), thus representing the best local expert knowledge. Key opportunities and limits in using this dataset are discussed as well as possible future expansions of this open-source approach that should be explored. This dataset complements existing gridded BA data based on remote sensing and offers a valuable opportunity to better understand and assess fire regime changes, and their drivers, in these regions. The ONFIRE database can be freely accessed at https://zenodo.org/record/8289245 .

Fig. 1

Schematic workflow for the harmonisation of BA observations from different regions to develop the ONFIRE dataset.

Fig. 2

Mean annual burned area (km²) using data from various sources for Canada and the U.S.A. The different panels show the results obtained by combining different data sources: (a) ONFIRE-NBAC for Canada (1986–2020) and ONFIRE-FPA-FOD (1992–2020) for the U.S.A.; (b) ONFIRE-NFDB for Canada (1986–2020) and ONFIRE-MTBS (1992–2020) for the U.S.A.

Fig. 3

Mean annual burned area (km²) averaged over the period 2001–2020 using data from various sources for Canada and the U.S.A. The different panels show the results obtained by combining different data sources: (a) ONFIRE-NBAC for Canada and ONFIRE-FPA-FOD for the U.S.A.; (b) ONFIRE-NFDB for Canada and ONFIRE-MTBS for the U.S.A.; (c) FireCCI51. Areas with no data are shown in grey.

Fig. 4

Mean annual burned area (km²) for the ONFIRE (panel a) and the FireCCI51 (panel b) datasets for Australia. Data for the period 2001–2020, or shorter depending on the data availability (see Tables 1, 2). Areas with no data are shown in grey.

Fig. 5

Mean annual burned area (km²) for the ONFIRE (panel a) and the FireCCI51 (panel b) datasets for Europe. Data for the period 2001–2020, or shorter depending on the data availability (see Tables 1, 2). Areas with no data are shown in grey.

Fig. 6

Mean annual burned area (km²) for the ONFIRE (panel a) and the FireCCI51 (panel b) datasets for Chile. Data for the period 2001–2020, or shorter depending on the data availability (see Tables 1, 2). Areas with no data are shown in grey.

Fig. 7

Spearman correlations between monthly estimates of burned area for the Canadian and U.S.A. regions, for different datasets and periods: (a) ONFIRE-NBAC against ONFIRE-NFDB in Canada for the period 1986–2020, and ONFIRE-FPA-FOD against ONFIRE-MTBS in the U.S.A. for the period 1992–2020; (b) same as in (a) but for the more recent period 2001–2020; (c) ONFIRE-NBAC (Canada) and ONFIRE-FPA-FOD (U.S.A.) against FireCCI51; and (d) ONFIRE-NFDB (Canada) and ONFIRE-MTBS (U.S.A.) against FireCCI51 Study period in (b), (c), and (d) is 2001–2020. Areas with no data are shown in grey.

Fig. 8

Spearman correlation between monthly burned area estimates from the ONFIRE and the FireCCI51 datasets for Australia (a), Chile (b), and Europe (c), during the period 2001–2020 (or shorter, depending on the data availability; see Tables 1, 2 and Fig. 1). Areas with no data are shown in grey.

Fig. 9

Spearman correlation between monthly Fire Weather Index (FWI) and burned area (BA) as estimated by different datasets and periods: (a) ONFIRE-NBAC (1986–2020; Canada) and ONFIRE-FPA-FOD (U.S.A. 1992–2020); (b) ONFIRE-NFDB (1979–2021; Canada) and ONFIRE-MTBS (1984–2020; U.S.A.); (c) FireCCI51 (2001–2020). Areas with no data are shown in grey.

Fig. 10

Spearman correlation between monthly Fire Weather Index (FWI) and burned area (BA) in Australia, panel (a) for the period 1979–2021 (or shorter, Tables 1, 2) with ONFIRE data, and panel (b) for the 2001–2020 period with FireCCI51 data. Areas with no data or non-significant (p-value < 0.05) correlations are shown in grey.

Fig. 11

Spearman correlation between monthly Fire Weather Index (FWI) and burned area (BA) in Europe, panel (a) for the period 1979–2021 with ONFIRE data, and panel (b) for the 2001–2020 period with FireCCI51 data. Areas with no data or non-significant (p-value < 0.05) correlations are shown in grey.

Fig. 12

Spearman correlation between monthly Fire Weather Index (FWI) and burned area (BA) in Chile, panel (a) for the period 1979–2021 with ONFIRE data, and panel (b) for the 2001–2020 period with FireCCI51 data. Areas with no data or non-significant (p-value < 0.05) correlations are shown in grey.