Country: Brazil

MAAP #129: Amazon Fires 2020 – Recap of Another Intense Fire Year

Posted on by dcadmin
Base Map. Major Amazon fires 2020 (orange dots) within Amazon watershed (blue line). Data: MAAP.

Following the intense Amazon fire season of 2019 that made international headlines, here we report another major fire year in 2020.

Using the novel data from our real-time Amazon Fires Monitoring app,* we documented over 2,500 major fires across the Amazon in 2020 (see Base Map).

The vast majority (88%) of the major fires were in the Brazilian Amazon, followed by the Bolivian Amazon (8%) and Peruvian Amazon (4%). No major fires were detected in the other Amazonian countries.*

We highlight several major headlines:

  • In the Brazilian Amazon, we detected 2,250 major fires. Most (51%) burned recently deforested areas, defined as fires in areas previously cleared between 2018 and 2020. These fires burned an estimated 1.8 million acres, emphasizing the current high deforestation rates in Brazil. In September, there was a major spike in forest fires, impacting vast areas of standing forest (over 5 million acres).
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  • In the Bolivian Amazon, we detected 205 major fires. The vast majority (88%) burned in Amazonian savanna and dry forest ecosystems. Notably, a quarter of these fires burned within protected areas.
    ,
  • In the Peruvian Amazon, we detected 116 major fires. There were three major types: 41% burned high elevation grasslands (impacting 26,000 acres), 39% burned recently deforested areas, and 17% burned standing forest (impacting 6,700 acres).
    v
  • The vast majority of the major fires across all three countries were likely human-caused and illegal, in violation of governmental fire management regulations and moratoriums.
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  • The app was only fully implemented in 2020, so we do not have comparable data for 2019. However, our extensive analysis of satellite imagery indicates that, in the Brazilian Amazon, both 2019 and 2020 had in common the extensive burning of recently deforested areas. The late season shift to forest fires seemed much more intense in 2020. In the Bolivian Amazon, both 2019 and 2020 had in common the extensive burning of Amazon savannas and dry forests.

See below for additional and more detailed findings for each country. Also, check out Mongabay’s real-time Brazilian Amazon fire tracker based on our analysis.

Brazilian Amazon

Image 1. Major fire burning recently deforested area in Brazilian Amazon (Mato Grosso). Data: Planet.

We emphasize the following additional findings for the Brazilian Amazon:

  • Of the 2,250 major fires, over half (51%) burned recently deforested areas, defined as areas where the forest was previously cleared between 2018 and 2020 prior to burning (Image 1). These fires burned an estimated 1.8 million acres (742,000 hectares), highlighting the current high deforestation rates in Brazil.
    .
  • A striking number (40%) were forest fires, defined here as human-caused fires in standing forest. A rough initial estimate suggests that 5.4 million acres (2.2 million hectares) of Amazon forest burned.
    .
  • Over half (51%) occurred in September, followed by August and October (25% and 15%, respectively). September was also when we documented a major shift from fires in recently deforested areas to forest fires.
    .
  • An important number of major fires (12%) occurred within indigenous territories and protected areas. The most impacted were Xingu and Kayapó Indigenous Territories, Jamanxim National Forest, and Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve.
    .
  • The vast majority of the major fires (97%) appear to be illegal, occurring after the Amazon fire moratoriums established in July (the government established a 4-month national fire moratorium starting July 15).
    ,
  • Pará  (38%) and Mato Grosso (31%) states had the most fires, followed by Amazonas (15%), Rondônia (11%), and Acre (4%).

Bolivian Amazon

Image 2. Major fire in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, in the Bolivian Amazon. Data: Planet.

We emphasize the following additional findings for the Bolivian Amazon:

  • Of the 2015 major fires, many (46%) occurred in Amazon savannas.
    .
  • Another 42% of the fires were located in forests, mostly in the dry forests of the Chiquitano. Note, in November there was a major spike in these fires.
    .
  • Importantly, 25% of the major fires were in protected areas. The most impacted were Noel Kempff Mercado National Park (Image 2), Copaibo Municipal Protected Area, Iténez National Park, Keneth Lee Reserve, Rios Blanco y Negro Wildlife Reserve, and Pampas del Río Yacuma Integrated Management Natural Area.
    k
  • The vast majority of the fires (96%) were likely illegal, occuring after the fire moratoriums (August 3 in Beni and Santa Cruz, followed by October 5 nationally).
    .
  • Most of the fires occurred in the department of Beni (51%), followed by Santa Cruz (46%).
    .
  • August had the most fires (27%) followed closely by each of September, October, and November (24% each).
    h

Peruvian Amazon

Image 3. Major fire in higher elevation grassland of the Peruvian Amazon. Data: Planet.

We emphasize the following additional findings for the Peruvian Amazon:

  • Of the 116 major fires, many (39%) burned recently deforested areas. Although the pattern is similar to the Brazilian Amazon, the burned (and previously deforested) areas are much smaller (4,660 vs 1.8 million acres).
    ,
  • There were also numerous major fires (41%) in higher elevation grasslands across several regions (Image 3). These fires impacted 26,000 acres (10,000 hectares). We likely underestimated the number of these fires because, due to the lack of biomass in these ecosystems, they didn’t always register as a major fire in the app.
    k
  • Another 17% were forest fires, impacting 6,700 acres (2,700 hectares).
    k
  • All of the fires in the Peruvian were likely illegal, according to Peruvian fire management regulations.
    j
  • 15 regions experienced major fires, reflecting the mix of both grassland and forest fires. The regions with the most fires were Madre de Dios (23%), Ucayali (12%) and Junin (11%).
    h
  • November surprisingly had the most major fires (46%), followed by October and September (29% and 22%, respectively).
    j

*Notes and Methodology

The data is based on our analysis of Amazon Conservation’s novel real-time Amazon Fires Monitoring app. We started daily monitoring in May and continued through November. Specifically, he first major fire was detected on May 28 and the data was updated daily through November 30.

The app displays aerosol emissions as detected by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5 satellite. Elevated aerosol levels indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass, defined here as a “major fire”. In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to effectively detect and visualize major Amazon fires.

When fires burn, they emit gases and aerosols. A new satellite (Sentinel-5P from the European Space Agency) detects these aerosol emissions (aerosol definition: Suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in air or another gas). Thus, the major feature of the app is detecting elevated aerosol emissions which in turn indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass. For example, the app distinguishes small fires clearing old fields (and burning little biomass) from larger fires burning recently deforested areas or standing forest (and burning lots of biomass). The spatial resolution of the aerosol data is 7.5 sq km. The high values in the aerosol indices (AI) may also be due to other reasons such as emissions of volcanic ash or desert dust so it is important to cross reference elevated emissions with heat data and optical imagery.

We define “major fire” as one showing elevated aerosol emission levels on the app, thus indicating the burning of elevated levels of biomass. This typically translates to an aerosol index of >1 (or cyan-green to red on the app). To identify the exact source of the elevated emissions, we reduce the intensity of aerosol data in order to see the underlying terrestrial heat-based fire alerts. Typically for major fires, there is a large cluster of alerts. The major fires are then confirmed, and burn areas estimated, using high-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Explorer.

Some additional country-specific notes:

Bolivia – As note above, the high values in the aerosol indices (AI) may also be due to other reasons such as emissions of volcanic ash or desert dust. Hence, some areas, such as the Salar de Uyuni, in western Bolivia, often have orange or red tones.

Colombia – Our daily 2020 monitoring took place from May until November, but Colombia’s drier burning season was likely earlier in the year (January – March). We will be monitoring Colombia during this time frame in 2021.

Acknowledgements

The app was developed and updated daily by Conservación Amazónica (ACCA). The data analysis is led by Amazon Conservation in collaboration with SERVIR Amazonia.

We thank E. Ortiz, A. Folhadella, A. Felix, and G. Palacios for their helpful comments on this report.

Citation

Finer M, Villa L, Vale H, Ariñez A, Nicolau A, Walker K (2020) Amazon Fires 2020 – Recap of Another Intense Fire Year. MAAP: 129.

Amazon Fire Season Intensifies; Shifts to Raging Forest Fires

Posted on by dcadmin
Forest Fire in the Brazilian Amazon (Mato Grosso). Data: Planet.

We have documented 1,650 major fires in the Brazilian Amazon this year, and well over half (60%) have occurred in September.*

We have been detecting around 62 major fires a day during September, relative to 18 in August (and 2 in July).

Moreover, we flag the major spike in Amazon forest fires, defined here as human-caused fires in standing forest.

We found over 700 forest fires, which now account for 43% of all major fires, up from 13% in August (and just 1% in July).

We roughly estimate that 4.6 million acres (1.8 million hectares) have been impacted by these forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon.

The satellite image to the right is just one example of a recent major forest fire in the Brazilian Amazon. Below, for greater context, we show a before and after panel of that same fire.

Many of the major fires (49%) continue to burn recently deforested areas, defined here as areas where the forest was previously and recently cleared (between 2018 and 2020) prior to burning. This percentage, however, was much higher earlier in the fire season (For example, 84% in July).

Check out Mongabay’s real-time Brazilian Amazon fire tracker based on our analysis.

*The data, updated through September 20, is based on our novel real-time Amazon Fires Monitoring app, which is based on the detection of elevated aerosol emissions that indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass (defined here as a “major fire.”

Satellite Images of Amazon Forest Fires

The following high-resolution satellite images (courtesy of Planet) show the before (left panel) and after (right panel) of a recent major fire in the Brazilian Amazon (Mato Grosso state). Further below is another panel zooming out to show the surrounding matrix of forest fires, recently deforested area fires, and cropland fires.

 

Acknowledgements

The app was developed and updated daily by Conservación Amazónica (ACCA). The data analysis is led by Amazon Conservation in collaboration with SERVIR Amazonia.

Citation

Finer M, Vale H, Walker K, Villa L, Nicolau A, Ariñez A  (2020) Amazon Fire Season Continues to Intensify in September. MAAP.

Brazilian Amazon Fires Intensify in September

Posted on by dcadmin
Base Map. Amazon fires in relation to Pantanal fires as seen in our Real-time Amazon Fire Monitoring app (September 6). Red indicates most severa fires. Data: MAAP/ACCA.

Although August was severe, early September saw the Brazilian Amazon fires intensify even more.

September shot up to an average of 53 major fires per day across the Brazilian Amazon, up from 18 in August (and 2 in July).*

In addition, the surrounding Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetlands, is experiencing unprecedented fires.

The Base Map shows major fires scattered across the Brazilian Amazon in relation to the huge fire complex to the south in the Pantanal, as seen in our novel real-time fire monitoring app from early September.

Red indicates the most intense fires burning the highest levels of biomass.

Overall, we have now detected 963 major fires this year in the Brazilian Amazon with the app.

*Data updated through September 7, 2020.

A major forest fire in the Brazilian Amazon (Mato Grosso) on September 6, 2020. Data: Planet. Analysis: MAAP/ACCA, SERVIR.

Increase in Amazon Forest Fires

Also noteworthy is the major spike in Amazon forest fires, defined here as human-caused fires in standing forest. Forest fires now account for a striking 27% of all major fires, up from 13% in August (and 1% in July).

An estimated 896,000 acres (362,000 hectares) have been impacted  by these Amazon forest fires.

+++

The majority of the major fires (66%) continue to burn recently deforested areas, defined here as areas where the forest was previously and recently cleared (between 2018-20) prior to burning.

In fact, over 1.3 million acres (540,000 hectares) of recently deforested areas has burned in 2020.

Thus, most of the fires are actually a smoking indicator of the current rampant deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

 

 

 

Protected Areas and Indigenous Territories

We also must highlight that we have detected 80 major fires in protected areas and indigenous territories of the Brazilian Amazon. The most impacted areas are the Xingu and Kayapó indigenous territories, and Jamanxim National Forest.

Major Fires (orange dots) within and around indigenous territories (bright green) and protected areas (light green) in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. Data: MAAP.

*Notes and Methodology

Our novel Real-time Amazon Fire Monitoring app

Data updated as of September 7, starting from the first major fire detected on May 28.

We detected 569 major fires during August in the Brazilian Amazon.

Prior to August, we detected only one forest fire, and that was on July 31.

The app specializes in filtering out thousands of the traditional heat-based fire alerts to prioritize only those burning large amounts of biomass (defined here as a major fire).

In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to effectively detect and visualize major Amazon fires.

When fires burn, they emit gases and aerosols. A new satellite (Sentinel-5P from the European Space Agency) detects these aerosol emissions. Thus, the major feature of the app is detecting elevated aerosol emissions which in turn indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass. For example, the app distinguishes small fires clearing old fields (and burning little biomass) from larger fires burning recently deforested areas or standing forest (and burning lots of biomass).

We define “major fire” as one showing elevated aerosol emission levels on the app, thus indicating the burning of elevated levels of biomass. This typically translates to an aerosol index of >1 (or cyan-green to red on the app). To identify the exact source of the elevated emissions, we reduce the intensity of aerosol data in order to see the underlying terrestrial heat-based fire alerts. Typically for major fires, there is a large cluster of alerts. The major fires are then confirmed, and burn areas estimated, using high-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Explorer.

See MAAP #118 for additional details on how to use the app.

No fires permitted in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso after July 1, 2020. No fires permitted in all of Brazilian Amazon after July 15, 2020. Thus, we defined “illegal” as any major fires detected after these respective dates.

A major fire may be classified as burning across multiple land categories (for example, both recently deforested area and surrounding forest fire) so those percentages do not total 100%.

There was no available Sentinel-5 aerosol data on July 4, 15, and 26.

Acknowledgements

The app was developed and updated daily by Conservación Amazónica (ACCA). The data analysis is led by Amazon Conservation in collaboration with SERVIR Amazonia.

Citation

Finer M, Vale H, Villa L, A. Ariñez, Nicolau A, Walker K (2020) Brazilian Amazon Fires Intensify in September. MAAP.

Amazon Fire Tracker 2020: End of August Update (Over 600 Major Fires)

Posted on by dcadmin
Brazilian Amazon Major Fire #584, August 2020. Data: Planet. Analysis: MAAP.

August 2020 just ended its run as a severe Amazon fire month.
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Our novel Real-time Amazon Fire Monitoring app has detected 646 major fires in the Brazilian Amazon thus far in 2020.*
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Of these, 88% (569 major fires) occurred in August,* and all were illegal, occuring after the burning moratoriums established in July.
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Also in August, we saw the sudden appearance of “Forest Fires,” defined here as human-caused fires in standing forest. We detected 82 forest fires in August, which now account for 13% of all the major fires.*

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The vast majority of the major fires (79%) continue to burn recently deforested areas, defined here as areas where the forest was previously and recently cleared (between 2018-20) prior to burning.
p
In fact, over 1.1 million acres (453,000 hectares) of recently deforested areas has burned in 2020. Thus, the fires are actually a smoking indicator of the current rampant deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
p

 

 

Base Map

The Base Map is a screen shot of the app’s “Major Amazon Fires 2020” layer (as of September 1). The majority of the major fires in the Brazilian Amazon have been in the states of Pará (37%) and Amazonas (33%), followed by Mato Grosso (16%), Rondônia (13%), and Acre (1%).

The app has detected an additional 58 major fires in the Bolivian Amazon thus far in 2020. The majority of these (71%) have occured in savanna ecosystems in the department of Beni.

Screen shot of the app’s “Major Amazon Fires 2020” layer (as of September 1).

*Notes and Methodology

Data updated as of September 1, starting from the first major fire detected on May 28.

We detected 569 major fires during August in the Brazilian Amazon.

Prior to August, we detected only one forest fire, and that was on July 31.

The app specializes in filtering out thousands of the traditional heat-based fire alerts to prioritize only those burning large amounts of biomass (defined here as a major fire).

In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to effectively detect and visualize major Amazon fires.

When fires burn, they emit gases and aerosols. A new satellite (Sentinel-5P from the European Space Agency) detects these aerosol emissions. Thus, the major feature of the app is detecting elevated aerosol emissions which in turn indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass. For example, the app distinguishes small fires clearing old fields (and burning little biomass) from larger fires burning recently deforested areas or standing forest (and burning lots of biomass).

We define “major fire” as one showing elevated aerosol emission levels on the app, thus indicating the burning of elevated levels of biomass. This typically translates to an aerosol index of >1 (or cyan-green to red on the app). To identify the exact source of the elevated emissions, we reduce the intensity of aerosol data in order to see the underlying terrestrial heat-based fire alerts. Typically for major fires, there is a large cluster of alerts. The major fires are then confirmed, and burn areas estimated, using high-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Explorer.

See MAAP #118 for additional details on how to use the app.

No fires permitted in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso after July 1, 2020. No fires permitted in all of Brazilian Amazon after July 15, 2020. Thus, we defined “illegal” as any major fires detected after these respective dates.

A major fire may be classified as burning across multiple land categories (for example, both recently deforested area and surrounding forest fire) so those percentages do not total 100%.

There was no available Sentinel-5 aerosol data on July 4, 15, and 26.

Acknowledgements

The app was developed and updated daily by Conservación Amazónica (ACCA). The data analysis is led by Amazon Conservation in collaboration with SERVIR Amazonia.

Citation

Finer M, Vale H, Villa L, A. Ariñez, Nicolau A, Walker K (2020) Amazon Fire Tracker 2020: End of August Update (Over 600 Major Fires). MAAP.

Amazon Fire Tracker 2020: Over 500 Illegal Major Fires in Brazilian Amazon

Posted on by dcadmin
Brazilian Amazon Fire #449, burning both recently deforested area (center) and forest fire (upper center). Data: Planetscope (Planet), MAAP. Click to enlarge.

The Brazilian Amazon just passed a grim milestone: Over 500 illegal major fires thus far in 2020.

The other major headline is that, although most fires continue to burn recently deforested areas, we are now seeing an increase in forest fires.

Our Real-time Amazon Fire Monitoring app has detected 504 major fires in the Brazilian Amazon as of August 24 (starting from the first major fire detected on May 28).

Some striking stats about this year’s major fires:

  • 97% have occured after the burning moratoriums established in July and are illegal.
    l
  • 85% have occurred in August. Thus, the fire season has been accelerating.
    p
  • 83% have burned recently deforested areas. Thus, the fires are actually a smoking indicator of the rampant deforestation.
    p
  • 12% have been Forest Fires. This number marks a major increase from previous estimate as the fire season intensifies. By “Forest Fire” we mean human caused fires in standing forest (there are no “wildfires” as we understand the situation).
    p
  • 4% have occurred in Protected Areas or Indigenous Territories.
    p
  • 856,000 acres (353,000 hectares) have burned in the recently deforested areas fires.
  • 165,000 acres (66,000) have burned in the forest fires.

Base Map

The Base Map is a screen shot of the app’s “Major Amazon Fires 2020” layer. The majority of the major fires in the Brazilian Amazon have been in the states of Pará (42%) and Amazonas(31%), followed by Mato Grosso (13%) and Rondônia (13%). Note we are also now seeing an increase in major fires in the Bolivian Amazon, particularly savannah fires, and that will be the subject of a future report.
p

Base Map. Major Amazon Fires 2020. Data: MAAP.

*Notes and Methodology

The app specializes in filtering out thousands of the traditional heat-based fire alerts to prioritize only those burning large amounts of biomass (defined here as a major fire).

In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to effectively detect and visualize major Amazon fires.

When fires burn, they emit gases and aerosols. A new satellite (Sentinel-5P from the European Space Agency) detects these aerosol emissions. Thus, the major feature of the app is detecting elevated aerosol emissions which in turn indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass. For example, the app distinguishes small fires clearing old fields (and burning little biomass) from larger fires burning recently deforested areas or standing forest (and burning lots of biomass).

We define “major fire” as one showing elevated aerosol emission levels on the app, thus indicating the burning of elevated levels of biomass. This typically translates to an aerosol index of >1 (or cyan-green to red on the app). To identify the exact source of the elevated emissions, we reduce the intensity of aerosol data in order to see the underlying terrestrial heat-based fire alerts. Typically for major fires, there is a large cluster of alerts. The major fires are then confirmed, and burn areas estimated, using high-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Explorer.

See MAAP #118 for additional details on how to use the app.

No fires permitted in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso after July 1, 2020. No fires permitted in all of Brazilian Amazon after July 15, 2020. Thus, we defined “illegal” as any major fires detected after these respective dates.

A major fire may be classified as burning across multiple land categories (for example, both recently deforested area and surrounding forest fire) so those percentages do not total 100%.

There was no available Sentinel-5 aerosol data on July 4, 15, and 26.

Acknowledgements

This analysis was done by Amazon Conservation in collaboration with SERVIR Amazonia.

Citation

Finer M, Vale H, Villa L, Nicolau A (2020) Over 500 Illegal Major Fires in Brazilian Amazon. MAAP.

Amazon Fire Tracker 2020: Images of the Brazilian Amazon Fires

Posted on by dcadmin

Our innovative new app for Real-time Amazon Fire Monitoring has now detected over 350 major fires in the Brazilian Amazon this season.*

Specifically, we have detected 365 major fires as of August 17, since the first major fire detected on May 28.

The fire season is accelerating, as 79% of the major fires have occured in August.

Below, we present a series of satellite images showing key examples from August 2020.

We highlight our key finding that the vast majority of major fires (88%) burned recently deforested areas covering 557,000 acres (226,000 hectares). Thus, the fires are actually a striking indicator of the rampant deforestation currently threatening the the Brazilian Amazon.

We have detected 4 Forest fires (1% of the major fires) covering 2,790 acres (1,130 hectares) and 3 savanna fires covering 38,000 acres (15,000 hectares). The rest of the major fires are burning older agricultural areas.

Other key findings include:

  • The vast majority of the fires (96%) are illegal, occuring past the 120 day moratorium established in July.
  • At least 18 of the major fires have been in protected areas or indigenous territories.
  • Most of the fires (70%) have occurred in two departments: Amazonas and Para. Mato Grosso and Rondonia each account for 15%.

We have detected an additional 10 major fires in the Bolivian Amazon, and that will be the feature of a future report.

Images of the 2020 Brazilian Amazon Fires

1) Fires burning recently deforested areas

Brazilian Amazon Fire #338 (August 16, 2020)

Brazilian Amazon Fire #335 (August 16, 2020)

Brazilian Amazon Fire #233 (August 11, 2020)

 

Brazilian Amazon Fire #230 (August 11, 2020)

Brazilian Amazon Fire #221 (August 11, 2020)

Brazilian Amazon Fire #202 (August 10, 2020)

Brazilian Amazon Fire #188 (August 9, 2020)

Brazilian Amazon Fire #124 (August 6, 2020)

Brazilian Amazon Fire #110 (August 4, 2020)

Brazilian Amazon Fire #109 (August 4, 2020)

Brazilian Amazon Fire #76 (August 1, 2020)

2) Forest Fires 

Brazilian Amazon Fire #218, August 2020

Brazilian Amazon Fire #195, August 2020

3) Grassland (Savanna) Fires 

Brazilian Amazon Fire #219, August 2020

*Notes and Methodology

The app specializes in filtering out thousands of the traditional heat-based fire alerts to prioritize only those burning large amounts of biomass (defined here as a major fire).

In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to effectively detect and visualize major Amazon fires.

When fires burn, they emit gases and aerosols. A new satellite (Sentinel-5P from the European Space Agency) detects these aerosol emissions. Thus, the major feature of the app is detecting elevated aerosol emissions which in turn indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass. For example, the app distinguishes small fires clearing old fields (and burning little biomass) from larger fires burning recently deforested areas or standing forest (and burning lots of biomass).

We define “major fire” as one showing elevated aerosol emission levels on the app, thus indicating the burning of elevated levels of biomass. This typically translates to an aerosol index of >1 (or cyan-green to red on the app). To identify the exact source of the elevated emissions, we reduce the intensity of aerosol data in order to see the underlying terrestrial heat-based fire alerts. Typically for major fires, there is a large cluster of alerts. The major fires are then confirmed, and burn areas estimated, using high-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Explorer.

See MAAP #118 for additional details.

No fires permitted in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso after July 1, 2020. No fires permitted in all of Brazilian Amazon after July 15, 2020. Thus, we defined “illegal” as any major fires detected after these respective dates.

There was no available Sentinel-5 aerosol data on July 4, 15, and 26.

Acknowledgements

This analysis was done by Amazon Conservation in collaboration with SERVIR Amazonia.

Citation

Finer M, Nicolau A, Vale H, Villa L, Mamani N (2020) Amazon Fire Tracker 2020: Images of the Brazilian Amazon Fires. MAAP.

Amazon Fire Tracker 2020: Over 200 Major Fires as of Aug 10

Posted on by dcadmin
Brazilian Amazon Fire #76, July 2020. Imagery: Planet. Click to Enlarge.

Our innovative new app for Real-time Amazon Fire Monitoring has detected over 200 major fires in 2020.

The app specializes in filtering out thousands of the traditional heat-based fire alerts to prioritize only those burning large amounts of biomass (defined here as a major fire).*

Our key findings include:

  • We have detected 227 major Amazon fires (Brazil 220, Bolivia 6; Peru 1), as of August 10.
    ,
  • The vast majority of major fires have been in the Brazilian Amazon, where a strikingly high number (85%) have burned recently deforested areas. Thus, the fires are actually a smoking indicator of the rampant deforestation now in Brazil.
    k
  • In Brazil, we have detected two forest fires, but this risk increases as we get deeper into the dry season. The rest of the fires have been on older fields.
    l
  • In Brazil, the vast majority (94%) of the major fires have been illegal, in violation of the state and national fire moratoriums established in July. In fact, despite the moratoriums, the number of major fires is accelerating: 143 so far in August following 77 in May through July.
    m
  • In Brazil, 14 of the fires have been in Protected Areas.
    k
  • In the Bolivian and Peruvian Amazon, we have recently started detecting fires in the drier ecosystems (savannahs and grasslands).

See below for a more detailed breakdown of the results.

Additional Results

The Base Map is a screen shot of the app’s “Major Amazon Fires 2020” layer.

Base Map. Major Fires 2020. Data: MAAP.

 

The vast majority of the fires have been in the Brazilian Amazon: Pará (37%) and Amazonas (39%), followed by Mato Grosso (17%) and Rondônia (8%).

Importantly, the vast majority of the major fires in the Brazilian Amazon (85%) have burned recently deforested areas (cleared between 2018 and 2020) covering 280,000 acres (113,000 hectares). Thus, we argue that the central issue is actually deforestation and the fires are actually a smoking indicator of this forest loss.

We have detected the first two forest fires, burning 388 acres (1,447 hectares) in Mato Grosso and Para.

The rest of the major fires have been on older cattle or agricultural lands (deforested prior to 2018).

The most impacted protected areas are Jamanxim and Altamira National Forests in Pará. We emphasize, however, that these fires were burning recently deforested areas (not forest fires) and so, again, the primary issue is deforestation.

In Brazil, the vast majority of the major fires (94%) appear to be illegal as they violate the state and national government mandated fire moratoriums established in July. In fact, despite the moratoriums, the number of major fires is accelerating: 143 so far in August, following 64 in July, 12 in June, and the first one in May.

In the Bolivian Amazon, we have recently started detecting fires in the savannahs in the department of Beni. We also detected one fire in a recently deforested area in the Santa Cruz department.

In the Peruvian Amazon, we have recently started detecting fires in the upper elevation grasslands. The biggest one was actually within a protected area (Otishi National Park). There have also been smaller grassland fires near the buffer zone of upper Manu National Park.

Key Examples of 2020 Fires

Overall our key finding is that most major Brazilian Amazon fires are burning recently deforested areas, and not raging forest fires. Below is a series of satellite image time-lapse videos showing examples of recent deforestation followed by a major 2020 fire.

Brazilian Amazon Fire #54, July 2020

 

Brazilian Amazon Fire #59, July 2020

 

Brazilian Amazon Fire #76, July 2020

 

Brazilian Amazon Fire #110, August 2020

*Notes and Methodology

In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to effectively detect and visualize major Amazon fires.

When fires burn, they emit gases and aerosols. A new satellite (Sentinel-5P from the European Space Agency) detects these aerosol emissions. Thus, the major feature of the app is detecting elevated aerosol emissions which in turn indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass. For example, the app distinguishes small fires clearing old fields (and burning little biomass) from larger fires burning recently deforested areas or standing forest (and burning lots of biomass).

We define “major fire” as one showing elevated aerosol emission levels on the app, thus indicating the burning of elevated levels of biomass. This typically translates to an aerosol index of >1 (or cyan-green to red on the app). To identify the exact source of the elevated emissions, we reduce the intensity of aerosol data in order to see the underlying terrestrial heat-based fire alerts. Typically for major fires, there is a large cluster of alerts. The major fires are then confirmed, and burn areas estimated, using high-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Explorer.

See MAAP #118 for additional details.

No fires permitted in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso after July 1, 2020. No fires permitted in all of Brazilian Amazon after July 15, 2020. Thus, we defined “illegal” as any major fires detected after these respective dates.

There was no available Sentinel-5 aerosol data on July 4, 15, and 26.

Acknowledgements

This analysis was done by Amazon Conservation in collaboration with SERVIR Amazonia.

Citation

Finer M, Nicolau A, Villa L (2020) 200 Major Amazon Fires in 2020: Tracker Analysis. MAAP.