Causal, temporal and spatial statistics of wildfires in areas of planted forests in Brazil

• Published in: Agricultural and forest meteorology Vol. 266-267; pp. 157 - 172
• Main Authors: Eugenio, Fernando Coelho, dos Santos, Alexandre Rosa, Pedra, Beatriz Duguy, Macedo Pezzopane, José Eduardo, Mafia, Reginaldo Gonçalves, Loureiro, Edmilson Bitti, Martins, Lima Deleon, Saito, Nathália Suemi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.03.2019
• Subjects: Forest fires; Geostatistics; Geotechnologys; Geotechnologys; Forest fires; Geostatistics
• ISSN: 0168-1923; 1873-2240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.12.014

[Display omitted] •Some climatic variables isolated don't present a direct relation with the wildfires.•Statistical analysis of the occurrences allows for a understanding of the wildfires.•The proposed methodology presented can be applied in any region of the globe. Wildfires are the result of a complex interaction between climate, vegetation, topography and socioeconomic factors (BEDIA et al., 2012). The present study aims at analyzing how the relations between the meteorological and physical variables of the terrain correlate with the parameters of occurrence of wildfires in areas of planted forests in Brazil. The analysis of the wildfire regime in the study area was divided into three important aspects: temporal, spatial and causal. There are two periods of wildfire occurrence in the studied area, and for the first season, subzone 1 is from December to March; for the subzone 2 is from January to March; and, for subzone 3, is in the months of January and February. The second season, for all subzones, is between the months of August and October. Most climatic variables, isolated, do not present a direct relation with the occurrence of wildfires for both subzones, excepting some variables in some subzones. Considering both subzones, approximately 80% of the fires analyzed correspond to areas smaller than 4 ha.