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- GC13I-0761: Spatial and temporal variation in Fire Radiative Power (FRP) across the Western United States
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Board 0761‚ Hall EFG (Poster Hall)NOLA CC
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Nate Hofford, University of Colorado Boulder (First Author, Presenting Author)
Maxwell Cook, University of Colorado Boulder
Jennifer Balch, University of Colorado Boulder
Wildfires are becoming more intense in many parts of the western United States, but we still have limited information about how fire intensity changes across ecosystems and over time. One way to measure fire intensity is through Fire Radiative Power (FRP), which tells us how much heat a fire is releasing.In this study, we used data from a NASA satellite, VIIRS, to track FRP across more than 5,000 wildfires in the western U.S. from 2012 to 2025. We combined this data with fire boundary maps to calculate how much heat was released per area over time, a measure called cumulative FRP.
We found that cumulative FRP has generally increased, with the highest heat levels in September 2021. Looking across ecological regions (based on a system from the World Wildlife Fund), we saw clear seasonal patterns. Some areas peaked in June, others in September or August which suggest different landscapes have distinct fire behavior.
Our method offers a reliable way to study how fire intensity is changing and can help scientists and fire managers understand how climate and vegetation influence these patterns. This work supports better predictions of fire behavior as the climate changes.
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