SEAFIRE
The South East Asian Fire Experiment (SEAFIRE)
Editorial Note: The SEAFIRE campaign was planned in the early 1990s as a coordinated endeavor following the example of SAFARI-92 / TRACE A. Instead, individual research projects and activities at the science-policy interface addressed the
Original Structure of a Science Plan for the ASEAN Region
Introduction
The South East Asian Fire Experiment (SEAFIRE) is a research activity in the planning and preparation phase and will be conducted under the scheme of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). The International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project is a core project of IGBP. One of the activities of IGAC Focus 2 (Natural Variability and Anthropogenic Perturbations of the Tropical Atmospheric Chemistry) investigates the impact of biomass burning on the atmosphere and biosphere (Biomass Burning Experiment [BIBEX]). SEAFIRE will establish the fire research component within the Integrated SARCS/IGBP/IHDP/WCRP Study on Land-use Change in SE Asia.
SEAFIRE will explore the ecological impacts of fire in land use (fires used in forest conversion and shifting cultivation, grassland and seasonally dry [monsoon] forests) and the characteristics, the regional and global transport mechanisms and the atmospheric chemical impacts of pyrogenic emissions. Biogenic and marine sources of trace gases and aerosols will be considered, as well as technogenic sources (fossil-fuel burning, secondary chemical products). Special emphasis will be laid on inter-annual climate variability (ENSO vs. non-ENSO) and the role of the “Warm Pool” in the global distribution of fire products.
Questions to be asked in the context of SEAFIRE and other research programmes within the ASEAN region:
- Are human use of fire and fire regimes undergoing changes?
- Are ecological and atmospheric chemical impacts of fire contributing to local/regional/global climate changes?
- Will regional fire use / fire regimes undergo changes in a regionally changed climate?
- How can existing information and questions to be asked integrated into an interdisciplinary regional study (e.g. transects)?
SEAFIRE’s operational approach is twofold. First, SEAFIRE will build on existing data and research results. It also intends to collaborate with research institutions (government, universities) of ASEAN nations which are working in fields relevant to SEAFIRE objectives (e.g., meteorology, remote sensing, air pollution monitoring). Second, a set of small and large field research campaigns are planned to address the open questions which are largely in the field of emissions chemistry and transport. Such field research will be conducted on the ground, and on air-, space- and ship-borne platforms.
Processes to be studied
(a) Inside the SEAFIRE-area
(i) Processes related to fire emissions Aerosol and gas emissions (e.g., CO2, CO, NOx, N2O, CH4, NMHC) from:
- Land-use fires, forest conversion fires
- Wildfires
- Biofuel combustion (confined burning, traditional cooking)
- Influence of these emissions on the regional atmosphere, particularly of the photochemistry of the free troposphere (ozone formation)
(ii) Other natural fire sources
- Volcanic activities and coal seam fires
(iii) Processes related to fossil-fuel emissions
- Industrial emissions
- Transport sector
- Households
(iv) Processes related to terrestrial biogenic emissions (natural non-disturbed and disturbed vegetation, agricultural systems)
- Biogeochemical cycles in various land-use types
- Mono- vs. multi-species
- Intensified vs. non-intensified land use
- Food crops vs. tree crops
(v) Marine emissions
(vi) Carbon sequestration in different land-use types
(b) Transport of air masses/trace gases/aerosol
(i) Micro-meso scale, regional, global; ENSO influence
(ii) Aerosol advection
(iii) Trace gas advection
(c) Export from the SEAFIRE area
(i) Export within the boundary layer
(ii)Vertical export
(iii) “Hot Tower” export
(iv) Monsoon and ENSO influences
(d) Import into the SEAFIRE area
(i) Monsoon and ENSO influences
(ii) Linkages to Australasia
Participants and work packages
(a) Experiment planning
(i) Work package 1 – Analysis of existing information General synopses must be elaborated on:
- Land-use changes 1880-2000
- Demographic trends
- Industrialization, energy sector
- Fire in land-use systems (land clearing, forestry, agriculture)
- Use of biofuels as energy source
- Global influences of biomass burning (climate forcing)
(ii) Work package 2 – Measurements & meteorological input
- Compilation of available measurements and integration
- Field research
- Land-based measurements
- Fire emission characteristics/factors (wildland/agricultural fuels, households, volcanoes, coal seams, coal fire inventory)
- Biogenic emissions (soil, canopy layer)
- Establishment of pyrogenic and biogenic fluxes
- Characterize local (micro-meso-scale) and regional transport mechanisms (land, land-sea, sea, cloud dynamics-transport)
- Fuels characteristics, fire behavior
- Soil/peat/lake core sampling
- Ship-/platform borne measurements
- Physically-determined exchange processes (CO2)
- Biologically-driven processes (S components, NO2)
- Radiosonde, Ozonesonde
- Aerosol sampling (passive, active)
- Ocean sediment core sampling
- Aircraft-borne measurements
- Concentrations of biogenic / pyrogenic products and their transformation (near-ground helicopter and small fixed-wing, medium-sized for mid-altitude, large aircraft for high-altitude)
- Meteorological data collection
- Satellite & spacecraft-borne measurements
- Monitoring fire activities, establishment of regional fire calendars
- Space Shuttle and Mir instruments, EOS
- Trace compounds
- NDVI etc.
- Meteorological information
(i) Work package 3 – Data processing and modelling
- Data analysis, interpretation, archiving & modeling
b. Meteorological transport
c. Gas-phase
d. Aerosol
e. Global influences & climate forcing
Project schedule
In general, SEAFIRE-related campaigns must be conducted in
- Fire and non-fire periods (September/January)
- Low-high phase (ENSO/non-ENSO years)
Benefits, Economic and Social Impacts
This research program should provide as many benefits as possible to the user community, i.e., forest and other land management authorities, environmental agencies, etc. The benefits will arise from the research which has potential application in management systems, e.g. remote sensing and GIS applications for decision support systems in fire management.
The SEAFIRE Core Team at the Balikpapan (East Kalimantan) airport hydro-meteorological station in 2000. From left: Nigel Tapper (Monash University, Australia), Guenter Helas (MPI Chemistry, Germany) and on the right Johann G. Goldammer (GFMC / MPI Chemistry, Germany). © Photo: GFMC.
Related Projects
- Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) INDOEX Foci:
- Significance of sulfates and other continental aerosols for global radiative forcing
- Magnitude of solar absorption in ITCZ could systems
- The role of the ITCZ in the transport of trace species and pollutants
- Circum-Australia Aerosol Project (CAAP)
- GEWEX Asian Monsoon Experiment (GAME)
- Connect to IGBP Northern Eurasia Study?
- Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn (ASB)
- Integrated IGBP/IHDP/WCRP Study Components
SEAFIRE must coordinate with and take required data from IGBP Core Project Activities in the region:
- BAHC: Hydrological datasets (influence of hydroregimes on fire; influence of fire on hydroregimes)
- GAME: Meteorological/climatological datasets (intra- and inter-annual transport of emissions)
- GCTE: GCTE Impact Centre Activities (growth, succession, and nutrient/water balance modelling)
- IGBP-DIS: Regional fire calendar (inter- and intra-annual distribution of fire activities)
- LOICZ: Land-ocean interface datasets (mixing of land- and ocean-borne gas and aerosol)
- LUCC: Land-use / land-use change datasets (quantify fire- and non-fire fluxes from various land-use types)
- PAGES: Paleo-vegetation/disturbance (fire) datasets (historic, prehistoric role of fire)
Acronyms
- BAHC: Biospheric Aspects of the Hydrological Cycles
- GAME GEWEX: Asian Monsoon Experiment
- GCTE: Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems
- GEWEX: Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment
- IGAC: International Global Atmospheric Chemistry project
- IGBP-DIS IGBP: Data and Information System
- LOICZ: Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone
- LUCC: Land-Use and Land-Cover Change
- PAGES: Past Global Changes
Follow-up in the Science and Science-Policy Arena
Numerous individual projects addressing the reasons for application of fire in land use and land-use change and the ecological, environmental and socio-economic consequences have been implemented. The following activities and publications of GFMC are only exemplary:
Regional Fire Management Resource Center – South East Asia (RFMRC-SEA)
- RFMRC-SEA established in 2016: https://rfmrc-sea.org/
Regional South East Asia Wildland Fire Network
- Regional SE Asia Wildland Fire Science and Management Network Coordination
- Regional Fire Management Resource Center – South East Asia (RFMRC-SEA)
- Upper ASEAN Wildland Fire Special Research Unit (WFSRU)
- The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution
- Coordination of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution
- Background Information
- Wildland Fire Early Warning and Monitoring
- Regional and National Wildland Fire Reports
Regional Scientific, Technical and Political Conferences
World Meteorological Organization
- Joint activities with the WMO (since 1998)
Publications of GFMC and partners
- All GFMC publications, including tropical regions and particularly SE Asia
- Major book volumes published by GFMC (including tropical fire ecology and fire management)