Ethiopia Forest Fire Emergency Update: 3 April 2000 09:00 GMT
Ethiopia Forest Fire Emergency Update
3 April 2000 09:00 GMT
Satellite Fire Reconnaissance Update
The update information by satellite sensors is provided by imageries of the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The provision of satellite data are a response of the U.S. Government to the Government of Ethiopia’s call for international assistance.
Fig.1-3 DMSP scenes of East Africa, 30 March 2000. The red and white dots represent active fires. The center and right fire map show the area in which the problem fires are currently burning and fire-suppression actions take place.
Land signature: brown; water: blue; clouds: grey; stable lights (cities): cyan.
(Fig.1. upper left corner 20°N, 22°E lower right corner 0°N, 50°E;
Fig.2 & 3: upper left corner 9°N, 38°E lower right corner 5°N, 42°E)
(Source: DMSP)
Ethiopia Current Fire Weather Situation and Forecast
Fire Weather Forecast for the Southern Region:
There is a well defined upper-air low developing over North-West Ethiopia with widespread rain from Tuesday night onwards. The chance for rain is the best in the mountians. If the rain occurs, any falls over 15mm will push down the index by at least another 25-40 points. This becomes a value that has to be calculated at ground level at the time and may have an impact up to 21 days after the last rains.
Tab.1. Addis Ababa area forecast for 14:00 Monday 3 April 2000. Fire Danger Index (FDI) legend
6 Day 14h00 Forecast Ethiopia Region Addis Abba Area Day Temp (C) Hum (%) W Dir WSpd (km/h) Bar (Hpa) FDI Tendency Mon 3 27 63 NW 20 1006 54 Yellow – Tue 4 25 70 SW 17 1007 46 Yellow – Wed 5 24 73 SW 18 1008 45 Yellow – Thu 6 23 68 SW 17 1011 45 Yellow – Fri 7 26 58 SE 18 1008 53 Yellow – Sat 8 27 53 SE 17 1010 55 Yellow
Tab.2. Goba area forecast for 14:00 Monday 3 April 2000. Fire Danger Index (FDI) legend
6 Day 14h00 Forecast Ethiopia Region Goba Area Day Temp (C) Hum (%) W Dir WSpd (km/h) Bar (Hpa) FDI Tendency Mon 3 22 65 NE 17 1011 45 Yellow – Tue 4 21 81 E 15 1012 37 Green – Wed 5 21 84 SE 17 1010 37 Green – Thu 6 22 75 SE 15 1010 40 Green – Fri 7 23 68 NE 16 1009 44 Green – Sat 8 24 58 SE 18 1011 51 Yellow
Source of forecast tables: Net Forecasting (South Africa) on the base of data from the ECMWF (European Center For Medium Range Weather Forecasts) and the U.K.M.O. (United Kingdom Meteorological Office).
Fig.4. and 5. Fire weather forecast maps for Ethiopia, 3 and 4 April 2000.
Map legend
(Source: Net Forecasting)
Also available is a three-month rain forecast (starting 26 February 2000). The implications of this forecast are discussed by Net Forecasting.
An Eastern Africa and the Horn Satellite Imagery (NDVI) and rainfall analysis is provided by the USAID Famine Early Warning System.
The Ethiopian National Fire Fighting Committee, supported by the International Fire Emergency Advisory Group, has set up an Incident Command System. The structure of the system is given in the chart (Fig.6).
Fig.6. Structure of the Incident Command System (State: 20 March 2000)
Nationalgeographic / News has published an article which describes the ongoing fires resulting from slash-and-burn practices in Africa and Indonesia with information and imageries from last days GFMC webpages: Slash-and-Burn Agriculture Sparks Devastating Fires (16 March 2000).
For further information (history of the current fire situation in Ethiopia, starting in February 2000) please refer also to the earlier reports this and last week at the “Current Significant Fire Events” page. Some visual impressions from the ongoing fires in Ethiopia and several photographs taken from the Space Shuttle missions in the 1980s and 1990s with general impression of land cover and fires are also available.
