First Part of the Fire Season in Mongolia 1999 (19 July 1999)

First Part of the Fire Season inMongolia 1999

(19 July 1999)

This report is a short update of the first part of the fire season in Mongolia. The map (Fig.1) has been produced by the Information Computer Center, also called the National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC). The Mongolian fire seasons have two peaks of fire danger. One peak is observed during long dry spring (from March to mid June) and accounts for 80 per cent of all fires. The other fire danger peak falls within a short period in autumn (September-October) and it accounts for 5-8 percent of fires. In summer, fires occur very rarely (only 2-5% of the total) because of heavy rains.

In 1999 between 1 April and 31 May a total of 3.1 million ha of land has been affected by fires (Fig.1). The Information Computer Center/NRSC produces ten-days fire incident maps, snow cover, distribution, drought status and vegetation maps. For update information click on: http://www.pmis.gov.mn/Env.

Comprehensive reports on the recent fire situation are given in International Forest Fire News (IFFN).

Fig.1. Forest and steppe fire map of Mongolia for the period 1 April to 31 May 1999, showing a total area burned of 3.1 million ha.
(Source: http://www.pmis.gov.mn/Env)