Fire Focus in the Atlantic Forest of the State of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract The study evaluated the occurrence of fire focus in the remnants of the Atlantic Forest in the state of Rio de Janeiro, from a climatic perspective. The data obtained from the database BDQueimadas, from June 1998 to December 2015, underwent descriptive, exploratory and parametric statistics. The highest temperature records were identified in the 2010/2011 (16.06%) and 2014/2015 (41% and 24%) cycles. The total percentage (57, 30%) of the time series indicated strong and weak categories, as La Niña and El Niño. The parametric test showed that August, September and October had the highest temperature records, but a similar thermal pattern was found during April and June, in the same years. As for the regions, the highest temperature recorded, according to the spatial evaluation of the fire focus distribution, was for Central-South Fluminense and Médio Paraíba. Our results demonstrate that through access to a relatively simple database it is possible to obtain objective information that can be used for the prevention of damage caused by fires. With the expected evolution of thermal sensors and data-processing algorithms, it is very likely that we can skillfully discriminate fire focus related to fires from those indicating, for example, industry activity or relevant specificities.

摘要 本研究从气候视角出发，评估了里约热内卢州大西洋森林（Atlantic Forest）残存区域内火点（fire focus）的发生情况。研究采用BDQueimadas数据库1998年6月至2015年12月的数据集，开展了描述性、探索性与参数统计分析。研究识别出2010/2011年度周期（占比16.06%）与2014/2015年度周期（占比分别为41%与24%）的气温记录最高。时间序列总占比达57.30%的时段对应拉尼娜（La Niña）与厄尔尼诺（El Niño）的强、弱等级。参数检验结果显示，8月、9月及10月的气温记录最高，且同年4月与6月也呈现相似的温度分布模式。就区域维度而言，通过火点分布的空间评估可知，弗鲁米嫩塞中南部（Central-South Fluminense）与中帕里巴（Médio Paraíba）区域的气温记录最高。本研究结果表明，依托相对简易的数据库即可获取客观信息，可用于火灾灾害的预防工作。随着热传感器与数据处理算法的持续演进，未来有望精准区分火灾相关火点与其他来源（如工业活动或其他相关特定因素）引发的火点。