Modeling a decade of carbon gross emissions from forest fires in the Amazon: Conciliating the bottom-up and top-down views of the problem

• Grant number: 18/14423-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: August 08, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Luciana Vanni Gatti
• Grantee: Henrique Luis Godinho Cassol
• Host Institution: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/02018-2 - Interannual variation of Amazon Basin greenhouse gas balances and their controls in a warming and increasingly variable climate – Carbam: the Amazon carbon balance long-term study, AP.PFPMCG.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 20/02656-4 - Net carbon exchanges in the Amazon conciliating satellite data, ground data, and atmospheric profile in a decade of observation using bottom-up approach, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Fires in tropical forests can be considered as one of the most important environmental problems of the XXI century. In the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon, the frequency of fires increased over the last decade as a result of climate variability (drought in 1998, 2005 and 2010) and anthropogenic activities (Aragão and Shimabukuro, 2010, Science). During the 2010 drought, 0.48±0.18 petagrams of carbon per year (PgCyr1) was released to the atmosphere by fires (e.g. Gatti et al. 2014, Nature). However a question is still unanswered: What are the main sources of fire emissions? Are these emissions a result of fires from fast turnover grassland vegetation, with minor impact on the overall atmospheric CO2 accumulation, or are they related to slow turnover forest vegetation, with potentially high impact on the atmospheric CO2 accumulation? It is well known that Amazonian fires can spread to undisturbed forests, causing forest fires and possibly contributing significantly to land use and land cover change component of carbon emissions. Despite being an important component of the global carbon balance, however, the magnitude of forest fire impacts on the long-term stability of carbon stocks are still poorly quantified.In the proposed fellowship the Post-doctoral researcher will use and refine the first systematic bottom-up model for quantifying annual gross carbon emissions from forests affected by fires at the Amazon biome scale. The model called Fire-Associated Transient Emissions from fires in Amazonia (FATE-Amazon) developed by a multidisciplinary research team coordinated by Dr Aragão at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), was recently applied by Anderson et al. (2015). The model consist in a spatially explicit bookeeping model approach based on remote sensing data, for extracting information on biomass, burned area and land cover types, and empirically derived forest biomass loss due to fires. This model allows disentangling the sources of carbon released to the atmosphere from fires. These estimates will support a comprehensive interpretation and cross-validation of the atmospheric-based analysis of the Amazon carbon cycle.

Scientific publications

(17)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CASSOL, HENRIQUE L. G.; DOMINGUES, LUCAS G.; SANCHEZ, ALBER H.; BASSO, LUANA S.; MARANI, LUCIANO; TEJADA, GRACIELA; ARAI, EGIDIO; CORREIA, CAIO; ALDEN, CAROLINE B.; MILLER, JOHN B.; et al. Determination of Region of Influence Obtained by Aircraft Vertical Profiles Using the Density of Trajectories from the HYSPLIT Model. ATMOSPHERE, v. 11, n. 10, OCT 2020. (16/02018-2, 18/14006-4, 18/14423-4, 18/18493-7)

MATAVELI, GUILHERME A. V.; DE OLIVEIRA, GABRIEL; SEIXAS, HUGO T.; PEREIRA, GABRIEL; STARK, SCOTT C.; GATTI, LUCIANA V.; BASSO, LUANA S.; TEJADA, GRACIELA; CASSOL, HENRIQUE L. G.; ANDERSON, LIANA O.; et al. Relationship between Biomass Burning Emissions and Deforestation in Amazonia over the Last Two Decades. FORESTS, v. 12, n. 9, SEP 2021. (20/02656-4, 18/14006-4, 16/02018-2, 18/18493-7, 20/08916-8, 19/25701-8, 18/14423-4, 19/23654-2)

SHIMABUKURO, YOSIO E.; ARAI, EGIDIO; DA SILVA, GABRIEL M.; DUTRA, ANDEISE C.; MATAVELI, GUILHERME; DUARTE, VALDETE; MARTINI, PAULO R.; CASSOL, HENRIQUE L. G.; FERREIRA, DANILO S.; JUNQUEIRA, LUIS R.. Mapping and Monitoring Forest Plantations in Sao Paulo State, Southeast Brazil, Using Fraction Images Derived from Multiannual Landsat Sensor Images. FORESTS, v. 13, n. 10, p. 20-pg., 2022-10-01. (19/19371-5, 18/14423-4, 19/25701-8)

GODINHO CASSOL, HENRIQUE LUIS; DE BRITO CARREIRAS, JOAO MANUEL; MORAES, ELISABETE CARIA; OLIVEIRA E CRUZ DE ARAGAO, LUIZ EDUARDO; DE JESUS SILVA, CAMILA VALERIA; QUEGAN, SHAUN; SHIMABUKURO, YOSIO EDEMIR. Retrieving Secondary Forest Aboveground Biomass from Polarimetric ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Data in the Brazilian Amazon. REMOTE SENSING, v. 11, n. 1, JAN 1 2019. (18/14423-4)

HEINRICH, VIOLA H. A.; DALAGNOL, RICARDO; CASSOL, HENRIQUE L. G.; ROSAN, THAIS M.; DE ALMEIDA, CATHERINE TORRES; SILVA JUNIOR, CELSO H. L.; CAMPANHARO, WESLEY A.; HOUSE, JOANNA I.; SITCH, STEPHEN; HALES, TRISTRAM C.; et al. Large carbon sink potential of secondary forests in the Brazilian Amazon to mitigate climate change. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, v. 12, n. 1, MAR 19 2021. (19/21662-8, 18/14423-4, 18/15001-6, 16/02018-2, 19/05440-5)

GODINHO CASSOL, HENRIQUE LUIS; CRUZ DE ARAGAO, LUIZ EDUARDO; MORAES, ELISABETE CARIA; DE BRITO CARREIRAS, JOAO MANUEL; SHIMABUKURO, YOSIO EDEMIR. Quad-pol Advanced Land Observing Satellite / Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (ALOS/PALSAR-2) data for modelling secondary forest above-ground biomass in the central Brazilian Amazon. International Journal of Remote Sensing, v. 42, n. 13, p. 4989-5013, JUL 3 2021. (18/14423-4)

BASSO, LUANA S.; MARANI, LUCIANO; GATTI, V, LUCIANA; MILLER, JOHN B.; GLOOR, MANUEL; MELACK, JOHN; CASSOL, HENRIQUE L. G.; TEJADA, GRACIELA; DOMINGUES, LUCAS G.; ARAI, EGIDIO; et al. Amazon methane budget derived from multi-year airborne observations highlights regional variations in emissions. COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT, v. 2, n. 1, NOV 29 2021. (08/58120-3, 20/02656-4, 18/14423-4, 11/51841-0, 19/23654-2, 18/14006-4, 16/02018-2, 19/21789-8, 11/17914-0, 18/18493-7)

ARAI, EGIDIO; SANO, EDSON EYJI; DUTRA, ANDEISE CERQUEIRA; GODINHO CASSOL, HENRIQUE LUIS; HOFFMANN, TANIA BEATRIZ; SHIMABUKURO, YOSIO EDEMIR. Vegetation Fraction Images Derived from PROBA-V Data for Rapid Assessment of Annual Croplands in Brazil. REMOTE SENSING, v. 12, n. 7, APR 2020. (18/14423-4)

DOMINGUES, LUCAS GATTI; GATTI, LUCIANA VANNI; AQUINO, AFONSO; SANCHEZ, ALBER; CORREIA, CAIO; GLOOR, MANUEL; PETERS, WOUTER; MILLER, JOHN; TURNBULL, JOCELYN; SANTANA, RICARDO; et al. A New Background Method for Greenhouse Gases Flux Calculation Based in Back-Trajectories Over the Amazon. ATMOSPHERE, v. 11, n. 7, JUL 2020. (18/14423-4, 16/02018-2)

SHIMABUKURO, YOSIO EDEMIR; ARAI, EGIDIO; DUARTE, VALDETE; DUTRA, ANDEISE CERQUEIRA; GODINHO CASSOL, HENRIQUE LUIS; SANO, EDSON EYJI; HOFFMANN, TANIA BEATRIZ. Discriminating Land Use and Land Cover Classes in Brazil Based on the Annual PROBA-V 100 m Time Series. IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING, v. 13, p. 3409-3420, 2020. (16/19806-3, 18/14423-4)

GODINHO CASSOL, HENRIQUE LUIS; ARAGAO, LUIZ E. DE O. C.; MORAES, ELISABETE CARIA; DE BRITO CARREIRAS, JOAO MANUEL; SHIMABUKURO, YOSIO EDEMIR; IEEE. POLARINIETRIC ALOS/PALSAR-2 DATA FOR RETRIEVING ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS OF SECONDARY FOREST IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON. 2019 IEEE INTERNATIONAL GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING SYMPOSIUM (IGARSS 2019), v. N/A, p. 4-pg., 2019-01-01. (18/14423-4)

SHIMABUKURO, YOSIO EDEMIR; DUTRA, ANDEISE CERQUEIRA; ARAI, EGIDIO; DUARTE, VALDETE; GODINHO CASSOL, HENRIQUE LUIS; PEREIRA, GABRIEL; CARDOZO, FRANCIELLE DA SILVA. Mapping Burned Areas of Mato Grosso State Brazilian Amazon Using Multisensor Datasets. REMOTE SENSING, v. 12, n. 22, NOV 2020. (18/14423-4)

SILVA JUNIOR, CELSO H. L.; CARVALHO, NATHALIA S.; PESSOA, ANA C. M.; REIS, JOAO B. C.; PONTES-LOPES, ALINE; DOBLAS, JUAN; HEINRICH, VIOLA; CAMPANHARO, WESLEY; ALENCAR, ANE; SILVA, CAMILA; et al. Amazonian forest degradation must be incorporated into the COP26 agenda. NATURE GEOSCIENCE, v. 14, n. 9, p. 634-635, SEP 2021. (19/05440-5, 16/21043-8, 16/02018-2, 15/02537-7, 18/14423-4)

GODINHO CASSOL, HENRIQUE LUIS; ARAI, EGIDIO; EYJI SANO, EDSON; DUTRA, ANDEISE CERQUEIRA; HOFFMANN, TANIA BEATRIZ; SHIMABUKURO, YOSIO EDEMIR. Maximum Fraction Images Derived from Year-Based Project for On-Board Autonomy-Vegetation (PROBA-V) Data for the Rapid Assessment of Land Use and Land Cover Areas in Mato Grosso State, Brazil. LAND, v. 9, n. 5, MAY 2020. (16/19806-3, 18/14423-4)

PONTES-LOPES, ALINE; SILVA, CAMILA V. J.; BARLOW, JOS; RINCON, LORENA M.; CAMPANHARO, WESLEY A.; NUNES, CASSIO A.; DE ALMEIDA, CATHERINE T.; SILVA JUNIOR, CELSO H. L.; CASSOL, HENRIQUE L. G.; DALAGNOL, RICARDO; et al. Drought-driven wildfire impacts on structure and dynamics in a wet Central Amazonian forest. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, v. 288, n. 1951, MAY 26 2021. (16/21043-8, 19/21662-8, 18/14423-4, 20/06734-0)

HEINRICH, VIOLA H. A.; VANCUTSEM, CHRISTELLE; DALAGNOL, RICARDO; ROSAN, THAIS M.; FAWCETT, DOMINIC; SILVA JUNIOR, CELSO H. L.; CASSOL, HENRIQUE L. G.; ACHARD, FREDERIC; JUCKER, TOMMASO; SILVA, CARLOS A.; et al. The carbon sink of secondary and degraded humid tropical forests. Nature, v. 615, n. 7952, p. 19-pg., 2023-03-16. (19/21662-8, 18/14423-4, 20/02656-4)

COVEY, KRISTOFER; SOPER, FIONA; PANGALA, SUNITHA; BERNARDINO, ANGELO; PAGLIARO, ZOE; BASSO, LUANA; CASSOL, HENRIQUE; FEARNSIDE, PHILIP; NAVARRETE, DIEGO; NOVOA, SIDNEY; et al. Carbon and Beyond: The Biogeochemistry of Climate in a Rapidly Changing Amazon. FRONTIERS IN FORESTS AND GLOBAL CHANGE, v. 4, MAR 11 2021. (18/14006-4, 18/14423-4)