ACRIS Fire Product Update 2006-2010
Updated information to that provided in Rangelands 2008 - Taking the pulse
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, 2011
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About the report
Mapping of fire scars from NOAA AVHRR satellite data by the WA Land Information Authority (Landgate) allows ACRIS to periodically update the fire record for the rangelands. Here we report the rangelands-wide fire record between 2006 and 2010.
Key points
The continued mapping of fire scars from satellite imagery has allowed ACRIS to update the fire record for 2006 through 2010 A complete fire record for the rangelands now exists between 1997 and 2010. Fire extent and frequency continue to vary considerably across the rangelands. Notable differences include:
- Fire continues to be widespread and frequent in much of northern Australia when there is little rain during the dry season. Much of this burning appears to be uncontrolled, occurring in the late dry season when fires are more extensive and quite intense. However there is evidence for some northern bioregions that the extent of cooler fires in the early dry season is increasing. Such burning should mitigate the extent and severity of hotter fires in the late dry season.
- Fire was relatively more extensive in north east Queensland in 2008 and 2009 following high rainfall over the preceding summers. For example, 3.8% and 4.7% of the Brigalow Belt North and 5.0% and 6.0% of the Desert Uplands bioregions burnt in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Median annual fire extent (between 1997 and 2010) for the Brigalow Belt North is 0.7% and for the Desert Uplands, 1.9%.
- In the semi-arid and arid parts of central Australia, there has been little recent fire activity. This region last experienced extensive episodic fire, particularly in the western deserts, following the sequence of wetter years at the start of the most recent decade.
Fire was generally minimal and infrequent across most of the southern rangelands.
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