Boreal Forest Fire Intensity and Trace Gas Measurements, 2001-2019

NASA's FIREX-AQ campaign data includes two core components: long-term satellite-derived metrics of fire impact on circumpolar boreal forests (2001-2013) and in-situ aircraft measurements of trace gases and aerosols from North American wildfires (summer 2019). The satellite data provides fire radiative power, albedo change, tree cover loss, and derived mortality metrics at quarter- to one-degree resolution. The aircraft data comprises detailed chemical measurements from over 200 trace gas species collected during 23 DC-8 flights.

Use Cases

• Modeling post-fire albedo recovery and carbon balance in boreal forests based on mean albedo 5-12 years post-fire.
• Analyzing relationships between fire radiative power (FRP) and derived metrics like crown scorch or tree mortality.
• Studying the chemical evolution of wildfire plumes using in-situ measurements of over 200 trace gas species.
• Mapping long-term vegetation change in Northern Eurasia and North America using normalized burn ratio (NBR) and NDVI time series.
• Investigating nighttime plume chemistry and local weather impacts of fires using data from NOAA Twin Otter aircraft.

Strengths

• Data spans a significant long-term period for satellite observations (2001-2013) and includes intensive campaign data from 2019.
• Derived metrics like crown scorch and fire-induced tree mortality provide processed, analysis-ready variables.
• In-situ aircraft payload captured a wide array of chemical species, with measurements from multiple instruments (TOGA, WAS, DACOM, etc.).

Limitations

• Conflicting metadata: 'last updated' dates are inconsistent (2013 vs. 2026), creating uncertainty about versioning.
• Column names and precise data structure are not provided in the available metadata.
• The dataset merges two distinct data products (long-term satellite and specific campaign in-situ), which may have different formats and access methods.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), NOAA

Collection Method

Derived from MODIS products, climate reanalysis, forest inventories, and in-situ aircraft instruments (TOGA, WAS, DACOM, CAMS, PTR-MS, LGR).

Time Range

2001-2013 for satellite metrics; summer 2019 for aircraft in-situ data.

Freshness

2026-04-10 03:27:33.389127 (from datagov, but conflicts with 2013 end date for core data)

Geography

Circumpolar boreal forests within 40 to 80 degrees North (Northern Eurasia and North America).