Remote sensing-modelisation approach for diurnal estimation of burnt biomass in the Central African Republic Savanna

Experimental studies and mesoscale modeling of atmospheric chemistry require a good knowledge of the sources of the atmospheric constituent, at a temporal scale of about one hour and at a spatial scale corresponding to the model grid. A combined remote sensing/modeling approach for the estimation of the diurnal distribution of the amount of biomass burning in Central African Republic (C.A.R.) savanna fires is proposed. The fire propagation model (BEHAVE) developed by Rothermel was adapted to the fuel characteristics encountered in C.A.R. Ground and airborne measurements with satellite images (NOAA/AVHRR) were used to predict an accurate estimate of the burnt biomass. This combination allows the calculation of the distribution of the number of fires during the day providing an evaluation of the instantaneous fluxes of the compounds emitted in the atmosphere by these fires.