USGS Firelight - Vol. 1 | Issue 4
In issue 4 of the Firelight, we turn our eyes…and research…to fire disaster science. After a Presidential declaration of a wildfire disaster, Emergency Supplemental funds may be appropriated to address onsite needs. USGS has used this disaster and other funds to research postfire conditions, provide hazard assessments, and offer datasets and tools to support recovery efforts.
Water Quality After Wildfire
Wildfires pose a substantial risk to water supplies because they can lead to severe flooding, erosion, and delivery of sediment, nutrients, and metals to rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. The USGS works with federal and state land managers and local water providers to monitor and assess water quality after wildfires in order to help protect our Nation’s water resources.
Postfire debris-flow hazards
Estimates of the probability and volume of debris flows that may be produced by a storm in a recently burned area, using a model with characteristics related to basin shape, burn severity, soil properties, and rainfall.
Wildfire can significantly alter the hydrologic response of a watershed to the extent that even modest rainstorms can produce dangerous flash floods and debris flows. The USGS conducts post-fire debris-flow hazard assessments for select fires in the Western U.S. We use geospatial data related to basin morphometry, burn severity, soil properties, and rainfall characteristics to estimate the probability and volume of debris flows that may occur in response to a design storm.
Mechanisms of forest resilience
Ecosystems are dynamic systems with complex responses to environmental variation. In response to pervasive stressors of changing climate and disturbance regimes, many ecosystems are realigning rapidly across spatial scales, in many cases moving outside of their observed historical range of variation into alternative ecological states. In some cases, these new states are transitory and represent su
Burned Area Emergency Response Support Program
Providing satellite images, burn area severity classifications, and other critical data to BAER teams.
Water-Starved Shrubs Likely Intensified Recent Wildfires in Southern California
Researchers link shrubs that died during a severe drought to recent large fires.
The 3D Elevation Program: Understanding Natural Hazards in Three Dimensions
This story map provides an overview of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) and highlights how lidar data support hazards applications for volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, hurricanes, flooding, drought and wildfires. An assessment of 3DEP data coverage as of June 2020 for high-risk areas of landslides, fires and hurricanes is presented.
Greater Sage-Grouse Respond Positively to Intensive Post-Fire Restoration Treatments
The results of a new study show that post-wildfire management efforts, including herbicide treatment and seeding of native plants, influence sage-grouse habitat selection.