Temporal-spatial Characteristics of Forest Fire and Their Linkages with Climates in Xinjiang

Based o correlation and relative importance analysis, we made full use of the officially released forest fire data(1999–2020) and Wildfire Atlas of China(2005–2018) for Xinjiang, summarized their temporal-spatial patterns, analyzed fire-climate relationships, and comprehensively explored their causes. The results were as follows: On the daily scale, 80% of the forest fires were found between 13: 00 and 17: 00. On the monthly scale, most forest fires occurred from March to September(89.62%), with relatively higher burned areas being observed from August to September(79.59%). On annual scales, both fire count and burned areas showed a decreasing trend since 1999, with the latter decreasing significantly. Spatially, forest fires in Xinjiang were observed at the spatial regions of 80°–88°E, 43°–48°N. August–September diurnal temperature range(DTR, raw data: r=0.49, P < 0.05; detrended data: r=0.69, P < 0.05) and maximum temperature(T_max, raw data: r=0.47, P < 0.05; detrended data: r=0.54, P < 0.05) were found to be the key factors affecting burned areas in Xinjiang. Most forest fires in Xinjiang were caused by humans. The percentage of human–induced forest fires decreased by 13.27% for the periods of 2017–2020(59.76%) compared to that during 1999–2016(71.73%). The results of this study may provide scientific guidelines on forest fire monitoring and alarming in Xinjiang. Specifically, forest fire source management for specific regions should be strengthened when the August–September maximum temperature in Xinjiang is projected to increase.